Rwanda is officially in the East African Community. There are many benefits to be gained from the bigger market. Making quick decisions will make or break some businesses. Rwandans will have to adjust to the new-found market forces if they are to reap big. As the old age adage says, ‘Time is money!’ Rwandans should consider every second that ticks as very precious. Never to be regained. Recently, I went to a restaurant and a group of three smartly dressed waitresses were crowded together. They kept glancing at my table and whispering to each other, undecided on who should serve me. They actually started pointing in my direction in turns. Hungry as I was, I decided to save my dignity and stood up to leave. That’s when one of them came hurrying towards me. You know what they say about a hungry man. A hungry man is an angry man! Some friends added that he’s an ugly man too, probably because of the facial contortions. As I stated, I wanted to save my dignity. The self esteem our President mentioned at Rwanda Revenue Authority’s 10th Anniversary. I just walked on past the waitress. The lack of quick decision making on the part of the waitresses had cost the hotel owner my lunch money. The very money he set up his beautifully decorated restaurant to get. Quick decision making is very important whether as an individual, company or even state. It does not necessarily mean acting on impulse. This can have very drastic effects. I will use an example from the Bible where a King was so impressed with a young girl’s dancing at a banquet and offered her anything she would request for. The girl’s mother had a grudge with John the Baptist who preached against her evil ways. She took this opportunity to tell the girl to request for John the Baptist’s head on a silver platter. John the Baptist lost his life because of a rash decision by an excited king. Rwandans should not make rash decisions. They, however, need to make wisely thought-out decisions in their day-to-day livelihoods. It’s only recently that the Ugandan side of the border realized how much revenue they and Rwanda were losing as a result of maintaining a one hour time zone difference. They snored the one hour away as goods waited to be cleared. It took Uganda so many years to realise this. I wonder whether the National University of Rwanda was affected with the delayed-decision making bug. Many students on the sports bursary are on tension. They are wondering what their fate is, after over five months of competing on behalf of the University. The University’s Rector, Silas Rwakabamba, announced a month ago that all sports bursaries were scrapped. He did not cite any reasons why. A few days after that heart-rending announcement, he made another announcement on the University’s Radio Salus reversing his earlier decision. The Dean of Students, however, needs a written memo renouncing the earlier, written, announcement. The Rector said there were some clarifications needed from the sports department. He wondered aloud why games like swimming and rugby were getting bursaries yet they did not exist on the campus. (Let me put this on record that rugby exists at UNR. It came third in its debut national league in 2007 and brought two trophies from a 7s rugby tournament in February 2008.) This therefore is a sign of a rash decision on the Rector’s part. He had not done thorough homework before making that dreadful announcement. It’s no wonder that he has now made a third announcement. There will be a meeting to decide whether the unfortunate students who had been enrolled will continue with their studies or return to their homes. Hopes and dreams shattered. The Rector should have announced even before the first semester started, that there would be no sports bursaries. He does not know how these ‘students’ have been fending for themselves; accommodation, meals, transport and other expenses that go with education. He did not put into consideration the tension these students suffered on a daily basis. He did not consider the trauma they would face back home when they can’t account for the money spent on them when everyone hoped they were going to get bursaries. These are students whose lives will be affected by a delayed decision. They will be like a bride whose groom does not show up at the wedding. I suggest the Rector lets these students study. If there are problems of transparency in the sports department, he should clean it up. An office or classroom is not cleaned during office or class hours, it’s done before. The Rector should accept the fact that people entered an unswept class. He should let the lesson end in order for the classroom to be cleaned later. He should learn from the other East African Universities and beyond on the importance and management of sports bursaries. He should make decisions that will make UNR competitive and attractive. The University has a big role to play if it’s going to send to the market any competitive graduates. Contact: jbugabo@yahoo.com
