Last week I read with bewilderment our Nigerian expert Chude Jedeonwo declaring: ‘Kagame could be the next Mandela -if he steps down’.  I know he thinks he means well, but although I do not speak for all my countrymen, I must decline the offer, here is why. As we commemorate a century since Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born, this is ...

‘La guerre est la continuation de la politique par d’autres moyens’, disait Carl Von Clausewitz, officier prussien qui a combattu Napoléon au XIXème siècle. Beaucoup ont dû être surprit, à juste titre, par l’annonce de la candidature de Mme Louise Mushikiwabo, ministre rwandaise des Affaires étrangères, à la tête de l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Depuis presque trois décennies, le Rwanda ...

My mother was arrested in ‘Ibyitso’ (spies) After I was born, she stopped studying and came to look for work in Rwanda. She opened a hair saloon for women in Kigali, she seemed to do well, or at least in my baby opinion, because she came to see me in Goma every month with bags full of gifts for me, ...

IN Rwandan culture, nothing is more precious than a visitor; the ‘milk for visitors’ is set apart and handled with special care. An evening chat with visiting colleagues last week however, revealed that the culture is shared across the continent; a Senegalese insisting that ‘Teranga’ (hospitality) is even a national slogan. So too will I not diverge from the culture ...

For the last couple of months I have been reading Israeli media with interest because my country Rwanda has been coming up at several occasions. Unfortunately, I am troubled by the image that I see painted of the country, the government, but mainly the Rwandan people. Our country is portrayed as a terrible place to be deported to; our government ...

‘A man having sexual relations with another man’s wife is the highest invasion of property and a man cannot receive a higher provocation…’ English Lord Chief Justice John Holt, 1707 Summary: Having examined the Rwandan constitution, Rwandan Positive Law, international law, international jurisprudence and doctrine, this paper highlights potential legal and social inconsistencies in the act of criminalizing adultery, and argues ...

Since mayors are elected not hired, we don’t get feisty kids who grew up in Lagos, Jo-burg or New York City for Mayors. We get God fearing, decent family people, straight from the ‘hood’. Luckily they don’t run this town; we do! You see, people don’t visit cities because of the niceness of their citizens, the affordability of their hotels ...

A tribute to my Uncle Musafiri Ntwali Ruhumuliza Rwandan Independence Day doesn’t mean much to me – or at least nothing worth celebrating- that’s the day my grandparents were being chased like animals and killed. My real independence is on the 4th of July when, I and my people finally returned to the land of my ancestors after 30 years ...

For a gunslinger coming out of town to challenge the sheriff, one must be a sharp shooter – well Frank isn’t, or if he is, he has no bullets. This isn’t a campaigning piece. Like I’d declared to the Supreme Court when I filed an amicus curiae in his support, I am not affiliated to the Green Party, I am ...

GPS is a new technology. Just over two decades ago ships navigated on the high seas using stars. My father was a Navigant. He’d been regional best in maths and physics, so Mobutu paid his astronomy and maritime Science. Predictably, Mobutu’s fleet had gone bankrupt by the time he graduated, he spent his young adulthood aboard Belgian supertankers navigating away ...