Topic: Paul Kagame

Paul Kagame (born October 23, 1957) is the current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide. Under his leadership, Rwanda has been called Africa’s “biggest success story” and Kagame has become a public advocate of new models for foreign aid designed to help recipients become self-reliant.

However, involvement in the Congo Civil War and the recent and mysterious death of opposition deputy Andre Kagwa Rwisereka has seen doubts raised over his Government's policies and motives, particularly regarding political freedom. All major parties opposed to Kagame were disqualified from participation in the 2010 presidential elections, and Kagame subsequently won with 93% of the vote.

Kagame was born to a Tutsi family in Ruhango, Rwanda in October 1957 to Deogratius and Asteria Rutagambwa. In November 1959, an increasingly restive Hutu population sparked a revolt, eventually resulting in the overthrow of Mwami Kigeri V Ndahindurwa in 1961. During the 1959 revolt and its aftermath, more than 150,000 people were killed in the fighting, with the Tutsis suffering the greatest losses. Several thousand moved to neighbouring countries including Burundi and Uganda. In all, some 20,000 Tutsis were killed. In 1960 Kagame left with his family at the age of two and moved to Uganda with many other Tutsis. In 1962 they settled in the Gahunge refugee camp, Toro, where Kagame spent the rest of his childhood years. He attended Ntare Secondary School in Uganda. During this time Kagame was a "motivated student" and bore an early fascination with revolutionaries like Che Guevara.