When a hare is criticised because it runs fast

Recently, I read with attention and interest some index reports on Rwanda. Deep analysis of these reports has forced me to wonder whether their authors publish them out of ignorance or with certain knowingness. Normally, a piece of research worthy of the name is based on facts. When it is using quantitative data, it either uses the whole population or selects a representative sample. When research is an opinion piece, a good investigator finds information from different sources including people who are directly concerned by the inquiry. If any researcher decides to sit under a tree and write their report without respecting the above known principles they end up publishing a report that does not deserve to be called a valid product of research. It is instead a kind of fiction. And as you know, there are some people who adore fiction even if they already know that it is a result of pure imagination. This is the impression I have on the content of the earlier mentioned published indices. Instead of listening to the side of people who are the architects of the take-off of the new Rwanda, they only rely on the opinions of people who will never admit that a hare runs fast. The true image of Rwanda speaks for itself. Rwandans know it well. They live it in their daily life. Its indicators are seen through unity, security, peace, development, democracy, rule of law, socio-economic and political inclusion that all Rwandans enjoy without any distinction. In the area of economic performance, the 2011 World Bank report ranked Rwanda among the fastest growing economies of the world. This is a great achievement in itself, and especially if one takes a step back to the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which had made Rwanda a moribund country economically. It is a result of the good leadership of the new Rwanda which has successfully mobilised its people to work hard towards sustainable development. With this political commitment, economic recovery and growth after 1994 averaged 8.6 per cent annually between 1995 and 2012. This contributed greatly in reducing poverty levels by 33% (from 78% in 1995 to 45% in 2011). It also increased the GDP per capita from less than $185 in 1994 to $644 by the end of 2012. It has also reduced and helped to control inflation; inflation has fallen from 64% in 1994 to 3% in 2013. Export earnings grew from $50.4 million in 1995 to $388.4 million in 2011. In the last three years, Rwanda has become one of the top reformers in improving the ‘doing business’ environment. According to the 2012 World Bank report, Rwanda was ranked as the third easiest place to do business in Sub-Sahara Africa and first in the region. Rwanda has also collected a great deal of income from tourism. It should be pointed out that this industry has increased in the last two years by 25%. The total revenue collected from national parks in 2012 alone was $282 million with more than one million tourists! This is a grand achievement if we compare it to the $18.5 million that was collected before 1994. In short, the above examples are a summary of some economic achievements enjoyed by the country. Rwanda is always improving, and is always striving to get better.In the social sector, Rwanda is the only African country with a system of health insurance that covers the highest number of the population, with more than 95% of its people being protected. This health scheme contributed to a decrease in maternal mortality deaths per 100,000 births to 340 in 2012 down from 2,300 in 1994 and from 1,071 in 2000. The under-five child mortality rate per 1,000 births also reduced from 196 in 2000, to 76 in 2010 and to 54 in 2011. As for people living with HIV/AIDS, the government of Rwanda is one of the few sub-Saharan countries that provide free medicine to these patients. For malaria, a widespread campaign and distribution of bed nets has had a massive impact, helping to decrease the case fatality rate of malaria from more than 51% in 2000 to 3.5% of the total population in 2009/10. It has also to be noted that for the 12 vaccinations that are given in Rwanda, the average rate vaccination is at 95%.For the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to ONE’s 2013 continental Data report, Rwanda was ranked highest among the 48 African countries that registered substantial progress in achieving their targets. Rwanda is on track to achieve MDGs 4 and 5 by 2015.In its efforts to assist poorer sections of society, the Government of Rwanda has built 125,000 decent houses for poor families that had previously inhabited in thatched huts, commonly known as ‘Nyakatsi’. In 2001, the government initiated the ‘Ubudehe’ programme for every cell in the country. This programme has created jobs for more than half a million people. In the same spirit, more than 153, 000 citizens have received cows under the ‘One-Cow-per-Family’ programme, which has improved immeasurably the lives of ordinary people.In the education sector, in contrast to the pre-1994 education system that was characterised by institutionalised hatred and other forms of discrimination, Rwanda initiated, in 2009, free 12 years basic education for all children without any form of favouritism or prejudice. As a result, today’s net enrolment in primary schools is at 96 per cent (and females being 98 per cent). For secondary education, more than 600,000 pupils are enrolled, whereas the figure was a mere 50,000 in 1994. In the governance area, according to the 2012 Global States of Mind: New Metrics for World Leaders report, the safest country to live in Africa is Rwanda. In this report, Rwanda tops the list of countries where citizens are most likely to feel safe, at 92 per cent. Because of its internal peace and its experience of the consequences of insecurity, Rwanda has now decided to participate in various initiatives designed to bring about peaceful settlement of disputes and resolution of conflicts further afield. It is against this backdrop that Rwanda finds itself as the world’s sixth largest contributor of peacekeepers, maintaining military and police peacekeepers across the globe, notably in Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia.Rwanda is also, according to the 2013 Baseline Profitability Index, one of the five best destinations for investment in the world. The country has maintained its record in leading the fight against corruption among the five countries in the EAC region, as highlighted in the latest report by Transparency International.And, in order to strengthen the participation of civil society in the expression of its citizens’ views in the development of the country, the government has initiated reforms in the media sector by enacting a conducive legal framework. This framework will allow for the development of the media sector, the promotion of access to information, an expansion of the freedom of press, thereby catalysing a vibrant and responsible publishing and broadcasting environment. Rwanda continues to receive different awards from various international organisations, with about 30 awards bestowed on His Excellency, Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic, over the last ten years. For gender equality, Rwanda is the world’s leading country in relation to the number of female Members of Parliament, with 56 per cent. Political inclusiveness at the level of all eleven political parties in Rwanda is evidenced by their representation either in Parliament (both chambers) or in Government.In the justice sector, Rwanda, a country that experienced an unimaginable genocide that took the lives of more than one million innocent people in three months, abolished the death penalty in 2007. Rescinding capital punishment was one of the main stepping-stones to the reconciliation of Rwandans. According to the 2012 Rwanda Governance Scorecard, published by the Rwanda Governance Board, the citizens’ appreciation of the state of the rule of law is above 73 per cent. This represents the percentage of the overall citizens’ high satisfaction as regards to access to justice, performance of the courts, prosecution and separation of powers.All the above tremendous achievements, against the backdrop of the ashes of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, did not miraculously fall from heaven. They are the result of the patriotic actions of different Rwandans who are ready more than ever to continue to uphold them in stability. What Rwandans achieved is not hidden. Everybody with goodwill can see it. Those who see it otherwise, are like those who criticise a cow for its “big udder” as described by the Kinyarwanda proverb “Ubuze icyo anenga inka, agira ati dore igicebe cyayo”. Such people, even as they know that the cow’s milk is very important for our health and that it comes from udder, they still criticise it – for the sake of it. Is it true that the characteristics of today’s Rwanda as above described can be considered as a result of lack of good governance, a failed state, or a country with no peace and security? Not at all! Rwanda is a country with clear vision and socio-economic and political inclusiveness where both Rwandans and non-Rwandans are proud to live. The writer is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda.