From Rwanda to Exile in Canada: Challenging a Dictatorship and Calling for Canadian Action A Toronto-based Rwandan activist describes his work with a community organization, Democracy in Rwanda Now, to publicize human rights abuses under what he calls a 30-year military dictatorship, and to lobby donor governments to cut aid—especially military support—highlighting the U.S., the U.K., and the EU as key funders. He recounts being born in Rwanda, becoming a refugee in Uganda and later Canada, earning a doctorate at Queen’s University, teaching in South Africa, and working for institutions like UNDP and the World Bank before being recruited to return to Rwanda in 2006 to lead policy and institutional reforms.

He says the president later demanded manipulation of growth statistics and intensified repression ahead of the 2010 elections, prompting him to flee. He details retaliation including relatives imprisoned in Rwanda, assassinations and attempts against exiles in South Africa, his arrest in Kenya on Rwanda’s orders, and ongoing harassment and alleged poisoning plots in Canada, alongside limited police response. He explains advocacy tactics such as congressional hearings and says these efforts helped drive aid cuts and sanctions related to atrocities in the DRC, while urging Canada to take interference by smaller states seriously and reclaim a global role grounded in caring and peacekeeping.