Today, Rwanda and Burundi celebrate Independence Day. Both countries were deeply affected by a dark legacy of ethnic divisions brought about by the Belgian colonisers, similar to their own Wallon/ Flamand divide they have failed to shade of for centuries.

Both Burundi and Rwanda chose different ways of taming their demons with different outcomes. We leave it to readers to make their own assessment of who made a wise decision.

People have been complaining that Independence Day has been relegated to the second division and that it is not given the respect it historically deserves. But that is not true as it is combined with Liberation Day that falls three days later. And anyway, Independence Day is a public holiday.

But away from the polemics and honestly answer this; was Rwanda really independent? What did it have to show for the close to three decades under successive short-sighted rulers apart from freedom to commit ethnic massacres with impunity every now and then?

How was it independent when it had turned into a dumping ground for every sordid ideology, when it was a yes-man to foreign powers and its voice could not be heard on the world stage, when a small clique called all the shocks as its jigger-infested population wallowed in ignorance and poverty?

The last two decades is when we can honestly say that we had a feel of what independence tastes like. Rwandans have gained their dignity and today that can stand their ground against any type of bullying and set their development agenda the way they see fit. Now, that is true independence.