Mostly Maurice

Restart

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:48:00 PST

I have decided to start blogging again. This has a number of reasons, notably:

Writing is a great way to sort and articulate my thoughts on a particular issue for myself.
Apparently some other people find these thoughts interesting as well.

I have learned that I get intense satisfaction from the very rare occasions that I add value to people’s lives and add leverage to their work. On a basic level are emails, advice, analysis or consultancies that help people improve the way they work – particularly if their work in turn positively impacts others. At the top end of the scale would be helping someone build up a business that improves their lives, their employees’ lives and their customers’ lives. Unfortunately, such moments have been scarce in my life so far.

But this is what continues to motivate me, and hopefully this will become a theme of this blog.

Congo and Rwanda

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:01 PST

An article from the New York Times.

Wow.

Good place to drink beer #2

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:00:01 PST

At Virunga Lodge on a hill between Lake Bulera and Virunga National Park in early December.

Muzungu's burden

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:19:50 PST

Having finished a long overdue reading of William Easterly's book, White Man's Burden a couple of months ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the book: Easterly's articles (e.g. Can the West Save Africa, Dismal Science) tend to be a rather excessively pessimistic deconstruction of the failings of modern development aid; in this book Easterly goes much further in proposing ways in which we can move forward in solving the problems of the poor.

The central argument is one of Planners versus Searchers. Easterly's Planners are the proponents of the classical top-down development aid. This is particularly prevalent in the large bi-lateral and multi-lateral donor organisations. The Searchers are grass-roots implementers who try out and search for techniques and projects that work. Many grass-roots NGOs can be described as Searchers. Reform of development aid according to Easterly should involve a shift of power from Planners to Searchers. Easterly also tackles a range of other development issues such as accountability, recipient country participation and military intervention.

White Man's Burden is often seen as the antithesis to Jeffrey Sachs' book, End of Poverty. This comparison hardly does Easterly justice. The End of Poverty is a mostly anecdotal account with very little hard data to back up the core theses of the book. White Man's Burden bases its arguments on historical data, and uses anecdotal evidence only to complement, illustrate and occasionally complete when statistical data is insufficient. By comparison, I found The End of Poverty a weak and sloppy work that borders on populism.

I do however find one important weakness in the argument of White Man's Burden. Whilst results-oriented Searchers may indeed be able to offer direct solutions to straightforward problems such as school enrollment and mosquito bed nets, it is unlikely that more long-term projects such as private sector development or vocational training will work in the same way. Long-term projects tend to require people who can afford to worry less about immediate results. There is a balance to be struck.

This is an excellent book and an entertaining read.

Terraforming with rubbish

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:00:01 PST

Kigali landfill site. Standing on a really big pile of rubbish.

Turpitude

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:00:00 PST

I just figured out that German citizens don't actually need a visa to the US. Yay. There is however an Electronic System of Travel Authorisation (currently voluntary) which includes some great questions such as:

Are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?

That started me thinking about any immoral activities that it could be fun to engage in whilst in the US. Is self-idolatry immoral?

Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities; or genocide?

Yes, Boris and I have been covertly trying to collect information on your ingenious political system in order to replicate it in the Congo.

Have you ever detained, retained or withheld custody of a child from a U.S. citizen... ?

I assume this means its ok if I detained a child from a citizen of another country?

Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude...?

I had to look up "turpitude". The first thing Wikipedia comes up with is that is is a legal term used in the Visa Waiver forms without proper explanation.

Am I morally turpit? Leave your opinions in the comments.

Lake Bunyoni

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:00:00 PST

In the South of Uganda, close to the border with Rwanda.

French, Rwandans, Germans and judiciaries

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:08:18 PST

Foreword: In the interests of German solidarity with the Government of Rwanda the author would like to express his solidarity with Rwandese dislike of all things French (except for French cuisine, a couple of nice French people I know and funny accents), and asks that his German passport not be held against him.

Back in 2006 Paul Kagame and other top Rwandan officials were indicted by a French judge for the shooting down of the former president's plane in 1994. This was a major trigger of the Rwandan genocide, but there is little evidence and many suspects in the case. The Rwandans responded by kicking all French organisations out of the country.

Under EU cooperation agreements, EU member countries are required to carry out arrest warrants of other member states. This, Germany did for one Rwandan official, Ms Kabuye, Chief of Protocol for the President, traveling through the country. This afternoon there were spontaneous government-ordered protests in the centre of Kigali and in front of the German embassy. (UPDATE 12/11: And the German embassador was asked to leave.)

On the arrest, the BBC writes:

Ms Kabuye has visited the country before but under German law could not be arrested as she was part of an official delegation. "Rwanda has been made aware on several recent occasions that if Ms Kabuye returned to Germany she would be arrested," said [a German] diplomat.

Al Jazeera quotes the Rwandan Information Minister who confirms :

Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's information minister, said that Kabuye was not surprised at being arrested on arrival in Frankfurt.

And in the Rwandan pro-government New Times:

[Foreign affairs minister Rosemary Museminali] said that prior to her travel, the German government had warned Kabuye that she risked being arrested...

Seems clear. But then the Rwandan New Times quotes the Foreign Affairs Minister:

“We emphasised in the note that Kabuye ... was performing diplomatic duties and therefore the Germany authorities wouldn’t have arrested her...” said [Foreign Affairs Minister Museminali.

And to finish, who can explain how the whole "indictment -> arrest -> trial -> verdict" thing works?

"We have always been surprised that people can take these bogus indictments seriously. How can you condemn someone before even bothering to hear their side of the story?” [Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama] wondered. (New Times)

LHD

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:00:01 PST

100th post

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:13:25 PDT

I started this blog 2 and a half years and 3 countries ago and I still don't know what it is for. Here is a selection of the best posts based on hits, comments and my personal favorites:

Word of the Day: development tourist - February 2008 - Vocabulary for the development industry
Poor Kiyovu - August 2008 - Social engineering in the City of Kigal
The problem with Africa's biggest solar plant - June 2007 - My critique of a big solar power plant
Word of the Day: donor dumping - March 2008 - More vocabulary for the development industry
Ruhengeri and surroundings (video) - October 2006 - The Rwandan countryside on video
Adventures with petty criminals - June 2006 - Crime in Cape Town

Good place to drink beer

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:00:01 PDT

September 2008. Mandrem beach, Goa, India.

Nobody cares what I think

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:42:58 PDT

Here is a graphic (taken from FiveThirtyEight) that today makes me feel better about the world. According to the site, Barack Obama has a 90.7% probability of winning the election (Win Percentage) based on several current polls and current trends.

Not being a US voter, of course I don't get to vote. I feel strangely cheated, as I think I would do a better job of it than approximately 46.6% of US citizens. I feel that it should be in countries' interests to invite me to vote in their national elections to improve the quality of the outcome. Please send invitations via my profile in the right column of this page.

More seriously, I ask whether there isn't a case to be made for US "protectorates" like Afghanistan and Iraq to have a voice in who will run their domestic security and reconstruction projects. This doesn't necessary have to be by involvement in presidential elections, but perhaps of a ratification by direct suffrage of nominated American representatives in their country. By extension, should citizens in developing countries, whose social services are funded by foreign donor governments, not be allowed to hold those governments to account. Should they not be allowed to chose who their donors are, if they have such a huge influence on the development of their country? Just imagine a news announcement like: "In Rwanda on Saturday, a new World Bank country representative has been elected by the people of Rwanda. The incumbent, Victoria Kwakwa, confirmed that she would accept the election result and called on her supporters to peacefully accept the decision."

Panorama 10 to 2

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT

This is a panorama of almost all of Kigali. Filmed at the bar Panorama 10 to 2 in Nyamirambo, Kigali.

New Rwandan Parliament

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:33:36 PDT

The parliamentary elections in Rwanda were concluded on the 18th September with the RPF (ruling party) being declared the winner with 79% of the vote . The importance of legislature elections in Rwanda is minimal however, due to the all-powerful strength of the presidency and executive.

The European Election Observer Mission described the elections as relatively fair, peaceful and transparent. Congratulations to the government of Rwanda. Their preliminary statement is here. The only major objection they seemed to have was the absence of any opposition parties. Details, details ...

Stuff White People Like

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:56:40 PDT

I found this blog some time ago, and I still think it is one of the funniest things I've found on the web to-date. For a sample, have a look at this entry:

Suff White People Like: Comparing People to Hitler
...
Comparing people to Hitler is an easy way for white people to get a strong point across ... Everyone knows who Adolf Hitler was. And everyone knows that Hitler was very, very bad. ... No matter what your gut reaction may be at that point, do not disagree with that white person. Otherwise, well, you love Hitler.
...
It’s also critical that you avoid the fatal mistake of getting creative and comparing people you don’t like to other evil dictators, such as Joseph Stalin or Fidel Castro. With few exceptions, white people are actually fond of almost any dictator not named Hitler, ... oppressive dictators share a passion for many of the things white people love- such as universal health care, conspiracy theories, caring about poor people while being filthy rich, and cool hats. ...

The blog is a perfect parody of the Western liberal middle class. And I recognise myself in there all too often. :)

Project Description

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:00:00 PDT

There are several reasons why I write very little about my actual job here in Rwanda on this blog. However, now find an up-dated description of the project that I am coordinating online :

[Project] Title: Private Sector Participation in Micro-hydro Power supply for Rural Development

Per capita energy consumption in Rwanda is one of the lowest in the world. Less than five percent of the population has access to electric power, with less than one percent in rural areas. ... the project will provide technical and business expertise to support the creation ... of ... [private sector] energy providers. ...

7,000 households, up to 350 small businesses, and institutions providing social services in six municipalities will be connected to local power grids. Six small enterprises are given support for the installation of small hydro power plants for electricity generation.

Freebird in Rwanda

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:00:00 PDT

A spontaneous music video by J. Filmed in the North of Rwanda somewhere between Gisenyi and Ruhengeri.

Meddling

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:31:39 PDT

A World Politics Review article, gives some interesting and very balanced perspectives on the huge support for Kagame and the Rwandan government. It starts:

The West and its development industry have serially backed a series of African leaders as exemplars for the continent, only to see them come to resemble the autocrats they previously opposed. Yet neither the diplomats nor the donors can refrain from anointing new visionaries.

Indeed there has never been a shortage of stupid white people to meddle in the politics of other countries.

The current favorite is Rwandan President Paul Kagame, admired for his prudent political and economic management after the 1994 genocide. ... Without security, Kagame says, there can be no development. Kinzer believes Rwandans deeply appreciate this emphasis on societal rights such as raising the standard of living and guaranteed personal safety. Out of fear of another genocide, their preference must not be dismissed.

This is a view I can only confirm from conversations with Rwandans here. Of course, it doesn't apply to everyone. There are unfortunately still many Rwandans that would like to see the collapse of the present system.

However, the problem is that Kagame has blurred the line between legitimate social control and repression.

but...

[New York Times foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer says,] "[Rwandans] have little interest in politics or ideology," Kinzer writes. "They are happy that President Kagame has centralized so much power in his own hands and are not fearful that he is becoming a dictator."

True. But the conclusion of the article is poignant both for the attitude of Rwandans and the West:

Such enthusiasm for a leader with a mixed record is misguided. Experience, based upon the previous rises and staggering falls of Western-anointed visionaries, dictates that Kagame should be viewed with skepticism. Praise, however, will be merited if his development plan is actually realized.

Word of the Day: Mittelabflussproblem

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:24:45 PST

Mittelabflussproblem (n.) - From German. Literally meaning "the problem of fund disbursal". Could also be transliterated as "means drainage problem". This describes the problem faced by almost all development agencies in which project expenditure is always less than maximum project expenditure. This creates a problem for the project, because if it fails to meet expenditure targets, this will result in one or both of the following:

The donor will assume that if the money is not spent, the work is not done, and therefore contractual obligations are not being fulfilled.
The donor will assume that if the money is not spent, it has over-allocated the budget and will cut the amount of funding available in future years.

The development project will attempt to reach the (usually impossible) target of 100% of the maximum available budget being disbursed by implementing one or more of the following actions:

Buying additional office equipment or project vehicles that may or may not be useful for future years.
Assigning a consultancy contract for a study that is interesting, if unessential.
Less careful spending on existing activities.
Better budgetary planning.

An alternative definition of "Mittelabflussproblem" proposed here is : The problem of focusing on on fund disbursal rather than on project impact.

Aid effectiveness

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:00:00 PDT

I have written a few times about the problems and the (in)effectiveness of development aid. An interesting study the World Bank's Private Sector Development Blog pointed me to an interesting new study by on the subject. The study looks at the impact of aid from oil-rich muslim countries to poorer majority muslim countries. The results are interesting because they isolate the effect of aid from the selectiveness of Western donors: the tendency to support only the poorest or the tendency to support countries that are already growing fast.

The conclusion is:

The petro-aid was largely consumed, nearly all in imports. It did not lead to a measurable increase in growth, prices, or an appreciation of the exchange rate. Imported goods during the aid surge shifted away from capital goods and towards non-capital goods, and aid crowded out domestic savings. A significant share of the aid fled the country in unaccounted transactions.

The study was done by E. Werker et al. is available here.

More demolition and expropriation

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:26:39 PST

As an addendum to my previous post on the demolition of Poor Kiyovu, I should add that the Kigali City Council's remodelling of the central residential district, Kiyovu, also extends to small shop owners in the richer part of the quarter. Kiosks all over Kigali are a huge employment generator, a place for late-night shopping and also serve as informal bars. The New Times writes in its article, "Demolished kiosk owners drag KCC to court":

[One kiosk owner ] said that he bought the kiosk through KCC [Kigali City Council] during the reign of Theoneste Mutsindashyaka. He quoted ... the contract he has with city authorities which states that the kiosks should not be interfered with before a period of five years.

Needless to say the five year period has not yet elapsed.

[The shop owner] says that he recently received a letter from city authorities informing him that he had been relocated to an area which is far from the city.

The closing statement of the article is a disturbing insight into the mind of Kigali administrators. More evictions, more demolitions, until Kigali is the squeaky-clean showcase that the government wants it to be :

[The city council inspector] said the council is currently developing detailed plans to reduce slums in various areas in the city and that the new plan is designed to make the city a major commercial and service centre in the East African community, as well as making it environmentally friendly.

... and Kigali will be SO pretty!

Poor Kiyovu

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:06:10 PDT

The City of Kigali has decided that poor people don't belong in the central residential district, Kiyovu. The area known as "Poor Kiyovu", to differentiate it from "Rich Kiyovu", has now been almost completely bulldozed. The displaced residents will be compensated according to a government valuation of their land. The government is presumably trying to make way for new urban developments. It is turning the heart of the city into a reserve for the rich and destroying its social and cultural diversity. Poor Kiyovu used to look something like this (from another part of Kigali):

It now looks like this:

The New Times quotes the Mayor of Kigali who says that the city had no choice to move these people, because they are poor:

Since July last year, we made it clear that we are going to shift these people from Kiyovu because of the unfavorable conditions under which they were living.

Even the pro-government New Times reports on the views of the unhappy residents:

Some of the evicted residents who were relocated have reportedly refused to accept the money and terms offered to them by the City Council and are crying foul about the whole procedure. ... Many claim that they were not given ample time to prepare for the shifting and are not happy with the amount being given to them as compensation for their premises and where they have been relocated.

Last week, I spoke to my friend, K. (name changed), a musician who lived in Poor Kiyovu. The government valued K's house. K disagreed about the price, refused the payment and had another expert come to value the house. The second valuation was higher. One day, K's house was gone. It was demolished while he was away, he had not received any payment at all and he lost food and possessions in the house as it was demolished. He is still arguing with the MVK, the city mayoral office. The mayor responds to the New Times :

"If these people had accepted to go where they were relocated, then they would not be suffering and in any case the expropriation act does not say that we have to transport food to the eviction site"

If only the pesky poor people would do as they are told.

It seems that the government wishes to engineer a city in which Kigali residents and delicate-stomached foreigners will no longer have to suffer vulgar displays of poverty in the city centre.

Its a loss for the city. These people were a major part of the life of the city centre. A much better strategy would have been for the city to have improved the property rights laws and infrastructure in poor Kiyovu to promote its development. Shame on the City of Kigali.

Big Concrete Thingy

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:00:08 PDT

(It's a sediment separator of a micro-hydro power plant belonging to the Rwandese company, REPRO.)

Moto Polo

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:00:03 PDT

Over much beer and boredom, some friends of mine came up with moto polo. It is basically similar to Polo on horseback, only on the back of motorcycle taxis. The rest is documented in this video...

2 years in Rwanda

pigaht@gmx.de (Maurice) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:27:59 PST

On the 8th July it had been exactly 2 years since I arrived in Rwanda, so I think a short retrospective is in order.

It took me a long time to settle in here. When I arrived the culture, the political system and the country were opaque and almost impossible to understand. After about 6 months I felt that I at least understood how the "machinery" of the Rwandan government, society and economy worked. It took about a year for me to feel at ease with the people and come to love the country.

Rwanda is a unique place. From a state of collective trauma, the country is helping itself to emerge as an efficient and confident state. The post-genocide phase was a success. But as much as Rwanda inspires hope, it also causes dismay. There is little self-criticism, little open debate of the country's problems and much self-denial. The post-genocide phase was indeed a success, but the next phase in the country's development is overdue. Rwandans needs to accept that like any other country, Rwanda has problems; Like any other country, Rwanda has corrupt politicians; Like any other country, Rwanda's justice system is flawed; Like any other country, Rwanda has problems with racism; Like any other country, Rwanda has disadvantaged minorities, be they social, sexual or ethnic. Rwanda needs to match its political and economic courage, with social courage.

What luck for Rwanda that it has a small but growing number of hard working, well-educated and forward-thinking people. How unfortunate that the Rwandese culture is so unwelcoming to outsiders. It is easy to judge when a Rwandese begins to trust you: he/she will tell you the problems that every Rwandese knows his country has, his real opinion about the government, the real view about the genocide, will stop lying about minor personal facts, and if he/she really trusts you, you may just be invited to there home one day. Unfortunately, that kind of trust is rarely there. But perhaps, that is simply because it needs to be earned first.

Rwanda is certainly one of the most beautiful, fascinating and unusual countries that I will ever live in. I hope it realises its potential.