Rwanda, one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, is driven by a highly centralised command system with a military-trained leadership (RPF). Rwanda’s bureaucracy, policing and service delivery operate with a military-style discipline -- clear hierarchy and strict accountability.
Discipline is Rwanda’s operating software. Decision loops are fast. Enforcement is centralised. Veto points are few. That, in essence, is Rwanda.
Rwanda’s legitimacy does not come from elections. It comes from visible, measurable delivery: 7-8 per cent annual GDP growth, 98 per cent health-insurance coverage, clean cities and rapid digitalisation. Rwanda is an outstanding example of authority justified by delivery, not fear. The system depends on outcomes, not rhetoric.
Rwanda is an outstanding example of authority justified by delivery, not fear. Rwanda’s system rests on hard results -- not claims or slogans.Why did Rwanda succeed where others stalled? Three reasons. One, it crushed corruption. Two, it attracted FDI. Three, it built export niches in tea, tourism and logistics.
Rwanda used command to create competence.What can Pakistan learn? One, discipline must produce delivery. Two, coercive authority earns legitimacy only when it delivers three things: security, jobs and speedy justice. Three, governance must rest on fear of accountability, not fear of dissent. Four, Rwandadoes not rely on media censorship; its narrative rests on visible change.
Yes, Rwanda shows what happens when command becomes competence. Red alert, Egypt shows what happens when command becomes control.Pakistan’s hybrid now has concentrated power, a restructured judiciary, and the military at its core. The question is simple: What will decide Pakistan’s fate? The answer is clearer still: not the amount of power, but the direction in which that power is aimed.
If Pakistan’s hybrid uses its centralisation to produce security, jobs and judicial speed, it moves towards the Rwanda-South Korea path. If Pakistan’s hybrid uses centralisation only to manage politics, it risks drifting toward the Egypt trap.
History is witness that armies win not because they have more weapons, but because they focus those weapons on the right targets at the right time. States are no different. A command system becomes nation-building only when its energy is channelled into security, jobs and judicial speed.
History is witness that power used just for control exhausts itself; power used for capacity multiplies itself. In the end, trajectory beats magnitude. The fate of Pakistan will be shaped not by how much power the hybrid holds, but by where it chooses to point that power.
Red alert: No hybrid survives without an economic anchor. Rwanda matched discipline with fiscal prudence -- low deficits, targeted subsidies and export-led growth. Pakistan’s hybrid must do the same. Without energy reforms and debt discipline, even the strongest command structure will sink under economic weight.
Another red alert: judicial speed is not just justice; it is economics. Delayed contracts, pending appeals and tariff disputes are costing Pakistan $7-8 billion a year. If the restructured judiciary delivers predictable enforcement, Pakistan’s hybrid will secure confidence on two fronts -- the investors who fund growth and the institutions that execute it.
Successful hybrids use command not just to control, but to create capacity -- security, jobs and judicial speed. Successful hybrids do three things: One, turn orders into outcomes. Two, turn structure into strength. Three, turn discipline into delivery.
The writer is an Islamabad-based columnist.
