hello and welcome to crossfire where all things considered i'm peter lavelle almost twenty years after the genocide some claim that rwanda is not only on the mend now but also could be considered a development model for other african countries to follow what accounts for rwanda's turnaround is it due to good governance or is it because of western foreign aid aid some say is given because of a guilty conscience. to discuss the situation in rwanda i'm joined by on the revolt check in nairobi he is a novelist filmmaker and an investigative journalist in washington we have anthony

kim he is a senior policy analyst at the center for international trade and economics and in london we crossed to michael amoa he is an expert on africa at the london school of economics ok anthony if i could go to you first how would you describe the situation in rwanda because there's a lot of positive news coming out but there's a lot of political news that isn't so positive so give me the balance. that's true what rwanda is going through is kind of interesting transition as we have seen that has been making a lot of positive progress in terms of economic development over the past twenty years so this is a combination of both good governance and less than forty in aid but more importantly the gyro the one people they want to achieve a better future that's why they've been implementing a lot of good policies in terms of moving forward the countries ok michael in london how would you assess the situation in the country. i mean i think i can say that you know g.d.p.

for example has been increased for the past three years at least it was about seven point two percent in two thousand and ten went up to eight point six percent in two thousand and eleven and seven point seven percent in two thousand and twelve so the g.d.p. figures does show that the countries where all the of course the public debt has also been too high for example public debt in two thousand and eleven was twenty four point five percent and that came down to twenty one point eight percent in two thousand and twelve it's come down but public debt of twenty percent in any country is quite alarming so i think that for a country like rwanda which has fewer natural resources and so long look country to be doing so well it's a sign that good governance is taking place but michael if i can stay with you i mean a lot of people say it's because of foreign aid. forty percent of the budget is foreign aid well yes some part of the budget is foreign aid but i think the important message is to what extent the aid is being applied properly i mean we have

instances where aid is given and be squandered by politicians but with the evidence we see on the ground suggests that the aid is actually being used for the purposes for economic purposes for developmental purposes and that you rwanda seems to be seriously wanting to come back to the road map of the world to try and get out of the the horrendous genocide that took place twenty years ago ok under a year you made a documentary called rwanda gambit ok what if you if you heard on this program that you agree with or disagree with go ahead. i fully disagree because actually i don't think we can even talk about the economic growth with a clear conscience in rwanda because most of the economic growth comes from the absolutely. unbelievable plunder of the neighboring country. on behalf of the vesting company and list of governments that is an absolute cover up

we are talking about the genocide in ninety ninety four but in fact different to genocide in one thousand nine hundred four and there is ongoing genocide in which between six and ten million congolese people died and of course. uganda in unison out of blundering congo that's the essence of the economic growth and it's absolutely a known fact in europe in the united states it's an absolute cover up anthony cover up go ahead how would you respond is too much i don't think i don't think that's what's happening here as we know many people know that there were movie save hotel rwanda but today's wonder is different because i mean it's very vibrant and the gross rate is real since two thousand and ten and the economy it's even more than seven percent g.d.p. growth rate per year yes the country is going to. very tough transition but we have to recognize that development pass rwanda has been mapping out in terms of promoting economic freedom it's not an easy process it's not going to be done

overnight but the country has been moving tours for greater economic freedom again it's not an easy process but the country has been demonstrating its willingness to achieve economic development they need it michel is there is economic development for everyone is everyone treated the same in the country. i mean that is impossible in any country but in rwanda we can say that forty four point five percent of the country is to live in under the poverty line. and ninety percent of the country basically ninety percent of the labor force are basically unfun this striving you know from from the bare land to the many rich people in the country and we kind of guarantee that the development is actually being spread equally across. the state however what we can say michael told you don't you think that's

important considering the genocide was committed there. yes i mean to actually come out of. the genocide is a very big task you have to realize that. with a country a country like rwanda with such few resources having to sit down and actually recover from the reconsideration process let alone have the presence of mind to actually engage in development with ninety percent of the of the people just being peasant farmers you have to wonder where is the development going to come from and how is it going to take place so you're talking about a steady hand of governance you know with government steadily implementing think state by state out of nothing to get to where they are at the moment so that way in the east even if some things are being taken out of. congo there's still the fact that some steady hand is actually shaping however many mark development

east taking place ok under a under a go ahead jump in how would you react to that. i filmed in the on the great lakes region for more than three years travelled all over rwanda first of all i don't buy for one second the story about the economic development as i said it's from blundering of course internally that gone through absolutely horrific shape you can if you come to gully of course you see the clean roads and clean clear buildings you see it along the three or four main roads you go all of that main shock and you see mel nutrition. the state of food occasion social services sort of horrific when i was filming that only five to seven percent of the population at access to electricity and this is to people for example which was also starting from year to zero. access almost two hundred percent of the people have access to electricity it's a new a liberal it's

a suitable capitalist model very much in washington and in london and it's absolutely. irresponsible to say that there is any social equality i mean the plunder the forming can go to distributing among the population the same can be said about uganda and other you know go who are in this project and you know down also very complex stories to both genocide let's talk only about genocide of ninety ninety four zero four zero hutu skilling tutsis that was also preceding issue of. attacking rwanda and shooting probably down the airplane but that ended and boom the end presidents something that i have testimonies from the united nations investigative sume crown prosecutors who got sidelined by the united nations and. forced to resign when they found out that the

bulk. of the. responsible for shooting down the plane anthony was in anthony. and the on board anthony you know it's seems like we in the in the media you want to have a good story about rwanda because of the genocide i mean is this because of guilt in the west noah well i don't i don't think so necessary i mean here is a situation i think the gentleman's point i think there was a peter in london his point was very one sided in a sense i mean i understand that as a fellow and director he was on the ground looking at those situations but again we are talking about luanda genocide since one thousand nine hundred four making step by step development it's not going to be a one year process or two year process the country has been moving to a better and greater economic environment well again a lot of people are still suffering there is no doubt about it but if you look into it in a big picture the country has been making progress in terms of at delivering better

social development in terms of you know education and health well let's compare. what happened you know before one thousand nine hundred four and now so it's a work in progress that any single country has achieved any significant economic development or one year or two year process twenty years later rwanda is a different place twenty years ago michael again i want to stay with the guilt issue is that why aid goes there because nothing was done during the genocide. years i'm not completely agree with the analysis is that once you move out of kigali it's all just rural. and that's very true i mean you grew up in the us you know it is actually the most densely populated country in africa we're talking about some one thousand people per square mile and that's not enough for public wealth to go around and i think what's clear that we start there has been

stable government for the past twenty years and showing some stability and some security however we also know that you are the house contributed to the easter bunny to next door in the congo. for which much you know. to say you know the roundabout contributed to establish the next oh nobody actually knows what the repercussions might be either in the now in the distant future so we need to bear that in mind as well ok gentlemen we're going to go to a short break and after that short break we'll continue our discussion on rwanda stay r.t. . this . is a. good

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and. i. think. welcome back to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle to mind you were discussing the situation in rwanda.

on there how would you describe the government in the country. well it's a it's a fascist dictatorship basically you have got almost behaving as a serial murderer. he goes after the opposition you know this man is not really just killing people at home he's going to go after them to london in london in south africa just about every i interviewed two people from so-called gang of four i have them on the record they are all out of county and you probably want to know that the most of the western viewers snow or your viewers know the from the film called hotel rwanda correct. demanded the manager of the hotel oh this is a beginner it's also in exile now in south africa so even the man who the best this ignited as

a national hero of rwanda who was supposed to be saving tutsis. from bad who to see sexually exult he's in south africa so basically half of the kaga most men are abroad the opposition main opposition of figure victoire. is in prison the us. famous us defense attorney peter erlinder who came to defend her ended up in jail for so-called genocide denial that denying of the genocide. i mean even the western media even the police of london of else warning after the election . about the danger for the people who are crossing. now this is about this own opposition but what about eight to ten million people or six to ten million people depending on the balance in congo. it's absolutely unbelievable that we can sit here and even discuss the issue of the economical grows. ever think

it's congo is being plundered while children been men of a man or a killed today to destroy. that was that you had not been going to board do years ago let the u.n. track down the activities that will soon recently border reports one after another and list of must meet is just refusing one of the really one of the reasons that's one of the biggest why we're doing this program anthony would you like to reply to anything we just heard yeah i think that's why i guess i only had bespoken petered out it was andre's point of what i was saying it was one sided yes i mean those political situation and security situation it's kind of listen it's a developing situation we have to look into really in detail and still you know ongoing where we already some teachers and i recognize that so that's a political part but we cannot sum that up as a consequence or the outcome of all twenty years rondo's economic development

anthony why should it be one thousand nine hundred has been drawing if the if the country is governed that way should begin be given aid. mean well now we have to reassess that again but one does success over the last twenty years is that soley depend. of the forty nine eight the country had the willingness to develop its own economy through better policies that promotes economic freedom for people again i wonder how that the countries work in progress and the country's at a critical crossroad at this point ok michael how do you settle in light on the government in the country. when under a said wasn't very nice ok clearly. i mean one thing that's clear i mean i think the common factor in this is that there's been a steady hand there hasn't been a change in government and he seems to be fairly in control we have to realize he's got some three to four years to go in this time this political stability there

is still be creative vironment for economic growth i think one significant factor to do with the recent surrender of. who is the who has been the head of the m twenty three rebel group and now that he's firmly in the hands of the i.c.c. when he's actually extradited. to the hague we know once the trial begins he will start singing and then we're going to know the real part of the has been played by the rwandan government in the congolese rebellion problem. it would appear that some of the evidence that is required by the international community to actually judge the government to rwanda is is potentially on the way and will have to know where to take it from there but most importantly actually is that there has been stuck with eighty within which up at least you know some sort of growth can take place in fact all part of the issue with rwanda is actually the

half of the country is within the fifteen to fifty four wage group which actually means that they have a kind of a. younger population and of course you've got the north to forty percent also about forty percent. of the of the country so it would appear that you know you're going to have a country that with a young with a young population for the next ten to twenty to thirty years who if they actually put their hand to the plough and are serious. to the country alex its current economic status into a better one if they work hard enough under franco you why is the government given a free pass what's the agenda. of both basically serving the interests of the first. congo has called them all using our mobile phones. which is used for defense they're a dime others that is separate thing so basically it was always in the interest of the u.k. and the u.s.

to support this brush and star state because it's just plundering you know it's not it's not trading it's plundering now speaking about the economy. like saying that nazi germany experienced economic growth while it was sponsoring france and poland and the part of soviet union during the during the second world war of course of that enormous economic growth so the su under it's a fascist state which occupies one of the richest countries so nerd or part of it which is the. most it's richest part. which is i have in my film. former u.n. h.c.r. head who is openly openly telling me how the extraction of materials is happening how the smuggling. but all materials to do. to uganda how it goes through kenya all this is where it will documented there is no there are no disputes now. in the military part going back already for genocide pre nine

hundred ninety four year. u.s. ambassador robert flattened said on my film former u.s. ambassador to the on the before nine hundred ninety four that u.s. was actually of supporting militarily r.p.s. of paul kagame have been r.p.s. and paul kagame a bit of based in uganda you should not forget that paul kagame of intelligence military intelligence chief of uganda can you imagine a military intelligence chief in the neighboring country so he was sitting on the border we flew under before tonight united for shelling is so i'm going to be performing crates and it was fully supported from the united states so this is this is on the record this comes from the u.s. former u.s. ambassador all the analysts now the fact that this is a known fact in the west is a total mystery it's a miracle ok anthony would you like to reply to what andre unsaid. yeah absolutely

i mean again with all due respect andrea's point again i think is a bit short side one sided and is very narrow minded it is not true and to look at anybody is it true is it true does he have the facts right let me busy have yeah let's get to the fact that. yes well his facts well he knows the political situation probably better than i do but let me separate these two issues economic issues and political issues in terms of economic issues rwanda has been developing its own economy since one thousand nine hundred four but the country's development process hasn't been finished yet the country has a lot of challenging situation in terms of institutional building the current government it has a lot of problems in tom's oh protecting property rights installing strong law and effective a lot low as a matter of fact and a lot of corruption pervasive across them to doze key issues must be addressed if

it wanda wants to continue its own economic development with the west some forty eight without any instability ongoing so it's a critical time for the wanda to go through with his political transition as well as economic transition ok andre you're disagreeing go ahead. can i ask the gentleman who just spoke of what is the. main economic indicators it's export the fifty and go for it isn't it and it's three times less sort of than the. official export of gold through on the m.b. old know that through on the does not produce school. and it's not only going to become series g d p. go ahead of any country is a building of its base so a lot of infrastructure construction so a lot of those those kind of basic stuff is gentle waiting in total economic development yes exports are important but the country has been in

a really really messy dire situation before one thousand nine hundred four but since then the country has been moving towards a right direction the process has been finished once again it's all knowing it was a good idea for your country is willing to undergo if you want to be hunter is willing to develop its own night before it was the. hit on the day before nine hundred ninety four actually before the nine hundred ninety four to go into you had to it could all be programs because it got totally destabilized move isn't that. what i mean you can you know blame wherever you know i.m.f. or a capitalism or whatever but but what is important at this point is since one thousand nine hundred four people. they want to have a better economy they want to have a better future that's why they build up their already economy and i think the gentleman in nairobi mentioned something very important the young population they want greater economic freedom to have a better economic future so that's why i say as i said earlier this is very

critical time for lawanda this kind of political situation as well as on going economic development they have to find out really how to get to the kind of these ideas so i go to london i mean is rwanda just at the center of an asset grab actually known who are not really enough naturally and i see eric's point but if you name it it's been a concern is but its neighbor is. tons and maybe there are things around i think what they're actually in against at the moment is to do with transportation or links to rwanda. to rely on all these neighbors to be able to transport things so that's why exports may need to kenya and uganda and tanzania and neighboring countries and of course you have to rely on these countries to bring imports in as well essentially the whole picture is that this is a country

a poor country with very little to go around tried to manage its meager resources so you know how to build development from scratch from states right and that's what i'm going to have to gentlemen i'm going to have to jump in here were brought out of time fascinating discussion many thanks indeed my guests in nairobi washington and in london and thanks to our viewers for watching us here argue see you next time and remember. when their own country can't offer them a living loving others sometimes have to leave their children behind. i do like to work just a bit longer. is the dream of millions of migrants that their children might choose

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