I am Rwandan: I know how Rwanda went from zero to recovery. I grew up in the revolution. AMA

[Shmurda]

Tutsis are lost Cushites and our cousins

Here Paul Kagame with his long lost twin (Somalia's former ambassador to Ethiopia) and Somalia's former president Sheikh Shariif.

Lets say hypothetically you didn't know the 3 people in that picture. Now who would you assume is Somali and who would you think isn't?

 

[Ghengis Kaarhis]

most of us are in mtl and ottawa dats why

Shit ton in Edmonton too

 

[TopTutsi]

Shit ton in Edmonton too

u 4rm edmonton

 

[CaliTedesse]

Brother tell me about Kigali and are they friendly to foreigners?

 

[Intore]

how many cows for ur hand cherie
and cmon u know damn well ****uuu are full bantu

Lol. My dad gave 23 cows for my brother's wife. Then he turned to me and said, I want those cows back. So, yeah, that's how many.

Stp, il faut changer la mentalite a propos de tutsi/hutu/bantu et tt ca. At the end of the day, if you're Rwandan, you have bantu ancestry too. We will never get to where we want to be as a nation if don't eliminate this kind of thinking.

What do you think of the East African Federation you guys are supposedly joining? Good or bad? Considering some of the other countries are really struggling.

Honestly, I haven't thought much about it. But there's strength in unity. Even with all the chaos of our neighbours, we can't fight the globalization machine alone. We need our neighbours and we need other Africans.

Will it work? I can't tell. But we need it to work.

Brother tell me about Kigali and are they friendly to foreigners?

Yes. Kigali is one of the easiest cities to live in as a foreigner. It's clean, safe, walkable, friendly. A little quieter than most cities but once you get to know people, there's never a shortage of things to do. Come visit!

 

[CaliTedesse]

Lol. My dad gave 23 cows for my brother's wife. Then he turned to me and said, I want those cows back. So, yeah, that's how many.

Stp, il faut changer la mentalite a propos de tutsi/****/bantu et tt ca. At the end of the day, if you're Rwandan, you have bantu ancestry too. We will never get to where we want to be as a nation if don't eliminate this kind of thinking.



Honestly, I haven't thought much about it. But there's strength in unity. Even with all the chaos of our neighbours, we can't fight the globalization machine alone. We need our neighbours and we need other Africans.

Will it work? I can't tell. But we need it to work.



Yes. Kigali is one of the easiest cities to live in as a foreigner. It's clean, safe, walkable, friendly. A little quieter than most cities but once you get to know people, there's never a shortage of things to do. Come visit!

I have to apply for visa beforehand while countries in Africa can just obtain it on arrival and some African countries don't need a visa that's s*cks man. I thought Rwanda was better than this.

 

[Intore]

I have to apply for visa beforehand while countries in Africa can just obtain it on arrival and some African countries don't need a visa that's s*cks man. I thought Rwanda was better than this.

Not true. You can get a visa on arrival. I just double-checked: https://visalist.io/rwanda/visa-requirements/somalia

 

[CaliTedesse]

Not true. You can get a visa on arrival. I just double-checked: https://visalist.io/rwanda/visa-requirements/somalia

Thats what I said visa on arrival for some African countries and other African countries its visa free but me I have European nationality.

 

[TopTutsi]

Lol. My dad gave 23 cows for my brother's wife. Then he turned to me and said, I want those cows back. So, yeah, that's how many.

Stp, il faut changer la mentalite a propos de tutsi/****/bantu et tt ca. At the end of the day, if you're Rwandan, you have bantu ancestry too. We will never get to where we want to be as a nation if don't eliminate this kind of thinking.



Honestly, I haven't thought much about it. But there's strength in unity. Even with all the chaos of our neighbours, we can't fight the globalization machine alone. We need our neighbours and we need other Africans.

Will it work? I can't tell. But we need it to work.



Yes. Kigali is one of the easiest cities to live in as a foreigner. It's clean, safe, walkable, friendly. A little quieter than most cities but once you get to know people, there's never a shortage of things to do. Come visit!

idk I think in Rwanda its important to think like u but if us diaspora kids forget about these labels we forget about our history and the reason we are here in the first place. I dont hate or even think about huuutttus at all but I kno im not like dem if I was they wouldnt have killed my family.

 

[Apollo]

I saw a group of Burundians the other day (strangers, probably both H's and T's). The one who looked the most Somali greeted me (head nod), the other ones ignored me.

 

[Intore]

Thats what I said visa on arrival for some African countries and other African countries its visa free but me I have European nationality.

Oh, you meant free. Visa free is only for countries with whom we have a bilateral agreement that Rwandans will also not have to pay a fee to come into their country.

We were the first country to open our borders to Africa and we are very open to many more bilateral agreements like these but we are not giving away these priviledges for free either. It's a give and take - cooperation.

idk I think in Rwanda its important to think like u but if us diaspora kids forget about these labels we forget about our history and the reason we are here in the first place. I dont hate or even think about huuutttus at all but I kno im not like dem if I was they wouldnt have killed my family.

I understand. And I hear you. But I believe in the nation above the individual so I am willing to let go of my own hurt for the good of the nation.

 

[Intore]

I saw a group of Burundians the other day (strangers, probably both H's and T's). The one who looked the most Somali greeted me (head nod), the other ones ignored me.

Burundians have a completely different approach to the ethnic issue from Rwanda. They still identify as H and T. So I am not surprised. Even their neighbourhoods in Buja are H and T segregated to a large extent.

 

[CaliTedesse]

Oh, you meant free. Visa free is only for countries with whom we have a bilateral agreement that Rwandans will also not have to pay a fee to come into their country.

We were the first country to open our borders to Africa and we are very open to many more bilateral agreements like these but we are not giving away these priviledges for free either. It's a give and take - cooperation.



I understand. And I hear you. But I believe in the nation above the individual so I am willing to let go of my own hurt for the good of the nation.

That's interesting I heard lighter skinned Somalis are treated like dirt in Rwanda is that true?

 

[Intore]

That's interesting I heard lighter skinned Somalis are treated like dirt in Rwanda is that true?

I've never heard of this. Rwandans generally don't treat any visitors or foreigners like dirt. It's not our culture.

 

[CaliTedesse]

I've never heard of this. Rwandans generally don't treat any visitors or foreigners like dirt. It's not our culture.

Is setting up business there hard?

 

[Intore]

Is setting up business there hard?

No. It takes less than a day. If you have all your documents ready, it can take you six hours to get registered.

There are a lot of business opportunities if you're savvy. The market is small, but it is growing and the location is great if you want to access the rest of the region for a bigger market.

 

[Apollo]

About Rwanda's economy. Great for you guys in becoming Singapore-like in terms of public polices. But I think for Rwanda to reach true Singapore status it must be surrounded by more semi-developing regions. With unstable East Congo and South Sudan nearby this will be a major issue.

 

[Intore]

About Rwanda's economy. Great for you guys in becoming Singapore-like in terms of public polices. But I think for Rwanda to reach true Singapore status it must be surrounded by more semi-developing regions. With unstable East Congo and South Sudan nearby this will be a major issue.

True. An unstable region is always a threat to progress. We aren't getting to Singapore status for a couple of decades anyway: they were working with a bit more than we have to be able to move as fast as they did, namely a port and their location.

But hopefully within the next twenty years, the region will have become a bit more stable and international African cooperation will have improved.

 

[Nomadite]

True. Many Congolese people hate us. But you'll find that those who do aren't even in the DRC, but in the west. Actual Congolese in the DRC know the truth and they don't blame us for a complicated situation that we didn't cause. The ones in the diaspora believe the very real genocide denial propanda perpetuated by genocidaires and their allies to negate their crimes. These people have spread this Kagame massacred 6 million Congolese rumour to cement the idea of a double genocide and it has stuck. The number fluctuates between 6 and 12 million. Trust me, if 6 million people had been killed in this internet age, you'd have seen evidence of it. I mean, a little over a million died in Rwanda in 94 and you still have the images.

Did we go into the DRC after the genocide? Yes.
Why? Genocidal militia were camped among the Rwandan refugees and destabilising us. They were a threat so we had to neutralize them. Tell me of any country in the world that would ignore a threat on their borders.
Did ordinary Congolese pay the price for the conflict? Yes.
Did we massacre 6 million Congolese? No. There are over 40 rebel groups in Eastern DRC alone, funded mostly by the big corporations in the west. Watch a documentary called Virunga. Even if we could, we don't have the money to fund such activity.



Oya sha. Je suis Rwandais du vrai. Wowe sinzi niba uri Umunyarwanda ahubwo. Je sais que t'es un moitie Djiboutien mais si t'es un vrai Rwandaise, repondre en Kin. Merci.



Yes. I've been a lurker for a veeeery long time.



It looks overnight to you. It wasn't. The change you see now is the result of two and a half decades of hard work. From the time the RPF took over Kigali in 1994, they had a plan. We are nowhere near the end of that plan but we are on the right path.

Are we doing well? Relative to a western economy, no. Relative to other countries in the region with a similar GDP, yes. Considering that we started from 0, as in ZERO, only 26 years ago: a broken population and no natural resources, heck yeah!!

Have we arrived? Not yet. But you can be sure we will. Give us 20 years.



Kigali has seen the most development. But other towns are coming up slowly. We have a master plan for every town. For example, I went to university in a southern town ten years ago. I have been back twice in the last decade and while it's still a small town, the difference in infrastructure and service delivery is noticeable.

Also, Rwanda's real success is in reconciliation, government accountability and service delivery to its people. These are the things that can be achieved without a lot of money. Infrastructure needs money. Money we don't have enough of yet. But we will. One thing at a time.



He's the right man for the job: competent, no nonsense, incredibly hard working and a patriot. He's also flawed, but who isn't.



Please see above. He is not low key authoritarian. He is definitely authoritarian. But as a growing nation, we are not mature enough for democracy. Democracy isn't the one size fits all solution America would have the world believe. The concept has failed in most of Africa and it gave America Trump.

That said, he was democratically elected. PK, I mean, not Trump.

hes flawed in a great way however lol, has a terrible amount of blood on his hands but thats understandable to a degree given the history

 

[Nomadite]

This is not true. Only Tutsis have significant Cushitic ancestry (60+ %), the other two ethnicities have 0-5 % Cushitic ancestry.

last i had checked there werent many hutu samples, would be interesting to have some to see the diversity and overlap of the country, twa samples wouldnt hurt either