Diversity and Inequality Challenges to Contemporary Public Leadership in Rwanda - Research

Some of the main challenges facing governance systems in the 21st century is related to pressure arising from the diversity present in society and to the inequalities that can be fostered through governmental actions when public policies are formulated or executed that do not take into account the complex nature of their own societies. This is a serious challenge in most, if not all, African countries where societies comprise ethnic, tribal, or racial groupings with diverse and even contradictory interests and needs. While most literature and the Government of Rwanda's (GoR) developmental partners have rightfully focused on the positive side of the economic progress that has been achieved by the GoR in the past 25 years of President Paul Kagame's rule, many fanatics have presented one-sided stories that lack the academic and critical rigor that is needed for objective evaluation of the GoR's inability to use its economic achievements to deal with diversity and inequality as challenges that face Rwandan society. The methodology used in this research was mainly qualitative and relied on a robust analysis of published and non-published print and electronic media. The main finding is that Rwanda's socioeconomic development policies have indeed led to economic growth but failed to address the diversity and inequality challenges that face Rwandan society.