The forgotten civilian

About a fortnight ago, the Minister of Defence, General James Kabarebe, was defending the Armed Forces Shop project before skeptical Deputies. This project intends for serving members of the military and the police [nothing was said about prison guards, park rangers and local defence] to be able to access duty free goods as a way to reduce their cost of living. The Rwanda National Police falls under the Ministry of Internal Security; however, nothing was reported about the presence of Minister Mussa Fazil HARERIMANA. Contrast this invisibility on matters of police [and prison guards, everyone keeps forgetting them] welfare with the good Sheik’s well reported positions on polygamy and presidential term limits. Constitutional reform appears to be a pet topic for the Honourable Minister.Perhaps there was an unreported good reason for his absence or maybe it was journalistic oversight [it happens]. Whatever the case, General Kabarebe appeared to be fighting this fight on his own.The Deputies had very legitimate concerns about the possibility of fraud, more precisely the chance that unscrupulous soldiers or policemen may resale duty free goods on the open market. MP Emmanuel Mudidi euphemistically referred to this as ‘leakages’. My concern is not so much about potential leakages but rather why there are no equivalent welfare projects for civilians who perform special services.Do not get me wrong. The Military does a great job at securing the country and there’s always a quiet confidence one gets when an army patrol silently walks by. My feelings on the Police are ambivalent but they do their part in catching human traffickers, drug dealers and users as well as blanketing our roads for traffic safety. For these services they deserve all the subsidies they can get. That said, I think the teachers, medical personnel and other similarly essential but overlooked public servants deserve something similar. Unfortunately they do not have as energetic an advocate as General Kabarebe.It may of course be impractical to have duty free shops for these civilians as they are spread out all over the country and the possibility of leakages would be much higher than shops located on military bases and police stations. Still there are things that could be done, like providing access to these particular groups of civilians to Armed Forces Shops or perhaps exemptions from direct taxation.In the same week the Parliament raised concerns about families of deceased lawmakers who they said need support. A noble and legitimate concern for the families of their colleagues who died in service but I would have thought that the role of Parliament would be to serve the citizens before itself.What benefits does the family of a lowly nurse get when they die? Or a teacher for that matter? It seems that as a public servant you better have a Minister who will do battle for you in Parliament or be a lawmaker yourself, otherwise your travails are your own to bear.