Rwandans are understandably proud of the progress the country has made since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and grateful for the leadership that facilitated that development. So, for Bloomberg Businessweek to acknowledge Rwanda's annual growth rate, which has exceeded 6% for a decade, with life expectancy increasing by close to 20 years from 47.1 in 2000 to 66.4, and then wonder why President Paul Kagame is so popular, is classic cognitive dissonance.

As Rwandans prepare not only for the presidential and parliamentary polls in July but also for the 30th Kwibuka commemoration, familiar biased storylines are emerging. While some of these are overt, others are veiled under the guise of values, free speech, and democracy.

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Labeling the democratic choices Rwandans have made over the last 30 years—whether it's voting for President Kagame and the Rwanda Patriotic Front in overwhelming numbers or deciding to amend the constitution through a referendum—as a result of 'authoritarianism' is unfair.

Simultaneously acknowleding the tangible progress Rwandans have achieved while demonizing President Kagame and exoticizing Rwanda's governance choices is at best condescending and at worst supremacist. Either way, it is problematic.

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Beyond the human development index, it's crucial to remember that Kagame led the forces that ended a genocide that claimed over a million Rwandan lives in less than 100 days. The government he was part of, and later led, facilitated the return and resettlement of over three million Rwandan refugees who had fled into Zaire (now DR Congo), offering hope to a traumatized people and rehabilitating a devastated economy. This is something Rwandans have neither ever forgotten nor taken for granted.

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Rwanda's development is genuine and sustainable. As Bloomberg Businessweek concedes, international companies such as BioNTech, Volkswagen, and Qatar Airways Group, have established operations. Thus, to give space a few paragraphs later to known anti-government individuals and allow them to compare Rwanda to a Potemkin village without challenge is curious.

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Members of the Rwandan security forces risking their lives in Cabo Delgado Province, in Mozambique, and in the Central African Republic, are not doing so because of geopolitical tugs of war between the East and West. The Rwanda Defence Forces and Rwanda National Police are not mercenaries deployed to counter Russia or askaris securing natural gas facilities.

By focusing on people's lives, Rwanda's support to CAR and Mozambique can be seen in the spirit it was intended, rather than through the prism of natural resource exploitation and geopolitics. Tens of thousands of Mozambicans have returned to their homesteads as Rwandan security personnel, working with local forces, have forced the retreat of Islamist terrorists from the towns and villages they previously overrun. In Bangui, the central government, with additional support of Rwandan troops, ensured a peaceful electoral process. Today, citizens of both countries have the opportunity to improve their lives and develop themselves. That is the Africa we want.

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Like other people, including citizens from the developed world, Rwandans leave their country not only to study but also to work and trade. The majority aren't engaged in the private sector in countries such as CAR, Congo Brazzaville, and further afield in China because they are fleeing Rwanda. They are in those countries to earn an honest living. As a result, they not only contribute to the countries they reside in, they also contribute to Rwanda’s growth trajectory. In 2022, Rwanda’s diaspora remitted over $470 million. These remittances have helped drive private investment in hospitality, agriculture, and real estate, proving that they remain inextricably linked to the country.

The World Economic Forum's yearly report on global competitiveness reveals that, unlike the majority of developing nations, the most talented and highly competitive Rwandans continue to choose to stay and work in their country rather than seek greener pastures abroad. In fact, not only are they staying in the country, but many of their counterparts living in the West are also choosing to return home and contribute. Rwandans are voting with their feet, both for the country and its leadership.

Despite what fugitives from Rwandan justice, disgruntled former employees, people seeking asylum, and felons masquerading as opposition politicians would have you believe, Rwandans are well aware of the challenges they face, whether it's childhood malnutrition or food insecurity. These are topics that are openly discussed in platforms such as the National Dialogue Council, or Umushyikirano.

As Rwandans, we are not engaging in national discussions, cleaning our streets, or voting for the leaders we want to please donors and foreign journalists.

We are doing it for ourselves. Unapologetically.

The author is a socio-political commentator