By David Himbara

Kagame made 48 overseas trips in 2019 in a Gulfstream jet chartered by the Rwandan government from Kagame and his ruling party. Such a jet charters for US$6,400 an hour. Due to Covid19, the Rwandan strongman’s overseas trips dropped to 4 in 2020. His overseas travels stand at 5 in 2021.

Each time General Paul Kagame travels outside Rwanda, his ruling party’s US$500 million business empire, Crystal Ventures Ltd (CVL) makes a fortune from Rwandan taxpayers. The Gulfstream jet in which Kagame shuttles around the world is chartered by the Rwandan government from CVL which boasts that it “delivers an unmatched, world-class aviation experience.” In other words, the more Kagame travels overseas, the more money he milks from the people of Rwanda. The cost of chartering a Gulfstream is as high as US$6,400 an hour in the US market. It is in this sense that the Covid19 pandemic had an unintended consequence in Rwanda. The pandemic saved Rwandan taxpayers’ money by sharply reducing Kagame’s insane overseas trips. Before Covid19 struck, Kagame made 48 foreign trips in 2019, dropping to 4 trips in 2020, and 7 trips in 2021. Here are Kagame’s trips in 2019 versus 2020 and 2021:

Kagame’s trips in 2021

1. Doha, Qatar, December 14, 2019
2. Nairobi, Kenya, December 9, 2019
3. Berlin, November 19, 2019
4. Johannesburg, South Africa, November 11, 2019
5. Doha, Qatar, October 29, 2019
6. Sochi, Russia, October 23, 2019
7. Bangui, the Central African Republic, October 15, 2019
8. Abidjan, Ivory Coast, October 14, 2019
9. Marrakech, Morocco, October 12, 2019
10. Bonn, Germany, October 4, 2019
11. Seattle, USA, October 2, 2019
12. New York, USA, September 22 – 26, 2019
13. Nairobi, Kenya, September 18, 2019
14. Brazzaville, Congo, September 10, 2019
15. Yokohama, Japan, August 28, 2019
16. Biarritz, France, August 25, 2019
17. Luanda, Angola, August 21, 2019
18. Windhoek, Namibia, August 19, 2019
19. Lusaka, Zambia, August 11, 2019
20. London, UK, July 23, 2019
21. Luanda, Angola, July 12, 2019
22. Niamey, Niger, July 7, 2019
23. Gaborone, Botswana June 27, 2019
24. Antananarivo, Madagascar, June 26, 2019
25. Bruxelles, Belgium, June 17, 2019
26. Abuja, Nigeria, June 11, 2019
27. Libreville, Gabon, June 10, 2019
28. Kinshasa, DR Congo, May 31, 2019
29. Pretoria, South Africa, May 25, 2019
30. Paris, France, May 17, 2019
31. Los Angeles, USA, April 30, 2019
32. San Francisco, USA, April 28, 2019
33. Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2019
34. Saddleback, USA, April 14, 2019
35. New York, USA, April 11, 2019
36. Dakar, Senegal, April 2, 2019
37. Luanda, Angola, March 30, 2019
38. Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, March 7, 2019
39. Cape Town, South Africa, March 5, 2019
40. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, March 1, 2019
41. Charlotte, USA, February 28, 2019
42. Munich, Germany, February 15, 2019
43. Abu Dhabi, February 13, 2019
44. Dubai, February 12, 2019
45. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 9, 2019
46. Arusha, Tanzania, February 1, 2019
47. Davos, Switzerland, January 24, 2019
48. Addis Ababa, January 17, 2019

Kagame’s overseas trips in 2020

1. Abu Dhabi, February 13, 2020
2. Maputo, Mozambique, February 15, 2020
3. London, UK, February 20, 2020
4. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 8, 2020

Kagame’s overseas trips in 2021

1. Qatar, October 3, 2021
2. Dubai, October 2, 2021
3. Abu Dhabi, September 30, 2021
4. Pemba, Mozambique, September 24, 2021
5. Berlin, Germany, August 27, 2021
6. Paris, France, May 17, 2021
7. Luanda, Angela, April 20, 2021

Stay tuned.