At the Washington Post, Joann Weiner asks “Does Rwanda’s economic prosperity justify president Kagame’s political repression?“:
In June this year, the United States expressed its deep concern about the arrest and disappearance of dozens of Rwandan civilians in Rwanda over the past two months… A month earlier, Human Rights Watch had identified 14 people who have been “forcibly disappeared” or missing in Rubavu, with state agents involved in at least eight of the cases. The New York Times ran a profile of Kagame a year ago titled “The Conscience of a Strongman” that noted Rwandan dissidents who call him a tyrant and accuse him of using questionable means to silence his critics.
However, Weiner notes that a survey of Rwandans last month found “trade, agriculture, and jobs, were far bigger concerns than corruption”. Also:
The American government, also, doesn’t seem too concerned about these issues. At the conclusion of the U.S.-Africa summit, Obama included Rwanda as one of six African countries in a new peacekeeping partnership with the United States… U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power recently said that civilians in war-torn areas trust Rwandan peacekeepers to protect them…
Someone else who’s apparently not “too concerned” is Rick Warren; Larry Ross Communications reports:
Warren is currently in Rwanda with leaders from more than 35 nations, including 31 African countries, Russia, China, India and the U.S. training Rwandan pastors on the principles of being a Purpose Driven Church and The PEACE Plan.
The training is preparing for an All Africa Purpose Driven Church Continental Congress to be held August 6-10, 2015 in Rwanda, which will bring together pastors and church leaders from all 54 African nations in conjunction with Rwanda Shima Imana, a Day of Thanksgiving to celebrate reconciliation and gratitude on the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide…
Warren emphasized that both the leadership training this week and the Congress in 2015 will emphasize reconciliation, with Rwandan leaders sharing their stories of forgiveness and healing following the 1994 genocide, which took the lives of 1 million Rwandans and left 1 million children orphaned over the course of 100 days.
“I believe the secret to Middle East peace is in Rwanda” Warren said during a press conference in Kigali on August 11. “World leaders should be studying Rwanda. This should be the model.”
The Christian Post has further details:
…The 12 pastors who serve on the Rwanda PEACE Plan Board of Directors joined Warren for today’s press conference along with eight of more than 25 leaders that serve as Master Trainers for PEACE.
“These men, whether you realize it or not, are world leaders,” Warren said. “What they are doing with churches in Rwanda is being watched by churches all around the world.”
The PEACE Plan works worldwide to Promote reconciliation, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick and Educate the next generation, through a massive effort to mobilize millions of Christians to combat the five global evil giants of spiritual emptiness, self-centered leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease and illiteracy/education, according to church officials. Since its founding, Saddleback has sent over 23,000 members to implement The PEACE Plan in all 197 nations of the world.
In the past, I’ve wondered if Warren might ever have to put a bit of critical distance between himself and President Paul Kagame, who first invited him into the country; it doesn’t look like it.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
