Claim

The Encyclopedia Britannica claims Rwandan President Paul Kagame studied at Makerere University in Kampala, before joining the forces of President Yoweri Museveni, who overthrew Tito Okello Lutwa’s military government in 1986. And in October 2006, the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, in a statement it issued about a lecture Mr Kagame gave at the university, said he “holds a diploma in Professional Management and Business Studies from the Open University of London (UK)”.

Verdict

🔴 False

What we found

• In a speech that Mr Kagame delivered at Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar University in July 2016, when the university awarded him an honorary degree, he said: “Complicated circumstances, injustice and bad politics prevented many of us from attending university, regardless of merit.” If Mr Kagame had studied at Makerere University and at the Open University, he would not have said what he said.
  
• We reviewed Mr Kagame’s online biography and did not find anything to do with his education at Makerere University and the Open University—or any other university for that matter.
  
• We asked Makerere University if they have any record of Mr Kagame studying at Uganda’s oldest and largest university. They did not respond to our request, sent via email and WhatsApp to the registrar and public relations manager.
  
• We emailed the Open University and asked if Mr Kagame pursued a diploma in Professional Management and Business Studies in person or online or through correspondence. The university said the General Data Protection Regulation does not allow them to release information about former students without the students’ express consent.
  
• We reached out to the Rwandan ministry of foreign affairs and asked whether the president studied at Makerere University and the Open University. The ministry did not respond to our request.

🔴 Conclusion

There is no evidence to suggest that Mr Kagame studied at Makerere University or the Open University. Mr Kagame has only been awarded honorary degrees for his achievements. Online information about his academic qualifications is completely false. That Mr Kagame did not go to university is not news, of course, as many people in Rwanda and Uganda are already aware. However, this false claim on the website of Britannica and in a statement by the United Nations shows even reputable organisations can fall victim to misinformation—hence the need for OJ Fact Checks.

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