Rwanda: Gacaca Courts Ill-Equipped - Report

George Kagame14 June 2007
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Kigali — Lack of infrastructure for Gacaca jurisdictions is one of the reasons for delayed justice for thousands of Genocide suspects, a Senatorial report has said. The report, a product of investigations by the Senate's Standing Committee on Political Affairs, indicates that many Gacaca tribunals lack court rooms, while those available are too small to accommodate trial attendants. Even those in place are in very bad condition, adds the report.

The report, which was presented by the committee's chairperson Immaculate Gahima Kayumba, says that as a result, many Gacaca sessions are held in open space, the reason why they always postpone proceedings whenever it rains.

"(The situation) has forced Gacaca judges to conduct trials in open places - sometimes under trees or stadiums. Because of this problem many cases have been delayed for very long periods.

"This is because when it rains or gets too hot, judges suspend hearings, which has subsequently led to backlog of cases," Kayumba said during a power point presentation to the Senate on Wednesday.

The senators' investigation covered a period between 2000 and 2007.

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The report also says that there were reports of Gacaca judges allegedly taking bribes. It also notes that there are some Burundian nationals who participated in the 1994 Rwanda Genocide and later fled back to their country.

Kayumba said such cases were reported in the areas of Kibungo, Kirehe, Ruhango and Ruhuha.

The Rwandan government has previously appealed to the government of Burundi to help prosecute Burundians that participated in the Genocide.

However, the report observed that tremendous progress had been registered under the Gacaca judicial system, citing cases where people willingly told the truth, thereby promoting reconciliation.

Kayumba also said many citizens are "very responsive to Gacaca proceedings (through) contributing ideas and asking very important questions that help guide judges during proceedings."

Rwanda: Moral Values Thrown to the Dogs, As Pastor And Economist Incarcerated

George Kagame29 September 2007
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Kigali — Altering tender regulations to benefit themselves is the latest favourite pursuit for many officials in Rwanda's public sector; from senior officials in government ministries to public parastatals have not spared the tax payer in their effort to fleece money from public coffers.



Retired Colonel Charles Musitu and Anastace Ntabahire-both senior officers with Travaux d'Interets Generals (TIG) are accused of breaking the law while awarding Prosper Muhirwa-a businessman a tender to supply food to prisoners in the Southern Province. The two cohorts awarded the deal worth Frw 43 million to Muhirwa without the consent of their boss, Emmanuel Twagiramukiza. The corruption suspects on top of side stepping the law, also inflated the value of the tender from Frw 28m to Frw 43m, and never advertised the deal as the law stipulates-instead they just called Muhirwa at a personal level that he had won the tender.

Like Commerce Minister Protais Mitali-who was accused of allegedly messing up the tender to import oil into Rwanda, the two TIG officials reverted to the time tested cliché- they were trying to avert a food shortage crisis at a prison facility in Kamonyi District. Twagiramukiza, (who has since left TIG), has vehemently refuted reports that Musitu and his colleague were solving a food shortage crisis, "They had more than thirty days to handle this particular case, which they did not." he said. TIG serves community by organising community service activities for Genocide convicts. In a related development, a senior official from the Ministry of Finance Jean Jacques Nyirubutama who is accused of defiling his 14 year old housemaid will have more days languishing in the less alluring environs of Central Prison. This is after prosecution refused to accept his plea for bail at Nyarugenge court of Lower Instance.

Moral corruption has attacked the house of God as well-at the heart of Kigali's Shining Light church actually.


Pastor Charles Murenzi has been in the media lately for all the wrong reasons-but he has also consistently been on the defensive. First it was a couple of girls who accused him of sexual harassment, then one of the girls allegedly 'kidnapped' his teenage daughter-who mysteriously disappeared from home and according to reports headed to Kampala, only to return by herself. Now Pastor Murenzi has been arrested for rape and defilement cases. The whole of seven girls reported to CID headquarters how their pastor Murenzi has sexually harrassing them in the past.

Unfortunately Murenzi, accompanied by his wife Jolly is the one who took himself to be arrested by Police; he had gone to Kacyiru Police headquarters to deny the accusations of the girls, who say the Jesus man(Sajjawalyayesu as known in Uganda where he was a pastor too) used them whenever his wife was away. Murenzi who works for his wife as an assistant pastor in the family run Shining Light Church has come out strongly to defend her husband against all the accusations. Concerned with the increasing reduction of moral values in this country, Parliament has decided to institute a law banning the practice of homosexuality in Rwanda. Though the homosexuality syndrome in Rwanda has so far been appearing in prisons, the legislators are concerned that the practice will soon break into mainstream society as it has happened in neighbouring countries in the Great Lakes Region.


Nonetheless, the legislators say they need to prempt the issue, "We don't have a specific law against homosexuality but we have a law that states that a person gets married to another person of the opposite sex," Francis Kaboneka said. It remains to be seen what the government will do about homosexuality, as Justice Minster Tharcisse Karugarama said, "Issues of prostitution and homosexuality are sensitive but government has more concerns to give prominence to than those."

It is generally considered that government exists to help society understand and participate in sensitive issues-there's room for wonder what exactly the honourable minister meant by "sensitive". While many public leaders are busy fighting to retrieve their loss integrity or lack of it, two senior army officials were recently in the dock for allegedly facilitating the escape of city Tycoon Assinapol Rwigara. General Kaka and Rusagara won the right to have theirs (integrity) as they were acquitted by the Military Tribunal. The court did not find evidence enough to incarcerate the army top shots for unprofessional behaviour of disrupting justice and letting Rwigara off the hook during a funeral early last month. The Judicial Sector in Ruhango is at loggerheads after the disappearance of court files containing the minutes of cases against Genocide suspects in the area. Genocide survivors in the area allege that the case of one Thaddee Mukezabatware, an official with the Adventist Relief Agency-ADRA has not been brought to answer; they also accuse the Adventist church of blocking Gacaca proceedings by using biblical teachings before and after Gacaca sessions.

"The suspected Genocide masterminds are protected by the church and Mukezabataware is one of them." Mulinda Byuma one of the survivors says.


Rwandan business tycoon Miko Rwayitare 65 passed on to the next world last Tuesday while undergoing a routine surgical operation in a Belgian Clinic. Miko was a multi millionaire with huge investments in the telecommunication industry owning 40 percent of cellular networks that serve the Sub Saharan regional market. He is also listed as the first person to make a cellular call on the African continent in 1986, according to UCT School of Business. The billionaire was buried on Thursday in South Africa. Miko's death comes not long after the death of another money magnate Vedaste Rubangura. The tribal wars in Eastern Congo were back again last week after a brief period of a ceasefire between General Laurent Nkunda and the DR Congo government, the armistice lasted for only three weeks. Nkunda- it has come to light is not fighting against the government of DR Congo but fighters belonging to Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda-who stand accused of carrying out the 1994 Genocide, these bandits want to exterminate Congolese Tutsi tribesmen to which Nkunda belongs.

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Rwanda is the most improved nation according to The Ibrahim Mo index; the index compiles data about government in African countries and rates the countries according to improvements in the public, private and security sectors. Mo Ibrahim is a Sudanese entrepreneur that has set up a different version of awards to rival the Noble prizes. The prizes will be awarded to African leaders that demonstrate commitment to improving the quality of life for their citizens. Bernard Kouchner and Dr Charles Muligande Foreign Affairs minister for France and Rwanda respectively met in New York last week for the first time since relations between the two countries broke off diplomatic relations a year ago. It was not established what exactly the two ministers discussed but analysts say the meeting could help starting dialogue between the two states.

From sports circles it has been reported soccer super stars Zinedine Zidane Didier Drogba, Nwanko Kanu, are expected in the country-yes-Rwanda for a charity match in the weekend of 13-15 October.

Minister Habineza said the match is aimed at boosting football standards in the country as well as improving bilateral relationships between French soccer players and their counties of origin. It is not known yet which among France's black players on the national team is from Rwanda.

Rwanda: Kigali's Cost of Growth

George Kagame15 June 2007
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Kigali — Kigali Central Prison, 1930, to be moved.

The announcement by the Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Fazil Musa Harerimana that all the prisons in Kigali, Rwanda's capital city and all metropolitan towns will be shifted to less crowded places is just the latest signs of a turning socio-economical destiny of the country.

The land surrounding Kigali Central Prison, commonly known as 1930 has already been


"sold to private investors," to quote the minister, who are likely to build new modern housing and office blocks. The minister however, could not divulge information relating to whom the land was sold to.

It is a fact that the general demand for industrial and development premises, most certainly above 10,000 sq ft, is increasing, nowadays is interesting to note that identifying suitable sites within Kigali and the surrounding region for industrial development is extremely difficult at the present time yet demand for such space grows everyday.

While on the face of it, with reference to Kigali City Council's land allocation plan and the new master plan for urban housing, you would feel that many sites are available for development; upon further investigation one may find very few ready for immediate development like it is being portrayed.

This acute shortage of residential and industrial land has been intensified by many former industrial allocated sites being re-developed for residential schemes which generate higher land values, such as the 600 hundred low income housing estates in Remera that the city recently embarked on.

Demand for residential land

Demand for residential land is at all time high and there does not seem to be a downward trend in the market, at least at present with national and international companies targeting Rwandans in the Diaspora, with the crafty but appealing advert 'own a home at home campaign' the competition is very aggressive for suitable sites.


In the recent past, largely unexpected, high increase in rates and the potential of a further rise, many people in the market place are erring on the side of prudence although, given the shortage of quality investment product, yields being achieved continue to sharpen.

Yields for quality office buildings in Kigali City have materialized and indeed will continue to do so in the near future (subject to no major increase in rates). With all the commercial activity and new jobs being created, the need for more housing stock continues to arise.

The hard work of the City Council and many leading investors in the city has been instrumental in providing a comprehensive master plan for the re-development of key locations in Kigali. These are the ongoing revitalization of the city centre, the suburbs, an industrial park set to be built in the east and the imminent shift of the city centre to southwards.

The latter location will see a surge of new residential development over the next few years with approximately 100 acres allocated to industrial/commercial development just before Kabuga along the road to Rwamagana.

Kigali City has come a long way, for now 100 years, the changes no longer just have to be talked about but are actually happening. The foundations of success have most certainly been laid and the growth is now being constructed.


International events such as the recently concluded International Conference for Women, where the city hosted President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, International investment conference when many of Africa's leading business executives and the forth coming International Conference on HIV/Aids activists slated to take place mid June boost and will further enhance the profile of Kigali City.

However, there is still a lot of hard work to be undertaken and no matter how good the feeling of success may be we can never become complacent, says Mr. Bruno Rangira the Director of Communication and Media in Kigali City Council.

Minister Harerimana says his ministry will respond to the increased need for urban development land, "The construction of new prisons will result in improved conditions for the inmates". He says, through contributing towards construction plans, inmates will considerably reduce the costs of building and resources will be considerably freed to improve other services within the prisons.

There are two possible options in respect of the replacement of the outdated prisoner accommodation at Remera, the first is to redevelop the area, according to the Minister, and the Remera prison will be refurbished to host all juvenile convicts in the country whose number is now estimated at 1,000.

"According to the plan, the new facility would cost over Frw6 billion but we are planning to cut the cost by using the services of inmates in constructing it, and the work will kick off next year," Harerimana said.


The second option is to relocate the prison to a new area like 1930 which is set to relocate to Butamwa in Nyarugenge District, where the district gave the Internal security ministry 800 hectares of land.

Modern prison

The prison at Remera will be changed and remodelled. It will have three main wings for women, children and men.

Also planned are state-of-the-art executive cells that will be put in place in case foreigners are arrested in Rwanda and need solitude.

"Our judiciary has of recent been credited internationally and we may one time be asked to host international prisoners as it is the case for Mali, which is detaining Rwanda Genocide convicts. We shall be using such cells which will be self contained," he said. Six Rwandans including former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda are currently serving their respective sentences in Mali after being convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, (ICTR).

Meanwhile the construction of the new prison will start from a block that will serve as a transit centre for suspects (who will be transferred from ICTR) during the course of trial, as their designated prison is the newly constructed Mpanga, in Southern Province.

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It is one of the terrible ironies of Kigali life that the sprawling prison complex at 1930 has been having a crude form of in cell sanitation, well as outside their jails, prisoners looked far well fed. Some times even looking far better than normal citizens, conditions inside the jails were appalling.

Upon entering the prison, a visitor was welcomed by a very violent stench of a mixture of urine and body sweat. At night the stench took another ugly form that mixed to form a nasty smell around the prison. The sale off of the prison will significantly increase the sanitation in that area.

An argument can be made for maintaining a city centre prison, especially one which is close to the main judicial courts and can facilitate trials and committals. It is possible following a reallocation of functions and remodelling that Remera prison would be used for that purpose.

The location is also is very convenient, Batumwa is close to the main road, and access to the Supreme Court is very easy. So the ministry in choosing Butamwa in Nyarugenge District and Remera which is very near the Supreme Court in Kacyiru was good enough.

Rwanda: Banking in Country - From Exclusive Individual Clubs to Serving the Masses

George Kagame23 October 2007
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Kigali — A banking hall of the Housing Bank in Kigali. Most banks have adopted ICT to reduce congestion.

From the 1920s under the Belgian administration, the monetary and banking systems of Rwanda and Burundi were integrated with those of the Congo.


This state of affairs did not practically change till after 1994, the only interruption being the robbery of the Central Bank during the 1994 war. The monetary sector of Rwanda did not really make a significant impact on majority of Rwandans. Many described the sector as an 'exclusive for individual clubs'. Today the impact of the monetary and banking business is being rejuvenated at a breakneck speed. Not only has the economy expanded, but many of Rwanda's commercial banks have been taken over by 'strong' investors, thanks to good leadership and regional intergrations.

"We were even able to make profits during our first year and even introduced new products," David Kuwana the boss of Rwanda Commercial Bank proudly says.


With the recent developments in the banking sector , more Rwandans have started saving, the monetary sector has expanded. "From January to August 2007, Banque de Kigali (BK) has registered increased account holders by 1,681 clients. BK is encouraging its clients to save (more), because when they save there's capacity to borrow, and this will increase their capacity to invest. He adds: "We encourage people to have long term benefits, where we can give interests- for example BK gives 9 percent on a year-saving-scheme. With inflation, he says his bank adjusts to demand by reducing costs such that savings can go to clients.

David Kuwana, the Rwanda Commercial Bank (BCR) managing director says the privatisation of the banks was important. BCR was able to reset. And, today it is run like an international bank. Kuwana says the coming of Ecobank, Access Bank and the other international banks is not a surprise. "The takeovers are good for the country because it brings a variety of experiences and a new banking culture," he says.

Like hawks, leading banks are presenting very ambitious commitments. Many of these commercial executives have mastered government programmes like the Vision 2020, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

They have also grasped various government reforms while talking to their clients. Their talk is interjected with anacetodes of political programmes meant to get as many people out of poverty as possible.


Jacky Kayiteshonge of Bancor says, "It is the stability not the resources of Rwanda that is attracting investors. They want to take advantage of the region, Rwanda has become a key player in the region." He says at Bancor, they simplified banking and taken services closer to Rwandans. Banque de Kigali has taken on Rwanda's ICT infrastructure to serve their clients better.

"BK has set out to reduce inconveniences in banks. We want to reduce long queues in banks in banking halls," Gateera says. ICT will allow a customer to carry out bank transactions from the comfort of their homes by use of internet. The bank is also issuing VISA Cards, which is credit to travellers.

They can easily pay back at their convenience and reduces risks of carrying cash. The entry of international banks is a vote of confidence in Rwanda's stability and the benefits of Rwanda's joining the East African Community. Many of the banks entering Rwanda's market have had their operations in the region for years. And their recent entry into Rwanda is seen as an attempt to scout for opportunities in the now enlarged East African Community. "I think it is a healthy development because of the new players.


Banks will offer better services, make more business because of increased capital and competition. New players are bringing in new ways of doing business. This is therefore a good thing", says Consolate Rusagara, the vice Governor National Bank of Rwanda (BNR). The crucial sectors that Rwanda's commercial banks intend to exploit and help expand include the coffee, tea, horticulture and the tourism (eco-tourism, hotels and restaurants, leisure activities) sector.

Others include: The manufacturing, ICT and telecommunications, energy and finance. Rwanda's economy is predominantly agricultural. The sector contributes over 40 percent of the country's GDP and employs nearly 90 percent of the workforce. Coffee, tea, fresh fruit and vegetables, cut flowers and pyrethrum are the main export crops. Coffee and tea account for more a large part of the total agricultural export value. "We are looking at rice driers, agro based vehicles as a potential intervention to help our clients in the agricultural sector," Kuwana says.

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While BK's Gateera says they are increasing the amount tobe lent to the agricultural sector. The Housing Bank is currently seeking to increase its share capital which offers opportunities for institutional and private investors, both local and foreign. Private-sector participation is crucial for the further development of the housing sector in Rwanda, and the high demand for housing in Rwanda also provides opportunities for estate and property developers.

The main sectors and industries targeted by the Government as engines of future economic growth include ICT, construction and property development, manufacturing, horticulture, coffee, tea, crafts and tourism and, to a smaller degree, textiles and apparel.

With the possible exception of textiles and apparel, all of these sectors have significant potential for growth and are likely to be among the main engines of Rwanda's future prosperity.

C notes inventory 3

One of the stories I'll love telling my fellow Africans back in my hometown will be the inexplainable weather by their standards of geography and climate.
Its difficult to explain to someone who grew up watching the sun raising at 5.30 am and setting at 6.41 pm that in some places the sun sets past 9.30 pm. If you are well brought up you can try and explain it and they will understand the movement of the sun and the bi-polar movement of the sun and moon, it can all be understood.

The first time I heard of this eccentric movement of the sun I was still in Africa and two western friends were discussing the weather in Canada, these friends of mine considered the topic too complex for my small mind to figure out. So David Kawai, one of my closest friends told the other two no to bother explaining to me about the lateness of the sun to set in Canada: "He will think its devil worship," he told them.

Talking about Kawai, this gentleman must have had a very low opinion of my conceptual ability, he is the one who introduced me to facebook in mid 2007. The first time he mentioned it we were talking the apparent ease and abuse with each which European girls-on tour in Africa-use their women power to get African guys into bed. The men fall in love and then the summer suddenly ends and the guys are left with mouthfuls of broken hearts.
Kawai explained to me that facebook is a file in which European girls post the faces of African guys they have fucked!!!!!

Communication is that subtle in the west and to be able to understand one's statement your mind must be working in double shifts.
So your truly with a modest level of education initially could not understand facebook and Canadian sunsets, I wonder what my colleagues on the shores of Lake Victoria can make out of the the sun setting at 10.00 pm!!!!!

Canada Notes 2

The weather is a topic of paramount importance in the Western World, residents of a specific city or town in Canada check on the temperature, clouds, traffic and every detail connected to the weather before making any decision.

There are whole radio, television and internet channels dedicated to informing residents about weather forecasts. It is interesting. The weather here is important because it is the only thing that technology has not been able to change a bit. Here everything is done with the most convenience to consumers, for example there’s a cloth washing machine, one for the dishes, for the courtyard anything else you can imagine.

Consumers here also have been tuned to take advantage of this technology, there are machines marketed to help you loose your tummy, belly, machines or diets to help you reduce fat, machines to help you think faster, machines to cook, or even already cooked meals that you can buy in the superstore. Every imaginable need has a solution here. Am now considering going to a night club where you all you have to do if you want to get laid is to look at a woman that you admire inside the club. It is not hard, it is a nude club. Before entering, all the patrons are required to undress and remain utterly nude. Iinside you can kiss, get laid and after you pick your clothes at the entrance and go back home or the club arranges for you a cab to drop you.

If you have a sexual orientation that is eccentric the marketeers here also you’re your problems at heart. You will see adverts of married women that are available for a quick anytime you need them, there are others that specialize in giving lunch break quickies’ and even gay men that advertise themselves as experts in giving the best blow jobs for married straight or any kind of man that is interested.

The prostitution industry here is also very convenient for the men, women host their pictures on websites-some have websites while others have myriad sites that market them to potential clients. Anyhow, Charlotte a prostitute puts her picture on the internet and provides information about her sexual specialty and the charges. She leaves her email address or phone and you can call her to have paid sex at her place or your place. Prostitutes here are very organized, they have receptionists, trade unions and the government recognizes them as vital to the daily economics of the country.

With such targeted problem identification and solving, there’s little about life’s issues that is not diagnosed and solved. But be savvy as they are, be technocrats and capitalists as you can imagine, the western world has failed to deal or change the weather to their convenience. Winter comes around October and sends chills down the spines of everybody; bodies become wrapped up in heavy clothes for the next five months, while inside the houses heaters make noses breed. During summer the air humidity itself is crazy, people sweat endlessly and if you don’t drink large amounts of water dehydration can kill you and the cycle is permanent.

Minds have been changed here lives have been transformed and ideas brewed and released but the weather has not been. It has only changed to be ugly and global warming and genetically modified lives will be dangers of the west the way we Africans have suffered with Aids, malaria and wars.

This is Canada

I have not stopped wondering whenever I have visited my African friends that are married or are co-habiting.

African culture encourages and promotes a certain degree of submissiveness from women to their husbands or boyfriends-(During the courting period however, this is different as women are usually considered and treated as queens, they demand for everything and it is easily provided. In Kinya-rwanda the dowry of a woman is expressed in the most precious of society’s cultural heritage, the cow.)

However, after the initial dating stage has been overcome the man normally enjoys a high measure of authority and a woman is supposed to be moderate and abiding in most cases. So whenever I have visited my African friends I have heard this phrase: “We are not in Africa” even Africans start holding stereotypes once they stay in the western world for long. That phrase has normally been expressed when the man is telling his partner to serve food, clean up the mess, make dinner. Or take care of laundry. The women normally don’t present any arguments as to why they are not willing to do given task that their men could have asked them to, o that it is not part of convetional culture for men to be ordering theur wives around they instead remind their men that, “This is Canada.”

Canada is very generous while emphasizing the rights of women or gender equality, it is not cosmetic as that we have in Rwanda. If you annoyed your woman here she can choose to ignore counselling services and take you to court and from the time you step into court it doesnot matter that you could be innocent. You will have to prove tht you are not a danger to your woman rather than she proving that you're giulty.
With this in mind every African woman that reaches in Canada will develop antics that even real Canadian women find disgusting to say the least.

There's the example of Christine who is married to a fellow African friend. Everytime The African friend buys alcohol and brings it to enjoy it from home the woman throws up tantrums, she warns him that she will throw him out of the house before ending the threat with: "This is Canada."

Canada Notes 1

As an African visiting a ‘Western’ country for the first time I have been surprised, shocked, amused, amazed, intrigued and confused by a number of things. Among the amazing things of living in the ‘west’ is the personal and individual freedom that people here enjoy.

People are let free to have their own opinions and they’re not dismissed for voicing them. Also if you live in someone else’s home you will be left the privilege to choose what you want to eat among what is placed on the table and in which quantity. If you tell someone that you don't want to speak they will take their mental notes and press no further and if they are well brought up they will return later to ask you if you're okay.

Among the confusing things is the fact that so much fear exists in the west too. People are very afraid to speak to each other in a restaurant, public transport or on road sides. As a newly arrived, I tried to ask directions from one individual at a train station, he run away from me twice and since then I decided never to ask for directions on the streets.

This fear is even worse for black people irrespective of them being African or not.
Black people here are thought to be violent and when I have walked into a strange place I have sensed stares of worry, fear and terror directed towards me. Over the weekend I went with a friend to a banking centre and after being bored inside I decided to walkout and wait for my colleague from the parking yard.

When I reached the parking yard, there was a lady seated inside one of the vehicles in the parking yard, she had seen me coming through the driving mirror and I had not seen her. By the time I reached the window of her car, it was open and she was speaking on phone. The lady looked at me with such shock that I was scared and looked around me to see if something was taking place behind my back. I never understood her reaction and so I told my colleague about it. He told me that it was a normal reaction and that the lady was scared thinking that I was about to pull a gun. It was disheartening to learn.

I discussed this with another friend who goes to an influential university in the country. He told me that this fear of people and strangers is embedded in the culture of capitalism. According to him, capitalism creates competition among people that we all start to see each other as threats to opportunities and resources. In another explanation he added that the culture of fear and suspicion was rooted in the fact in a capitalistic society people are welcome according to what they can bring on the table. If you’re talented or provide a certain satisfaction you will be welcome in this society and made to feel comfortable. This to a certain extent justifies the respect and fame that showbiz commands in these

societies. In a purely individualistic society, someone is likely to stab you with a knife if you have a possession of value or deemed t be of value. Therefore the guy walking behind you on the street is very fearful of you because he thinks that the temptation you have to turn back and cut off his arm and run with his watch, CD walking, Ipod, mobile phone is very high. The better that he keeps a distance between you and him. And should you need to ask anything from him or try a conversation, it will get off on a very awkward note and chances are that it will end briefly thereafter.

This adds on the fact that because a capitalistic society is mostly about production, suspicion and consumption, individuals have little time to interact or develop deep relationships with each other or it is useless to have such relationships because these individuals have so much knowledge of what they are like and what exactly they need or demand. Therfore, it is easy to start a friendship here and end it there without making much effort in trying to change its direction or improve it should it have weaknesses. People don’t trust each other and most relationships start with trying to figure out each other although discretely what you really are. People are usually making mental notes here about each other.


This state of affairs creates a situation in which pet animals especially dogs are sacred. One journalist told me when I tried to get job in a community newspaper that if “if you love dogs everything else here is simple,” A woman/man will invest all her resources in a dog because she is fearful of what will happen when she gets in a ‘couple’ relationship with a man. She/he is afraid of the demands of a man, a relationship; friendship because he demands of such a relationship will be many.

It is possible that neighbours don’t know each other’s names but they know the names of each other’s dogs and the dogs-will communicate more than the people that own. Yesterday I was told the a dog in this country is more important than a man. In order of importance life here creatures are important starting with children, women, dogs, men and old people, this is what one person that has lived in Canada for seven years told me.

Today I was inspired to write about dogs after watching a programme on television where a woman adopted a dog when she was still single. The dog died later and she bought another one and then got two more. She found a man afterwards and the dogs stayed in the home But from the programme I watched, the dogs were given such treatment that I felt that man was just an accessory in the woman’s home.

Because of the love that the lady had for her dogs they had never got a chance to go to a honeymoon after their marriage because they had no where to leave the dogs. They later hired a nanny for dogs. But it was clear when the woman spoke during the show that the dogs were the most important part of her life.