I arrived back in Rwanda on Monday and there has been relatively little notable events in the country over that week—or so I thought. While Rwanda is often praised as one of the most secure Africa countries, we are surrounded by wars and instability. The DRC to the West is in civil war that constantly threatens the borders of Rwanda, Burundi is recently out of a 20 year war and the American Embassy evacuated all personnel last week, Kenya recently had election mayhem and Uganda is soon to come whenever Museveni is up for re-election again.
One night after I had returned home, I settled in by the radio to listen to the BBC World News in English and was stunned to hear that 18 military leaders had been sentenced for treason. What was their crime you may ask? These men attempted a coup d’etat bringing in grenades and guns from the DRC, but they were unsuccessful.
I wondered why no one here had heard anything about this so I went to town the next day and bought a paper where there was no mention of the coup attempt. I wonder how much of our peace and stability is an illusion or if the Rwandan government is suppressing this story because of the possible negative repercussions from the international community’s investment in Rwanda. However, for a democratic society that is lauded in the press around the world, this suppression of the story as well as the completely one-sided elections give me cause to consider the merits of having a military leader—democratically elected or not.
Other interesting things:
Gas Is 9+ dollars in the village for a gallon and 5 dollars in town. So much for 40 dollars a barrel huh?
The U20 World Cup Qualifier is here and I am going to see Mali and Rwanda play today
Our Houseboy Jimmy is going to school
