Vianney Kabagema, 86, left many in shock as he broke down into tears
An 86-year-old man from Ntongwe sector in Ruhango district, Southern Rwanda, left many in shock as he broke down into tears after describing President Paul Kagame’s pro-poor leadership system that has transformed his wellbeing.
This happened during the ongoing consultative debates on whether article 101 of Rwanda’s constitution should be amended to allow Kagame run for another term.
Vianney Kabagema, who was among 38 residents given the chance to deliver views on constitution amendment, changed the debate mood as he cried like a baby.
“I have lived under many regimes in this country, but I haven’t seen a leader like Kagame. When I returned back home from exile, I had nothing…I didn’t even have a cow, but Kagame gave it to me. I now enjoy milk like any other Rwandan,” he said amidst tears rolling around his cheeks.
Kabagema, who fled Rwanda to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) years back due to ethnic tensions, returned back after the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.
“With my age, I never expected to work make ends meet, given that I was aged. But what Kagame has done to me is unbelievable,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kabagema’s shocking cry came a week after thousands of Rwandans demanded parliamentarians to swiftly work on their petition for constitution amendment to keep Kagame in power.
As the three-week debates reached 8th day, Nsengiyumva Étienne, a resident from Rusizi district surprised MPs with a cow a giveaway petition for the constitution to be amended immediately, before handing the cow over to MP Mwiza Esperence.
While ordinary Rwandans mounted pressure on MPs to respond to their petitions, same demand shifted to members of elite, insisting on removal of presidential term limits.
“Presidential term limits should be removed and give Kagame limitless terms to lead us until he turns 90…This can’t come as a surprise. It happens in many countries all over the world. A case is Germany that also scrapped term limits,” Shema Pierre, a lecturer of law at Kigali Independent University’s Rubavu campus told MPs.
For Vianney Kabagema, losing a leader like ‘Would be lifetime regret for Rwandans.”