Paul Kagame Accuses International Community of Weaponizing Aid to Control Developing Countries

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused the international community of using aid as a tool of control over developing nations.

In an interview with Mario Nawfal, a media personality on X, Kagame asserted that foreign assistance is often weaponized to influence the policies and decisions of recipient countries.

Speaking on the issue, Kagame acknowledged that while aid has been essential in Rwanda’s recovery and development, it has also been used to foster dependency and exert influence over governments.

“It [aid] can be a liability on a country depending on how it is managed, and that has been our position from the beginning,” he stated.

“We appreciate aid, we needed it, and we still need it to an extent, but we need it to build capacities so that we don’t need it in the near future.”

Kagame argued that the international community deliberately ensures that developing nations remain dependent on aid, thereby allowing donors to dictate their policies.

“The other [problem] is whoever gives aid controls your life. In fact, that is why they want you to stay with the aid so that they continue controlling your life and even threaten, use it as a tool to direct you where they want you to go,” he said.

Kagame’ s statement comes at a time when the international community has continued to out more pressure stepping up sanctions on Kigali accusing it of backing the M23 rebels—a claim Rwanda has repeatedly denied.

He further pointed out that Rwanda’s stance on responsible aid utilization has often led to criticism and unfounded accusations against its leadership.

“Some of us have been branded as arrogant, insensitive, or dictatorial just because we said we want to differentiate things. It is not that we don’t want aid for the sake of not wanting it. We are saying aid creates dependency—not only dependency but also control,” he added.

Kagame recalled discussions from as early as 1998 when Rwanda, still recovering from the devastating 1994 genocide, was heavily reliant on foreign aid.

He recounted a conversation with Clare Short, the then UK Minister for International Development, where he expressed his desire for aid to be directed in a way that would empower Rwanda to become self-sufficient.

“I told her, ‘I appreciate your aid a lot. It is almost indispensable in that situation we were in. But at the same time, I want to start early, I want to be responsible, and I keep talking to our leaders and other ministers that we need to start being responsible for ourselves,’” Kagame recalled.

Kagame noted that Short was receptive to his ideas, even inviting other ministers from allied countries to listen to his perspective on the use and management of aid.

This engagement according to Kagame eventually led to agreements that ensured accountability and transparency in aid allocation, including independent audits

Kagame insisted that while Rwanda continues to accept aid where necessary, such assistance should be used strategically to build sustainable capacities of developing nations rather than perpetuate dependency.

“It is a standard for us. That is what we say, and that is what we do,” he affirmed.