Politics sovereignty , the urgent need for African public policymakers to reclaim the mantle of charting the continent ’ s future away from foreign consultants and experts who often have superficial and shallow understanding of the issues , the contexts and the problems over which they are dictating policy directions and prescriptions .
How Rwanda Dodged the Bullet of International NGOs
Alphonse Muleefu
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I
previously had high hopes in the role of International Non-Government Organisations ( INGOs ) in bringing about positive change . However , the more I interacted with them and reflected on their reporting on Rwanda , especially when it comes to the efforts the country has put into resolving the consequences of the 1994 genocide against the
Tutsi , the more I became disillusioned and started questioning their purpose . While I blame this initial trust in INGOs on my naïve understanding of the way the world operates , I am still intrigued by Rwanda ’ s bad relationship with most of these organizations and the activities of the civil and political rights ‘ activists ’ representing them . Given the complexity of the causes of this bad relationship , it is fair to argue that the conflict is too deep to be resolved anytime soon . Here is why .
First , post-genocide Rwanda started rather stubbornly . In less than five years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi , Rwanda expelled about 40 INGOs that were deemed redundant . The decision
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