The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame has asserted that the West’s standard of measuring progress in Africa is crumbling.
Mr Kagame has for a long time disagreed with how Europe and the West perceive Africa and impose upon it how things ought to be done.
Rwanda has made significant progress since the 1994 genocide where thousands of people died through a civil war.
Despite the significant progress Rwanda has made, there are criticisms of Kagame’s government.
He is accused of abusing the rights of his political opponents and suppressing opposing views, something he has rejected.
Kagame told The Africa Report that Africa for a long time has been struggling to follow the western way of doing things and achieving progress.
President Kagame says that system is crumbling as he signals Africa must take advantage of the situation and find it’s own way of doing things.
He said “Actually, it’s very ironic in a sense, and the level of cynicism as well. You see what Europe started doing and it went to the level where they thought – let me call it the West actually – they thought this system they have created is the best in the world, everybody should follow.
So everybody has been struggling to follow, especially Africa, to cope with the system, the dictates in the system by the West [who say]: “Africa, we measure the progress you are making against what we have created.
As we try to struggle to follow what has been created, now what has been put before us is sort of crumbling.”
He granted this interview to the Africa Report late in March following the Africa CEO Forum.
Defending Africa
Last month President Kagame also defended the human rights record of his country and other African countries.
He also accused the west of having “superiority complex” when it comes to issues of human rights.
President Kagame made those points in an interview with French TV broadcaster France24.
The interviewer asked the Rwandan leader about human rights reports that ranked his government poorly for abusing rights of political opponents among others.
Kagame however responded saying “You really need to stop this superiority complex nonsense about human rights.
“You think you are the only ones who respect human rights, all others are about violating human rights.
No, we’ve fought for human rights and freedoms for our people much better [than] you people who keep talking about this nonsense.”
Source: Africafeeds.com
