Joseph Rwagatare
The New Times
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Joseph:
Another view of new year celebration
We are well into the new year, well, only three days really, but we are already settling into it. The partying is over and so too the good cheer and best wishes, and probably the... → Read More
Leadership deficit, curse of bounty; the issues that blight DRC
We live in the most beautiful, most naturally endowed neighbourhood with the most wonderful people on earth. I am not exaggerating. The Great Lakes Region of Africa is all these... → Read More
Parents, please speak Kinyarwanda with your children
It doesn’t happen often in this town, especially in the affluent areas. It is rare to find a middle class family speaking Kinyarwanda with their children. So you can imagine my... → Read More
Scaremongering, racism won’t stop UK migrants finding compassion in Rwanda
This week, the first group of migrants sent from the United Kingdom arrive in Kigali. They will arrive amid loud noises of protest in England. That noise will grow louder. In Rwanda the contrast could not be starker. They can expect warm reception from a friendly people, comfortable lodgings and a happy stay for as long as they wish. Of course, no one is under any illusion that they will want to… → Read More
Tutu brought charm and simplicity to greatness; he would frown on intolerance
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was laid to rest on New Year’s Day in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the latest Africa’s liberation hero to leave us. Many have already gone, some very early in their lives and others after a full life. Titans all and revered. But some have had their role reassessed and either been reviled or had their reputations severely altered. That comes with the territory. Greatness… → Read More
There’s room for all in the park, a place of true diversity
We are counting days, fourteen to be exact, to the opening of an exciting new addition to Kigali’s leisure spots. Nyandungu Eco-Tourism Park will open to the public on December 1. The park, a reclaimed and redeveloped wetland, is one of those laudable initiatives to make the city more livable. Of course, Kigali is already attractive, but additional beauty, a blend of urban and country, and a… → Read More
‘Remarkable Rwanda’ is not just a marketing slogan but what the country really is
Everyone, even sceptics and optimists, agree that these are truly hard times. All recognise the disruption of practically all aspects of life and the uncertainty about when things will return to normal. What’s perhaps different is how people respond to the times. We humans are generally a complaining lot whatever the circumstances. In good times and bad we will go on about things not going quite… → Read More
As Kagame hails teachers for indispensable service, they must live up to high expectations
Monday, October 5 was World Teachers’ Day, and as has happened every year since 2002, Rwanda’s teachers joined their colleagues around the world to mark the day. This year, the celebrations, if they can be called such, have been done in markedly different circumstances. The covid-19 pandemic has changed many things and still hangs over many things. Large gatherings are not possible and so… → Read More
Rights groups violate those rights in their persistent persecution of Rwanda
Individuals make mistakes. Organisations do. Errors of judgement occur. Deception takes place. It is normal, indeed human, and happens all the time. What is not normal is to persist in doing wrong even when that has been pointed out repeatedly. When mistakes happen, the usual thing is to admit the error, correct course and move in the right direction, and if anyone has been wronged, ask for… → Read More
Rwanda is gone too far ahead; lies and insults won’t pull her back
Some years ago, a New York Times reporter described the Kigali International Airport terminal building as a throwback to the 1970s’ style. The airport was not an essential part of his story, but still he found it necessary to throw in this description in the narrative. The 70s architecture was, for him, an important discovery that validated his view of Rwanda – a country stuck in the past,… → Read More
Any other tough measures against Covid-19, but please no total lockdown
It has been the element missing from the campaign to contain the spread of covid-19 and bring it under control altogether. Until last week not many had seen a patient they knew or the places where critical cases are treated. Few had seen a neighbour taken ill and die. They have not been to the funeral of a covid-19 victim. Only health workers were privy to this sort of information. The disease… → Read More
Add to sex offenders register those who frustrate reporting of offenders
The law is getting tougher on offenders in certain criminal offences. Sex offenders, especially rapists and defilers, have been put on notice: If found guilty, their names will be published for all to see. There will be a register of such offenders to which everyone will have access. The minister of justice said a public registry should lead to a reduction in such crimes by acting as a deterrent… → Read More
It’s East Africa’s election season, but little change expected
Reading the East African press (old East Africa), you would think the region is in the thick of election campaigns. Electoral politics dominates the news even in this time of the covid-19 pandemic. But such is East Africans’ genius in turning everything to political advantage that they have co-opted covid-19 into partisan politics. All the drama of elections is present: intrigue and… → Read More
Death of a president and hope of revival of a nation
He is the grim reaper, the great leveller, the fearless one, the inescapable, and many others names. These are all oblique references to death that attest to its power and perhaps human helplessness. Some in Rwanda give their children names that seem to acknowledge this as reality. For some reason, when death is personified, he is male. Perhaps it is because he is seen as strong, unrelenting,… → Read More
In Rwanda the state is shepherd and everyone the other’s keeper
I don’t read the bible every day, and so I am not the sort to quote chapter and verse at every turn in a conversation. But I know it enough to have some favourite parts, courtesy of six years of my youth reading sections of it and listening to sermons based on them daily, and every Sunday for my whole life. One of my favourite parts is Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd. It speaks of total trust… → Read More
FEATURED: Govt invests heavily in STEM education in Rwandan schools
Ask any Rwandan, even in the remotest place, what this country’s education priorities are and you are likely to get one of these: ICT, science, girls’ education. All are correct. Rwanda has given the teaching and learning of Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) a special place in the education system. Girls’ education, too, has been at the forefront, but even here STEM takes… → Read More
FEATURED: Better teachers, more schools, new curriculum: Rwanda’s education looks bright
No other sector gets as much public scrutiny as education does. With good reason: it affects every individual, each household, community and the whole country in a very direct, immediate and personal way. When things are going well, everyone is happy. No one comments on that. However, when they are not, or are thought not to be, going quite right, they become a subject for public concern and… → Read More
Rwanda: Why We Need Heroes
Opinion - Today is Heroes Day in this country. We honour and celebrate our national heroes for their vision and patriotism, their acts of courage, selflessness, and sacrifice. → Read More
Mugabe defiant even after the end
Former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, died on September 6, 2019. His burial was scheduled for Sunday, September 15. African and world leaders duly gathered in Harare on Saturday 14 to give him a fitting farewell. The funeral service was held but not the burial, which was put off for another thirty days. Mugabe refuses to leave this world, at least for a month. So the man loved and lauded… → Read More
Fear of power of example, the reason behind Rwanda’s latest bashing in Western media
Have you heard of the Resident Presidents? It is a two-man satirical act, starring Olushambles and Kibarkingmad, commenting on events in Africa on BBC radio’s Focus on Africa. The two men came to mind when I read two articles, one in The Atlantic and another in The Financial Times. I imagined what a New Times version of their act would sound like and it was like what follows below. “Kagame is a… → Read More