Rwanda's department of information printing pressBy Ali Balunywa in Kigali, Rwanda
We were talking about printing facilities in Rwanda with Mr. Joseph Bideri, the Managing Director of the New Times Newspaper, when he objected to my suggestion of printing in Uganda in the interim. The New Times is Rwanda’s only daily. It is the leading media house in Rwanda.
As we continued with our conversation Mr. Bideri explained that there was no reason to go to Uganda in the short term when Rwanda already had a Goss Web-offset machine already installed. He preferred in the interim to use that machine as The New Times organized to purchase theirs.
He asked me to accompany him to go and look at it. On our way, we discussed the developments in Rwanda, which the outside world never hears of. He quoted the example of medical insurance. According to him every one in the country pays 200 Rwandan francs (equivalent to 25Euro) to be medically insured. For those who cannot afford it, the government pays for them.
He gave an example of an American based Rwandan who was not aware of this service and wanted to pay a medical bill for her maid who broke her arm while on duty. The maid rejected the money and proceeded to hospital where she was attended to. Meanwhile, her master was worried as to what would happen to the maid. When she returned all dressed up, the American asked her where she got the money. The maid responded that she was insured like all Rwandans, and that all expenses would be paid by the state!
The American based Rwandan was amazed by how a small poor third world country like Rwanda could afford to provide medical insurance for all her citizens, when the mighty United States of America had failed to. And almost 50 million Americans just wait for death if they contract any serious sickness.
By the time we got to the printery, I was wondering how the Rwandans do it and prodigious states fail to!
cc http://balunywa.blogspot.com/
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