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President Kagame is committed to environment

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The man driving Rwanda's new environmentally friendly economy studied military intelligence in the United States and Cuba, overthrew a government and is widely viewed as an a quasi-dictator.

Yet he has won support from world leaders and scientists who consider his devotion to environmentalism genuine.

A Tutsi, Paul Kagame grew up in Uganda after his family fled earlier Hutu violence. He learned military skills in the Ugandan army, eventually assembling the rebel forces that overthrew the Hutus after years of civil war and genocide.

He basically ran the country after overthrowing the government in 1994, but took lower titles in government as he tried to build a coalition. He became president in 2000 and won an election in 2003. Official observers from the European Union found numerous irregularities but described the voting as a positive step toward democracy.

Kagame ruffles feathers of those who want a free press and truly democratic elections. His term ends next year, but his re-election is virtually assured.

Still, he has friends in high places around the world, including former President Bill Clinton, who has apologized for failing to prevent or stop the genocide.

"Kagame is pretty well liked here in the United States," said Steve McDonald, consulting director of the Africa program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. "He is one of the Africa big men, the 'democratic dictators.' They are not Idi Amins. But he is 'the guy,' by gosh. 'I am president, and I know what I want to do.'"

Kagame has cracked down on corruption in a continent awash with it. His focuses on environmental sustainability and increasing the role of women in society are both unusual and show the strength of his control, McDonald said.

"Kagame has the luxury to look at these other issues," he said, while in other African countries, leaders are focused merely on staying in power.

Kagame's power and popularity are apparent around Rwanda. People stand while he speaks. Virtually every business displays his official portrait.

Many Rwandans are quick to support him, or afraid to oppose him.

"Oh, he's fantastic," said Rwanda Development Board guide James Muhizi. "I don't think he can be topped when you look at what the country is like now compared to genocide."

Said Eco-Tours Agency driver Jamada Muberuka, "It's hard to imagine anyone doing better."

Mwangi Kimenyi, a Brookings Institution fellow, said Kagame provides stability.

"The advantage of Rwanda is coming from a major crisis and a leader who is strong," Kimenyi said. "It doesn't mean that all is well."

Keith Brown, chief executive officer of the Jane Goodall Institute in Arlington, Va., said when Kagame preaches about the environment or another topic, it isn't idle chat or pandering.

"Kagame doesn't say anything he doesn't mean," Brown said.

Benjamin Beck, conservation director for Great Ape Trust, has heard Kagame speak over the past few years and was surprised when he used the term "biodiversity," a word Beck has never heard from another African leader.

Ape trust founder Ted Townsend, who has met with Kagame, said the Rwandan leader is determined to brighten his country's future.

"He has just set his hat to take his nation off the bottom and put them someplace where they can survive in the long term," Townsend said. "And the other thing was how low the bottom was." The genocide, he said, "was just indescribable ugliness."

Perry Beeman spent five weeks reporting in Rwanda as part of a grant from the International Reporting Project (IRP).

Click here for the full multimedia package as it appears on The Des Moines Register web site.

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