NYAGATARE, Rwanda, Nov. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The once drought-stricken eastern region of Rwanda with virtually no food crops grown, is no more, some 20-years down the road. Massive government investment has turned it into the biggest source of milk, rice, bananas and maize. President Paul Kagame was there this Thursday (November 13) to appreciate the changes.
"We were standing here 20 years ago for a liberation battle," he told a thousand-strong crowd in Nyagatare, amid cheers, accompanied by the First-Lady. Bordering Uganda to the south, Nyagatare was the entry point in 1990 as Kagame led the liberation-struggle to stop the Genocide against Tutsi.
"But the struggle today is different," he said. "It is about security for every Rwandan and opportunity to earn a living."
Kagame reminded locals about the famine that ravaged the area: "…but along my way here, I only saw life; there are happy people, green hills and flourishing infrastructure."
Traditionally a pastoralist area, urbanization is eating up large sways of the region really fast, with magnificent infrastructures, clean water, electricity and beautiful roads.
Nyagatare district has big projects including a rice-factory, and large rice-plantations. There is a multimillion-dollar granite-factory, employing over 300 workers, and supplying the regional market with tiles.
The President has a special bond with this region where one of his signature policies for social transformation has succeeded; the One-Cow-Per-Family Program.
Over the years, the government has supplied free Friesian cows for milk production to 360,000 households, which has increased their incomes.
Nyagatare has become biggest supplier of milk – 85,000 liters daily, earning the district over Frw7b ($11million) annually.
Locals lined up during the interactive session with the president to heap praise on his government. One of them narrated his long journey to prosperity from a 2hectare free plot of land. "My two children are now studying in Beijing [China]," he said boastfully.
A woman wondered what she would be, had the government not introduced extensive rice-growing in the region. Her income has jumped from zero to thousands of dollars every season.
During his speech, Kagame maintained his signature message – demand for services as rights, and not a favor from leaders.
"You should not accept corruption in exchange for services," he said.
The next leg of his Rwanda trip takes him to Kirehe district, neighboring Tanzania.
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