Rwanda’s only independent presidential candidate Philippe Mpayimana has stated clearly that if voted into office, he will initiate a three-child policy restricting women from giving birth to more than three children.
There'll be three-child policy in Rwanda if I'm elected, Kagame's rival says
Rwanda’s New Times website reported on Friday that the least popular candidate among the three made the remark during his campaign in the Western Province of the country.
“I will make it law that no woman gives birth to more than three kids. This is because it is the woman’s responsibility to know how many children she should produce,” he was quoted as saying.
“This talk that a woman should bear children they can raise is nonsense. They should give birth to children that the nation is capable of looking after,” the 47-year-old said, adding that families with more than three children will not benefit from free social amenities.
Mpayimana explained that the country cannot develop if it is overpopulated.
These form part of the radical changes he promised to introduce which “will make Rwanda a better country.”
For 35 years, China was practising the one-child family planning policy until 2015 when it was scrapped allowing all couples to have two children.
According to the Chinese government, 400 million births were prevented thus contributing to China’s dramatic economic takeoff since the 1980s.
It was introduced because of fears of a population boom.
Philippe Mpayimana faces opposition from Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)‘s President Paul Kagame, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda Frank Habineza who are also actively campaigning across the country.
Elections will be held on August 3 in the diaspora and August 4 in Rwanda.
Winner of the polls will get a seven-year term to steer the affairs of the country seen as one of Africa’s rising economic powerhouses.