Latest update March 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 27, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News – This past week, one of the Caribbean’s elder statesmen, Keith Mitchell, was defeated in his country’s General Elections. He lost to a baby-faced, 44-year-old political newcomer, Dickon Mitchell (no relation).
The election of the youthful attorney-at-law has set tongues wagging. Many local bloggers were in ‘oohs and aahs’ about the election of such a young person to high political office. It must have escaped their attention that Guyana has a President who is younger than Dickon Mitchell.
President Irfaan Ali was in the spotlight this past weekend in Rwanda. He was selected to be at the head table for the closing g press conference of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
I can hardly recall any Guyanese leader – Burnham, Hoyte, Jagdeo or Jagan – ever being accorded that honour. It should have been a moment of great pride that Guyana’s youthful President was given such a signal privilege.
I wondered whether it was too good to be true. During the question segment of the presser, a journalist asked a question about the takeaways of the Conference. He had prefaced the question with what appeared to be an attempt at fishing for compliments about Rwanda’s achievements since the end of the genocide in 1994.
Interestingly, the re-elected Secretary General in her response said that she would pass the mic on to President Ali for him to deal with Rwanda’s inspirational leadership in rebuilding the country [following the genocide]. That moment, at least to me, appeared all too scripted.
President Irfaan Ali was eloquent and lucid in his response. He noted that what the Commonwealth needed at present was stability and bold, innovative and visionary thinking. He said that the combination of the Secretary General and the incoming Chair, Paul Kagme provided these qualities.
Perhaps, it should have ended there. It is normal for invited Heads to give some praise to the host country and its leadership. But President Ali decided to lather the praise on thickly. He said that when you look at what President Kagame has achieved in Rwanda, it speaks to a leader and a country that has a vision, and who pursues bold and creative initiatives. President Ali continued that, given the food, energy, climate, and inequality crises facing the world, such leadership is required today. This was overreach at its finest.
The President had in his delegation to CHOGM persons skilled in international relations. They would have been a better position to advise him to moderate his praises for Kagame and Rwanda.
They would know that the hosting of the CHOGM in Rwanda was by no means uncontroversial. In the run-up to the Meeting, serious concerns arose about the political situation in Rwanda.
These concerns may not have been seen as serious when Rwanda was selected to host the 2020 Summit. Then Rwanda was the poster-child of neo-liberalism and democracy, the twin concepts which the western world was offering as the prescription for African development.
Since 2020, however, Rwanda’s star has dimmed. This has been mainly on account of concerns over political excesses and human rights and the state of the country’s economic underbelly.
When Kagame decided to pursue neo-liberal economic policies, he became the darling of the West. But Rwanda is no fairytale story. Even when it comes to ending the genocide, the verdict is out. The microscope is zeroing in on the role of Kagame’s Rwanda Democratic Front during the latter days of the genocide.
Rwanda is now seen as a threat to stability. Rwanda is now being accused of aiding violent anti-democratic rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kagame’s government recently attracted displeasure by its signing of an agreement with the United Kingdom (UK). Like the government of Sierra Leone did years ago with Australia, Rwanda is poised to become an offshoring processing centre for UK asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East.
Kagame’s government is being accused of suppressing the opposition, engaging in human rights and democratic freedoms. Kagame himself is viewed as a tight-fisted ruler.
Strong-armed tactics is being credited with aiding in the country’s so-called economic success. But the economy has long been floated by extremely generous foreign aid, a steep climb in personal remittances and high dependence on foreign direct investment including from China. The rosy picture of its economy is being disfigured by extremely high levels of debt-to-GDP ratio and the almost 25 percent contribution of foreign aid to national income. Rwanda is a bubble waiting to burst.
All these concerns were kept under the lid during the just-concluded CHOGM. And, unfortunately, Guyana’s President ended up being lured to honey-coat Kagame’s record.
President Irfaan Ali is the Caribbean’s youngest Head of Government. He has much to learn, as his recent forays in Rwanda indicate. He is a humble and approachable person who should not be afraid of seeking advice.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
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