Rwanda National Congress

[random3434]

December 13, 2010 -- A group of prominent Rwandan leaders living in exile around the globe gathered in the Washington, D.C., area on December 11 and 12 to ratify a Proclamation calling for important political reforms in their native country and for the establishment of the Rwanda National Congress, "an umbrella, broad-based organization for all Rwandans to exert pressure and advocate for democratic change through peaceful means."

Arguing that the Rwandan "people have never had the opportunity to fully realize their aspirations for freedom, security and prosperity," Proclamation also asserts that under "the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), the party that governs Rwanda today... is now far less free than it was prior to just before the genocide."

Rwanda Democracy Now - Home

 

[waltky]

Rwanda supports rebel group M23 usin' child soldiers...

US Withholds Some Military Aid to Rwanda Over Child Soldiers
October 03, 2013 ~ The United States is withholding some military aid to Rwanda for its alleged support of a group that uses child soldiers.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, announced the sanctions Thursday in an online forum with African reporters. She said the sanctions are related to Rwanda's backing of rebel group M23 in eastern Congo, which the State Department says "continues to actively recruit and abduct children in Rwandan territory."

Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting the group. The U.S. is acting under the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA), which denies certain forms of military aid to countries found to be using child soldiers or supporting armed groups that use them.

Child soldiers, possibly Rwandan, are seen at Kanyabayonga in eastern Congo.

Thomas-Greenfield says the U.S. is dedicated to seeing that children not be put into combat. "Our goal is to work with countries [which] have been listed, to ensure that any involvement in child soldiers, any involvement in the recruitment of child soldiers, stop," said Thomas-Greenfield.

A State Department official tells VOA that Rwanda had been slated to receive a "small amount" of funding for military education and training in the coming months. Under the same act, the U.S. is withholding some military training funds to the Central African Republic, where rebels who toppled the president in March are also accused of using underage soldiers.

US Sanctions Five Nations Over Child Soldiers

 

[TinaTwilight]

Well the meeting achieved a number of visions that will be delivered to a number of organs, including the Leadership Council, before issuance of the final decision on the lifting of subsidy by the Council of Ministers.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hopefully they reform and then fund education, science, tech and infrastructure.

No reason why they can't be a first world country

 

[waltky]

Kagame plans to run for a third term...

Rwandan president to seek third term
Jan. 1, 2016 -- Rwandan president Paul Kagame announced in a televised New Years address that he plans to run for a third term.

"You requested me to lead the country again after 2017. Given the importance and consideration you attach to this, I can only accept," he told the nation in his address. "But I don't think that what we need is an eternal leader." Thanks to a referendum last month on changes to Rwanda's constitution, Kagame is able to run for one more seven-year term, and then two more five-year terms, meaning he could stay in power until 2034.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has announced his plans to run for a third term in 2017.​

Although Kagame became acting president in 2000, he has effectively been in power since 1994 when his rebel army took the capital city of Kigali in 1994, ending the Rwandan Genocide. Kagame was then elected in 2003 after Rwanda's new constitution was adopted, and was re-elected in 2003 and 2010. The referendum last month was denounced by the United States and the European Union as too speedy for voters to have made informed decisions on constitutional changes. The United States and the EU have also called for Kagame to step down in 2017 to allow for new leadership.

Although Kagame has been praised for sparking economic development in Rwanda, the BBC reported many accuse him of being a heavy-handed ruler, stifling opposition as well as the media. Two other presidents in the region are seeking third terms. President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi won a third term in July, sparking widespread violence throughout the country. Kkurunziza survived an attempted coup in May. The BBC reported President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo is widely believed to attempt a third term, despite a constitutional requirement that he must step down at the end of 2016.

Rwandan president to seek third term