EU envoy told me: ‘I am proud to fund a dictator’
‘I HAVE no problem giving money to a dictator,’ a European ambassador to Rwanda told me. He had just promised about £200million of European taxpayers’ money to the Rwandan government, whose repressive ways he was familiar with.
He said Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, ran one of the most ‘effective’ governments in Africa. ‘I’m proud to be giving him money,’ he said. ‘We will influence the government in the right direction.’
Over the last decade, the world, including Britain, has financed Kagame’s government despite the killing of Rwandan politicians, military figures, journalists and activists. Independent institutions have been all but stamped out. The parliament, courts and media are all under Kagame’s control.
The UK has been one of the staunchest supporters of Kagame during this repression. DFID gave £76million in aid to Rwanda last year. This year it will give £42 million. It is money that strengthens Kagame’s systems of mass control, as it goes through government agencies and to government-approved projects.
Kagame also enjoys political friendships across the British political spectrum. Tony Blair’s Africa Governance Initiative places British consultants at the heart of Kagame’s presidential office. Cherie Blair is a lawyer for the Rwandan government, recently defending the head of Rwanda’s intelligence in a British court on alleged war crimes.
And the Tory Party runs Project Umubano in partnership with Kagame’s government, sending MPs to Rwanda each year to take part in social projects.