There is a serious problem brewing in Rwanda, but the western press seems to hung up on the realtively small immediate problems to notice the real problem. Kagame has consolidated a lot of power. He is overwhelmingly using that power for the good of the average Rwandan. The real threat is what happens AFTER Kagame. Will the next guy inherit all of the power yet not be as benevolent? This is what we should be worried about. It is what the average Rwandan is worried about.

I just returned from a few weeks in Rwanda last week and I'm not buying this article.
A few facts:
1) The development of road project and rural commodity markets (a huge one going into Bigogwe as we speak) is empowering the rural farmers to be able to negotiate a better price for goods. Rather than having to sit by the edge of the road and take whatever price the "urban elites" offer as they drive by in trucks, these farmers can now take part in a true exchange.
2) The amount of roofing tin being made available by the government is staggering. Likewise truck loads of clay for bricks. The housing situation is remarkably better than my first visit just a few years ago.
3) I'm not happy about some of the political jailings, but the idea that the government is invovled in the killings mentioned is stupid and the average person in Rwanda does not believe that. It is the small handful of people who long for a return to the violence of 1994 that has the most interest in political violence, especially when they can easily dup Western press into believing that it is the Kagame government that is responsible. Sorry to see Ms. Thomson fell for it.