KAGAME: A DISCOURSE ON STRONGMAN RULE IN AFRICAN POLITICS

Abstract

The 1994 genocide in which an estimated eight hundred thousand Rwandans were killed within the space of three months appears to be all that Rwanda needed to roust itself from the inertia of its pre-genocide decades (1962-1994); for since the genocide, the country has experienced a lot of “positive disruptions.†For example, ethnicity which was the major cause of the genocide has been banished from the front row of state organization, with the result that Rwandans no longer identify themselves as Hutu or Tutsi or Twa. Similarly, the genius for autogenic development has been unshackled, with the result that the country has become one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. Using Paul Kagame as referent, this paper discusses the need or otherwise for strong man rule in African politics. It concludes that, since strong institutions are not among the free gifts of nature, the continent needs strong men who can build the strong institutions it needs. Such strong men, however, should not be allowed to over stay in power or to rule without checks and balances.