Rwanda: Case Analysis on USAID Fiscal Year Assistance of 2011

By Abukar Sanei
May 10, 2010

Background

Rwanda comes from a background of mixed ethnicity, religion and

colonial powers. The population is 10.7 million, and there are two main
ethnic groups: Hutu and Tutsi. The Hutus are the majority group, and they
hold 84% of the population, and they are originally the inhabitants of the
land. The Tutsi group, on the other hand, makes only 15% of the population,
and they are described as immigrants from some parts of the Horn of Africa
in the 15th century. Furthermore, before the colonial powers put their feet on
Rwanda, the Tutsi group had already established a monarchy system that
governed the country for many years. Moreover, even though conflicts
between the two groups have been there for a quite long time, the 1994
genocide was the worst catastrophe the Rwandans have ever witnessed. In
it, 800,000 people lost their lives within three months and half. For instance,
the Rwandans are also different in terms of traditions that they uphold. The
majority of Rwandans attach themselves to the Roman Catholic Church, and
the percentage of this category is 56.5 where the Protestants, the second
largest religious group, are 26%. Adventist Church is another minority
religious group and it holds 11.1%. Moreover, there is a small minority group
of Muslims, which is 4.6%1. For the first time, Germans have arrived in
Rwanda as colonizers in the late 19th century, and the Tutsi king surrendered
his sovereignty to them without any resistance. Eventually, Belgians chassed
out the Germans from Rwanda, and seized control over Rwanda in 19152.
However, Rwanda achieved its independence from Belgian in 1962, but the
worst action that the Belgians have done was to divide the people of Rwanda
into ethnic lines rather than the national identity that combines the people
together as one nation. As a result, the tension between the two groups has
begun during the early years of independence, and hundreds of thousands of
Tutsi were killed or fled the country in recurring violence over the
subsequent decades3.

For the political situation, Rwanda is not an electoral democracy. However,

the first presidential election since the 1994 genocide was held in 2000, and
Paul Kagame, who was born in western Rwanda in 1957 and grew up in
Uganda where his parents fled to escape the Hutu violence, has been
selected by the MPs as president. In this election, he claimed a landslide
victory4. However, even though the country has been relatively stable
politically and progressed economically under Kagame and the Rwandan
Patriotic Front (RPF), the International Crisis Group (ICG), a conflict
prevention agency, reported in 2002 that Mr. Kagame’s administration has a
zero tolerance on criticism or challenge to its authority5. Furthermore,
presidential and parliamentary elections were held in 2003 and 2008, and
the international observers reported that these elections presented a limited
degree of political choice. The constitution grants the rights to establish
political parties, but only under certain conditions. One of these conditions is
that the political parties must be free from what is called “genocide
ideology.” However, the ruling party is the one that sets the guidance that
the political parties must follow. This idea of combating “the genocide
ideology” provides a sense of understanding about the stability that Rwanda
has been maintaining after the genocide. But the opportunity cost that is
associated with this idea is visible in the political rights and civil liberties
areas. Victoria Ingabire, a Hutu and an opposition leader was arrested in
Kigali earlier April this year. She just returned to Rwanda in January this year
to register her United Democratic Forces (UDF) party and launch a vigorous
campaign against Kagame for August 2010 elections. The accusations
against her are included “spreading genocide ideology, and collaborating
with a brutal Rwandan rebel army based in Eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo. However, she was released on bail on last month6.

Corruption and silencing the media is another factor that undermines the
scores of political and civil rights of Rwandans. The government tries to
combat corruption, and a number of senior government officials in recent
years have been fired and faced prosecution for alleged corruption and
abuse of power. In April, two generals were arrested on charges of corruption
and misuse of office. For instance, the government has suspended two local
newspapers for allegedly insulting Kagame, inciting the police and army to
insubordination and creating fear among the public7. Religious freedom is
respected, and even clerics, unfortunately, were among both the victims and
perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. Even though the constitution grants the
freedoms of speech and assembly, they are strictly limited. Civil society
organizations are only respected if they don’t interfere in the issues of
democracy and human rights. All these activities have led the government of
Rwanda to be under “Not Free” status as its scores for political rights and
civil liberties are 6 and 5 respectively.

USAID 2011 Fiscal Year for Rwanda

The total USAID assistance for Rwanda is $240,219,000, and there are four
main projects associated with this assistance. Investing in people gets more
than $183 million. Economic growth is $50.4 million. Governing justly and
democratically receives $5.9 million. However, peace and security is just
$900,000. There are sub-categories in each of these main projects that the
USAID requests for approval. Investing in people combines health, education
and global health and child survival. Economic growth has five sub-
categories of infrastructure, agriculture, private sector, economic opportunity
and environment. Rule of law, good governance, political competition and
civil society fall under the category of governing justly and democratically.
Peace and security, which is the least priority in the projects of USAID, has
two main sub-categories: foreign military financing and international military
education and training. These are what the USAID asks for its fiscal year
2011 for Rwanda.

Likelihood of Success

It is for sure that the USAID has done its assessment on how to allocate
these resources in a perfect way to improve the Rwandan situation.
However, there is a great emphasis on investing in people. The challenge
question is why this emphasis was put in this area? The basic answer is that
empowering people in education and improving their health care has a direct
impact on democratization and security. The causes of the unfortunate
genocide in 1994 can be related to lack of awareness of the sanctity of the
human life regardless of ethnic differences that may exist. However, from
AIDS to a family health, Rwanda has shown better result for money spent in
improving health care fundamentals. Nevertheless, getting those basic rights
is the only foundation of the nation’s broader plan to become a middle
income country by 20208.

Economic growth, which is the second priority for USAID assistance to

Rwanda, plays a crucial role in development, which can be a road to
democratization. The government of Rwanda is doing a lot of things right. It
is pretty open in its handling of aid money, and the state is leading the way
in economic and technological reform in the region. Moreover, there is
improvement in the country’s infrastructure, education and farming9.
Progress on economic situation increases the well-being of Rwandans, and in
fact, erases the nightmares of the horrific genocide that they have done to
themselves. However, in the long run, investing in people and economic
growth will have an impact of changing the political system towards
democracy and freedom from oppression. There is a little emphasis that the
USAID puts on governing justly and democratically, and it can help holding
the government accountable and protecting the rights of the people.

Alternatives

Even though investing in people and economic growth are some of the tools
that can be used for minimizing the potential risks that may exist in a society
such us Rwanda, they are not enough in producing a complete positive result
in the short run. More than 70% of the entire USAID budget for Rwanda in
2011 has been categorized for investing in people. However, the two
categories of peace and security and governing justly and democratically
deserve more attention from the USAID. They are the basic components that
can help the ethnic groups to gain more confidence among themselves.
There is a rebel Hutu group that is based on the Democratic Republic of
Congo, and it’s possible that they can succeed in their mission to overthrow
the current system, which is led by the Tutsi group of the RPF. Therefore,
putting emphasis in peace and security is an issue that the USAID cannot
underestimate.

Governing justly and democratically is another component that the USAID

did not give much attention to it. It is true that Kagame has moved the
country forward economically, but the human rights abuses that his
government commits cannot be ignored. Kagame’s government has passed
laws against disseminating “genocide ideology,” and he claims that these
laws are necessary to keep Rwanda back from the abyss of violence10.
Consequently, rival politicians are connected to this “genocide ideology”
even though they might be free from this allegation, and just want to freely
participate in the political process of their country.

The USAID projects on Rwanda are not balanced, and such area should not
have been poured most of the assistance. Even though the goal is to
establish a just society, priorities must be re-evaluated. Limiting the freedom
of expression, and preventing political participation and even not letting the
Human Rights Watch researchers11 to get into the country is a serious issue
that needs emphasis from the USAID and other foreign donor agencies that
want to help the Rwandan people to recover from the wounds of injustices
that cost them to lose their beloved ones in one of the most horrific atrocities
in the 20th century.
© Abukar Sanei

Endnotes

1. The CIA World Factbook, Rwanda: People

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/rw.html

2. The US State Department, Rwanda: History, People and Government

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm
3. Freedom House, Freedom in the World-Rwanda (2009)
http://freedomhouse.org
4. Ibid

5. BBC News, Country Profile: Rwanda

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1070265.stm

6. Scott, Baldauf. Rwandan Opposition Leader Ingabire Released on Bail

The Christian Science Monitor, April 22, 2010.
http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/29
6232

7. David, Kezio-Musoke. Rwanda Denies Political Crisis before August

Vote
Reuters, April 27, 2010.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2010/04/27/AR2010042702845_pf.html

8. Ruxin, Josh. 16 Years after the Genocide, Rwanda Continues Forward

The New York Times, April 6, 2010.
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/16-years-after-the-
genocide-rwanda-continues-forward/?pagemode=print

9. The Economist Progress and Repression in Rwanda. March 4th, 2010

http://www.economist.com/world/middle-
east/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=15622375

10. Kinzer, Stephen. The Limits of Free Speech in Rwanda. March 2, 2010
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/m
ar/02/rwanda-free-speech-genocide/print

11. Letter to Rwandan President Paul Kagame. April 28, 2010.

Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/04/28/letter-rwandan-
president-paul-kagame?print
.