This week the world’s movers and shakers meet in the Swiss resort town of Davos for the World Economic Forum. As they sip on lattes and mochas, top on the agenda will be an issue that has dogged societies across the globe for centuries. The ever expanding gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. While economists may favor complex models and statistical indices to demonstrate the enormity of the problem, the man on the street need not look very far to figure out how bad the problem has gotten. If the executive secretary at your ‘Umurenge’ drives a car worth Rwf30 million and you are certain that all your life’s possessions put together do not sum up to a net worth of Rwf5 million, you are certainly familiar with the concept of inequality. It does not matter that you went to the same primary school and you used to do better in class, life is a lottery and you have clearly lost out. The argument for anti-inequality advocates such as OXFAM is simple. Every life is too important and opportunities should actively be redistributed equitably to get away from the current scenario of “winner takes all”. A recent report by OXFAM claimed that the world’s 8 richest men (and yes they are all MEN) are wealthier than the bottom 50% of the world’s population put together. This may sound shocking to most people but anyone with more than a passing interest in global economic indicators and trends will be accustomed to the astonishing disparities between the world’s richest and poorest communities. Imagine the Baturage of Gicumbi whose replacement for lattes and mochas is home brewed Ikigage; does the World Economic Forum (WEF) mean anything to them? I dare to speculate that no other species other than humans displays such extremities in living conditions. The consequences of inequality are manifested in the current political climate especially in Europe and America with the rise of far right movements resulting in Brexit and President Donald Trump. The usually economically secure middle classes are being forced to contend with the daily struggles of the working classes and they cannot stand it and so the liberal and centrist politicians have to pay the price! “Let us bring in the populist, nationalist, extremist, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, anti-globalization, you name it, we will take it!” Nature always has a way of correcting human ills. It seems however, that we always have to hit rock bottom before that happens. The recent history of Rwanda is testament to this. It took the heinous crime of genocide perpetuated by a political class who were faced with eminent defeat on the battle field for Rwandan society to realize that enough was enough. Rwanda’s achievements to date and those to come are only possible because of the collective purpose that characterizes the socio-political agenda that is to be found amongst the nation’s top leadership. It is with single-mindedness that economic inequality has to be addressed. “Every man for himself” style of competition in all fields is great in as far as it encourages everyone to bring out their individual best. However, access to resources and the means of production have never been equally available to all. This is largely a result of the turbulent history where the conquerors shared the spoils as they so wished. The time has come for the world to do better than perpetuating what history has handed down to us. No better words describe Rwanda today than John Winthrop’s “a city upon a hill – the eyes of all people are upon us”. We have led the struggle for ensuring equality for women and the results are impressive thus far. Can we perhaps also take the lead in the struggle against economic inequality? Programs like Mutuelle de Santé, Girinka Munyarwanda, Vision Umurenge Programme (VUP) and others in addressing extreme poverty are steps in the right direction. The real challenge will be in improving the fortunes of over 70% of the population that is engaged in subsistence agriculture. This is fulltime back-breaking work that enslaves people in a perpetual vicious cycle of poverty. The magic bullet used to be a good education that provided an escape to a white collar job in the city; not any more. Kigali is full of weather-beaten university graduates carrying brown envelopes all day. The jobs on offer will never keep up with the numbers being churned out by ever increasing academic institutions. My view is that it’s time to seriously think of a welfare state. Social security programs to address youth unemployment, poverty in old age, disability and unplanned parenthood among others. These can be partly financed by a percentage tax on individual earnings beyond a certain threshold such as Rwf100,000 (the exact amount should be determined after research). The computation of this tax would be similar to progressive tax calculation for Pay as You Earn (PAYE). As we develop strategies for the post Vision 2020 era, this is the perfect time to envision a Rwanda with a social security safety net. By taking care of the most vulnerable in our society, we can begin to fight the scourge of economic inequality. This would probably be a first for a developing country, but then again isn’t that what Rwanda is all about? Doing the unimaginable, this is one tangible way of fulfilling the nation’s aspirations of every Rwandan having AGACIRO. This would surely put a premium on what it means to be UMUNYARWANDA.
