President Kagame’s son deserts his military studies in the United States of America.

Reports reaching our desk at Umuvugizi have confirmed that Ivan Cyomoro, President Kagame’s eldest son, recently deserted his military studies at WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY in the US and fled to the comfort of his parent’s home.

Ivan had been issued with an army number and written his entrance exams at the US Embassy in Kigali before he was finally accepted in August 2009. He was already a member of the RDF (Rwandese Defense Forces).

Ivan’s enrollment into WEST POINT raised a lot of eyebrows especially when his father, President Kagame visited the Academy on 13/3/2010 and remarked that ““This school develops people into leader who will influence change in their countries”.

In his speech to the class of 2013 in which Ivan cyomoro is enrolled, President Kagame said “I believe that the Class of 2013 (has) at their disposal everything they need to succeed.”

President Kagame often talks about impunity and professes intolerance for those who mismanage state funds but expects the Rwandan public not to question his expenses such as fueling the presidential jets (said to cost a whopping $800,000 per trip) and lavish hotels when he visits his children abroad, or the state funds used to educate Ivan at such a prestigious school and he ended up deserting from his military course in less than a year.

The latest reports confirm that President Kagame enrolled his son at the Ivy League school of Harvard from August 2010. This comes at a controversial time in the overhauling of Rwanda’s educational policy where the recently promoted prime Minister (former Education Minister) Mr. Mathias Habumuremyi announced that in the next academic year, all schools will be Day schools and the notion of boarding schools will be scrapped.

This new policy does not sit well with both parents and teachers who view it as a reckless decision taken without consideration of the poor schools upcountry many that are not in easy reach for the Rwandan peasantry and are financially poor . Disadvantaged Rwandans view it as a selfish choice made by Kagame’s cabinet whose children in any case are not affected since they benefit from state scholarships to study abroad.

Kagabo, London