By David Himbara
The term “Rent-A-Crowd” refers to group of people rented to make an event seem successful. Rent-a-crowds are sometimes deployed on the grand openings of a new business. In Africa Rent-A-Crowd is used by rulers to fill stadiums to make it appear as if ruling dictators are popular.
Addicted to showcasing himself in USA and Britain, but fearful of demonstrations against his repressive dictatorship, Kagame is now resorting to the Rent-A-Crowd strategy.
As shown in the attached pictures, not only did Kagame fly to London with a large chunk of his cabinet, he evidently bused in a Rent-A-Crowd from mainly Belgium to perform a pro-demonstration.
If Kagame has to keep Renting-A-Crowd, in addition to his frequent overseas trips (almost 30 trips so far for 2014), aid donors will have to increase donations to sustain this new trend. Where else will the cash come from since Rwandan Revenue Authority is currently reporting a serious shortfall?
