20100907
africanews

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has hit back at his international critics saying Africa needed no lessons from the wider world.

Speaking to a crowd of around 40 000 people during his inauguration in Kigali's main stadium, Kagame said "western powers" criticize the good things we do and try to hold us responsible for the bad things they do".

"Africans are capable of forging their own destiny; we don't need the lessons that we're always being given," he said, hitting back at a barrage of criticism from the West and human rights groups over accusations that he brutally crushed dissent in the run up to his landslide election triumph.

"We can develop ourselves - we will achieve food security, develop trade and investment and build infrastructure," assured the 52-year old former rebel, whose attempts to modernize his country has drawn praise from economists.

Kagame supporters dressed in blue were seated in the stands in a pattern that spelled the word KAGAME against a background of white T-shirts. Others, dressed in yellow, were positioned to form the word PAUL when he took the oath of office from the president of the Supreme Court, Alyosia Cyanzayire where almost a dozen African heads of state attended the ceremony.

However, thousands who could not gain access to the stadium followed the event on giant screens outside.

The heads of state who attended the ceremony included Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Francois Bozize of Central African Republic, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, and Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin.

Delegations from Algeria, Uganda, Swaziland and the African Union were also at the stadium.