Unlike where Obed comes from, Rwandans of all social classes enjoy uniform basic rights. That includes the right to healthcare and education. Unlike in Uganda where everyone is on their own, the Rwandan leadership has put in place systems that ensure citizens of Rwanda are able to access public services as a Constitutional right, failure of which leaders are held accountable. The same cannot be applied in the Matooke Republic.
This is the reason why it is not easy for Obed Katureebe aka Robert Patrick Fati Gakwerere to understand how Fred Barafinda was taken for mental check-up. That is why he is quick to allege that the emergency action to take Fred Barafinda for mental check – up and subsequent treatment is ‘politically motivated’, ostensibly because Barafinda was once a Presidential candidate. For his information, there have been several presidential aspirants before Fred Barafinda, but none of them has been taken to the psychiatrist.
In Rwanda, the Government takes care of the welfare of all its citizens, that is why there is universal health insurance and universal education. Unlike in Uganda, public hospitals in Rwanda are adequately equipped and stocked to ensure Rwandans get quality healthcare. The same applies to schools for reasons of quality education.
It is therefore outrageous for Obed Katureebe to call it ‘character assassination’ when a Rwandan with clear symptoms of mental illness is taken for urgent check-up. In the case of Barafinda, who is the latest subject of Obed’s infatuation, there have been appeals for him to seek psychiatric assistance because it has been apparent that he was mentally unstable.
While he sees character assassination, the rest of the world appreciates that Fred Barafinda is being accorded the long overdue dignity like it is done for the rest of Rwandans, once his mental stability is restored. Obed should be informed that Rwanda takes the mental health of its citizens very, very seriously.
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