Rwandans live longer than Kenyans - report

Whilst Kenyans and Ugandans have a lifespan of 63 years, Rwanda’s life expectancy is now 69.6 years, up from 51.2 years in 2002, according to the latest figures released by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.

In general, East Africans have a lifespan of slightly above 60 years, with Tanzanians coming second at 67 years, Kenya and Uganda tied for third at 63 years, Burundi at 61 years, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at 60 years.

According to the Borgen project, a global non-profit organization, Kenya’s life expectancy is on the lower side in the region because of several factors including high poverty rates, high child mortality rates, a limited number of physicians, a limited universal health care system and lack of access to clean water.

For comparison's sake, Rwanda has a population of 13.2M as compared to the 47.5M recorded in Kenya’s 2019 census.

The higher lifespan in Rwanda could be due to an improvement in the provision of clean drinking water and food, a universal health care program, and a one cow per family program amongst other government interventions.

The Rwanda data was made public at the 18th edition of Umushyirikano, a platform which gives Rwandans from all walks of life the opportunity to pose questions directly to their leaders.

Umushyikarano is chaired by President Paul Kagame and attended by members of the Cabinet and Parliament, ambassadors, and Rwandese in the diaspora, among others.

Since 2003, Umushyikirano has birthed nation-building initiatives such as Abunzi which are mediation committees that handle disputes before they get to court.

Girin-ka also known as the one cow per family program with the main purpose being to reduce child malnutrition and improve the health and well-being of vulnerable citizens, and Umwalimu SACCO, a savings and credit cooperative for teachers.

The format of the 18th edition is a hybrid one where the public can participate from the conference hall, and other satellite locations, telephone calls, SMS, emails and social media.