Rwandan-Canadians gathered in Toronto to connect with their community and learn about investment opportunities in their home country, as protesters loudly objected to the presence of President Paul Kagame.
 |
| Rwanda's President Paul Kagame |
Hundreds of Rwandan-Canadians gathered in Toronto on Saturday to
connect with their community and learn about investment opportunities in
their home country.
But there was a small but noisy presence from a couple dozen
protesters at the Rwanda Day event at Downsview Park, objecting to the
presence of Rwanda’s controversial
President Paul Kagame
.
This was the first
Rwanda Day
held in Canada after previous versions in the U.S., London and Paris.
Organizers said about 3,000 people attended, amid tight security and a
large contingent of Toronto police.
“The main objective is to reconnect members of the community living
abroad with their mother country,” said Shakilla Umutoni, Rwandan
chargée d’affaires. That included updating them on developments in
Rwanda and informing them of investment opportunities back home.
About 15 Rwandan businesses and a few Canadian ones set up information
booths at the event, she said, before the event turned into a party
featuring a performance from Canadian rapper Shad, who was born in Kenya
to Rwandan parents.
For Elvira Rwasamanzi, a 21-year-old biotech student from Ottawa, the
focus on investing in Rwanda was one of the main draws of the day.
“It was really motivating,” said Rwasamanzi, who came to Canada from
Rwanda as a young child. “It makes you want to give back because you’re
proud.”
Kagame used part of his speech to encourage Rwandan-Canadians to invest in Rwanda, Umutoni said.
“He said if you travelled all the way from your country and got to
Canada, take advantage of that . . . and do your best, not just for
yourself but for your country.”
But it was the very presence of Kagame that brought protesters to the
event, saying that Canada shouldn’t have let him enter given his record
on human rights.
Rwandan opposition figures have been jailed and several countries suspended their aid to Rwanda last year citing its
military support for M23
, a rebel group responsible for serious abuses in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations and human rights
groups. Kagame has denied involvement.
Protesters also cited a
2010 UN report
implicating the Rwandan government in killing tens of thousands of
Hutus in the eastern part of what is now Congo, following the 1994
Rwandan genocide in which Hutus targeted Tutsis and up to a million
people were killed. (Kagame and many of today’s government leaders are
Tutsis.) Rwanda denounced the report.
“Paul Kagame is a criminal financing a military movement in eastern
Congo,” said Aime Kabuya of the Congolese Citizen Movement. “He
shouldn’t have the freedom to travel that he does now. Why did Canada
give him a visa?”
Perpétue Muramutse of the International Women’s Network for Democracy
and Peace also raised concerns about Kagame’s pro-development message.
“The Rwandese are very poor,” she said. “They say there’s development
in Rwanda but it’s development for just a small part of the people. When
you go to the countryside, you see people with nothing to eat.”
Umutoni said she respected the right of protesters to express their
views, but questioned why they were raising those concerns at Rwanda
Day.
“This is purely a Rwandan event.”
By: Stephanie MacLellan Staff Reporter SCROLL DOWN TO LEAVE A COMMENT
No comments:
Post a Comment