'Corruption is not African' - Rwanda's Paul Kagame tells the world

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has rejected the notion that Africa is characterized by corruption, and pointed fingers at non-Africans for involving in corrupt acts in the continent.

Kagame was speaking on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where he called on the rest of the world to see Africa as a partner.

“Corruption is not African, it’s just corruption. People have developed a misconception that corruption is the way of life in Africa. This is far from the truth,” he said at the Corporate Council on Africa session on U.S.-Africa relations.

“In fact, in Africa when corruption occurs, it involves non-Africans … A lot of what happens in Africa, happens around the world,” he added.

Kagame explained that the wrong notion has affected investments in the continent from companies and businesses who in some cases allocate funds for bribes.

After this forum, Kagame attended another session by the Council of Foreign Affairs where he denounced Western interference in Africa.

He recalled that he was approached and asked not to contest in the elections ahead of the referendum that allowed him to stand for a third term.

He added that the interference was in contradiction with the democracy preached by the West as they wanted to deny the people the freedom to choose their leaders.

“How am I going to be free when you want to dictate to me how I should live my life? Democracy is democracy, this whole thing of adding ‘Western’ is okay but what does it mean? All countries can hardly fit into that sort of definition,” he was quoted by local media portal New Times.

Kagame was recently sworn into office for his third term after winning the August 4 election with over 98% of the total votes cast.