Rwanda emerged from the ashes like the phoenix after the three months of genocide between the Hutus and Tutsis which led to the mindless slaughtering of millions of Rwandans.
Galvanized by rare pragmatic leadership by Paul Kagame, she has morphed into an economic powerhouse of the African continent showing lots of promise of a potential world power.
It was with dismay that I read the sad news of the endorsement of the insidious LGBTQ agenda by the government.
In a newly launched book written for under-24-year-olds, the government seems to be endorsing gay relationships. The Comprehensive Sexuality Education Toolkit titled “Amahitamo Yanjye” (“My Choice”) in the country’s Kinyarwanda language seeking to curb teenage pregnancies recognizes and promotes education about homosexuality and other sexual orientations.
The book is largely written in Kinyarwanda with limited English translations and states that there is no relationship between gender and sex in exploring gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, among other topics.
According to Washington Blade, to recognize the existence of gay and lesbian relationships, the toolkit uses the “Genderbread Person” tool to educate young people.
The out-of-school book is a product of Plan International Rwanda, a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health and Rwanda Biomedical Center.
Mireille Batamuliza, Rwanda’s Permanent Secretary in the Gender and Family Promotion Ministry who presided over the launch of the sexuality toolkit on March 31, acknowledged it as a solution to address teenage pregnancy through sensitization.
“The kit provides lessons for adolescents especially those out of school, parents, teachers, and health works for additional knowledge,” Batamuliza said.
Plan International Rwanda Country Director William Mutero noted that the sexuality toolkit brings hope to increase collaboration with various stakeholders in sharing knowledge.
However, the government’s involvement in the book that also promotes homosexuality sparked criticism from the public and praise from the LGBTQ community and its rights defenders.
The Triangle Organization, an NGO that supports LGBTQ communities to access services lauded the recognition of the queer community and the explanation of the “genderbread person” in Rwanda’s local language, welcomed the book.
The public outcry prompted the Rwandan government’s spokesperson to state that the toolkit belongs to Plan International Rwanda and denied any state institution having “validated, endorsed or adopted” it. The book’s cover, however, bears the logos of the Health Ministry, the Rwanda Biomedical Center and Plan International Rwanda.
The toolkit is also forwarded by the Rwanda Biomedical Center, a state agency whose officials, led by Adolescent Health Officer Elphaze Karamage, attended the launch.
“Sexual orientation and gender identity are private matters, and the health and well-being of all Rwandans are protected without discrimination under the existing law and policy,” the government spokesperson said.
There is no restriction on the discussion or promotion of LGBTQ issues in Rwanda, despite the fact the country’s 2003 constitution does not recognize homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
Rwanda is the only East African nation that treats sexual orientation as a private matter free from government interference through legislation to restrict certain sexual practices. Homosexuality remains criminalized in neighboring Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The Kenyan government, for example, this year started cracking down on foreign teenage books with LGBTQ content. MPs also passed a resolution that bans public discussion, reporting and distribution of LGBTQ-specific material.
Kenya’s Education Ministry and the church have also formed a Chaplains Committee chaired by Kenya’s Anglican Church Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit to counter the infiltration of LGBTQ in schools. The committee’s mandates include counseling students who identify as LGBTQ.
Rwanda in 2010 voted in support of re-introducing sexual orientation as a category in a U.N. resolution on “extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions” after the reference had been removed in the previous year. This move led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Rwanda.
Rwanda in 2011 joined four other African countries in signing a U.N. joint statement “Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.”
The gay rights agenda will ultimately destroy Rwanda and make nonsense of all the gains and development recorded under Kagame’s leadership. Not only does it violate God’s laws, but it is also a surreptitious depopulation agenda aimed at drastically reducing Africa’s population as the West with their ageing population is scared of the youthful population of Africa.
Kagame should be smart enough to see through the veneer of the western liberals and nip this behemoth of an insatiable beast in the bud.
The West has never loved Africa.
History should be Kagame’s greatest teacher!