Shame on Kagame who continues to claim that he insituted the Umuganda policy in Rwanda 14 years ago!
The author of the article bellow acknowledges that the Umuganda policy was instituted by Habyarimana in Rwanda since 1974 (Re: page 18).
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On February 2, 1974, the President ordered that every Rwandan perform unpaid collective work one day per week. This was stressed in a speech given by Habyarimana at a seminar for Burgomasters in August 1975, after the creation of the MRND (Mouvement Révolutionaire National pour le Dévelopment):
"The doctrine of our Movement is that Rwanda will only be developed by the sum of the efforts of its own sons and daughters, the product of their efforts belongs to them. That is why it has judged the Collective Works for Development a necessary obligation for all the inhabitants of the country."
This policy was presented as the reestablishment of an institution that had long existed in Rwandan culture but that had been suppressed by the colonial economy. Umuganda was, according to the MRND, a reaction against the monetarisation of the Rwandan economy, the introduction of formal education and the development of off-farm labour under colonialism.
Related to this is the non-compensation of umuganda, which again makes the comparison with Pol Pot interesting.
All Rwandans 'HAD TO VOLUNTARILY' contribute their labor to the weekly collective works.
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