Note from the publisher
Michela’s Wrong book has been much debated in African circles. Undoubtedly, as our reviewer has noted, Wrong is an accomplished and persuasive writer. She is an experienced journalist, and writes skilfully. This book will raise important issues, but it has also raised many eyebrows.
Often, with Western perspectives, the context is lost. And situations are often much more complex with many underlying forces at play. African Business believes in Africa’s future. That’s why we exist. But we also know that there is instability in certain parts of the continent and that there are existential threats, to countries, to whole regions.
Critics of the book have pointed to what they perceive as some of its flaws. The first is that Wrong, by her own admission, has not been to Rwanda in over six years, and as a result, they say, she cannot talk with any authority on the progress the country has made, especially in the rural areas. Those who have visited rural Rwanda will have seen a notable development impact on real lives. We are not just talking GDP numbers, but real impact.
In an excellent and balanced book review in Foreign Affairs, Great Lakes expert and academic Phil Clark, writes that the book’s main strength - its proximity to the opposition and to Karegeya in particular is also its greatest weakness. Wrong in her book warns that “the storyteller’s need to identify good guys and bad guys, culprit and victims, makes fools of us all”. Yet, Clark writes, “she falls into the same trap, mythologising Karegeya and the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) as inherently virtuous by dint of their opposition to Kagame and the RPF.”
In another article, Clark, currently in Rwanda on research leave, also writes that “calls for violent change come only from abroad not from Rwandans living in the country.”
A former BBC journalist from London now based in Rwanda, Vincent Gasana, agrees. “None of the reviewers [in The Guardian, New York Times, Spectator] seem to find it at least a reason for pause, that so much of the book appears to have been all but narrated by disgruntled individuals, many of whom found their democratic credentials the moment a date to stand before a judge on charges of corruption was set for them,” he writes.
Unconscious bias, or this particular way of writing on Africa still prevails, especially in the Western media. There is unequivocally the question of double standards when writing about Africa. In a recent interview with France 24, President Kagame, when asked about the trial of politician and activist Paul Rusesabagina, replied by saying it’s not because a trial takes place in Africa that it is not fair. Saying that something is only fair because it is European or American is tantamount to racism, he argues.
Wrong’s book makes for a good read but it is not without its flaws, say its critics. In his review, Gasana concludes that “Wrong’s book is a reminder that there is a great need for a book about the RPF, written without any agendas, with the truth as the only objective. Until then, we remain witnesses to attempt after attempt to rewrite history, Do Not Disturb being only the latest.”