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"content": "grow, and it is growing, it is not adequate to rely on air travel. We, as a country, must support the ongoing networking of our country and Rwanda through an efficient modern railway. The reason Kenya has, for example, very little trade relations with some of the Western African countries is because there is no communication. There are no transport avenues. A few years ago, in my former life when I was an academic, I attempted to go to a city called Banjul in the Gambia. I took five flights between here and Banjul. First, I had to fly to Europe. From Europe I flew back to Africa. Even within Africa, you fly into Lagos and Accra. You connect to about five places. By the time you reach there it is after three days. How do you expect trade to thrive between those countries? What President Uhuru Kenyatta and his counterpart in Rwanda, Paul Kagame are trying to do now is trying to help our countries maximize on intra regional trade which is the engine for the growth of the economies in this region. Madam Temporary Speaker, I had the opportunity, not long time ago, to pay a courtesy call on the President of Rwanda at State House, Kigali. I was amazed at his clarity on what ails our countries and the continent and how it can be fixed. I was so impressed, at his fingertips he knows what is working in Rwanda, what is not working, why and what needs to be done. With that kind of leadership, if we have more of such leaders in this region, our continent can move from being a continent that has been the laughing stock of other civilizations to a continent that is moving forward towards prosperity, progress and modality. Other parts of the world have made it. I do not see why, there is no single reason Africa, Rwanda or Kenya cannot make it. I have listened to the contributions relating to the lessons and comparisons between Kenya and Rwanda with regard to nationhood. Truth be told that the people of Rwanda, including the dignitary who visited us, and many more of his countrymen and women are very amazed when they see the kind of politics we play in this country. Sometimes they whisper to us that: “Kenyans you have a great country, robust economy and great people, but, please, there are some things you cannot do, there are some politics you cannot engage in because the cost of that kind of politics is horrendous.” About 15 years ago, I did a PHD study on the Rwandan Genocide. I spent many days collecting narratives and stories from people who experienced the genocide firsthand. Those of us who have visited Rwanda have seen the Genocide Memorial and other places that will tell you that the spark that destroys a nation is a very little spark. What you require to destroy a nation entirely is very small. That is why, with all the shortcomings that the leadership of Rwanda could have, the one area where President Kagame has succeeded is to ensure that at no cost will he allow Rwanda to slide back to what happened in a span of 86 days in April, 1994, where a million people were slaughtered by their own neighbours, spouses and sons. All of a sudden, people discovered that you have been married to an enemy. All of a sudden, you have discovered that your father is an enemy simply because of ethnic incitement. For 86 days, a million lives were lost in a brutal manner; the bishops and the churches turned into massacre theatres. For that reason, the Rwandese said that this should not happen again. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}