Towards the end of 1989, the RPF leadership realised that there was a need for a publication that focused on women affairs. However, there were no specific guidelines and direction of what the newsletter would cover that is different from what the INKOTANYI publication produced. The production team for INKOTANYI was small and adding an extra newsletter focusing on women was not practically possible.

INKOTANYI newsletter covered a number of mass mobilisation topics, which included; pre-colonial Rwanda where Rwandans lived together in harmony, the advent of colonialism that came with the divide-and-rule strategy, the 1959 crisis that created the first wave of Rwandan refugees, post-colonial administration that thrived on ethnic discrimination, and the question of peaceful return of millions of Rwandans who were in exile. 

The commissioner for women affairs then, Bella Kayonga (RIP), was tasked to come up with a proposal on what the women newsletter should focus on and also find people who would give support to produce it. When Mrs. Kayonga approached the small team that worked on INKOTANYI, including yours truly, none had the right orientation on women issues, except fumbling around general terms on women emancipation and equality. 

After a few days, Mrs. Kayonga came back and told us that she had secured an appointment with Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, who was willing to help out on the task but she was not sure whether Mrs. Kagame would as well accept to lay out the newspaper on a stencil. This was before the age of computers. 

On a hot afternoon, Mrs. Kayonga picked yours truly and drove to Lower Kololo in Kampala, Uganda, where we found Mrs. Jeannette Kagame. Mrs. Kayonga explained about the task of producing an exclusive newsletter that focused on women affairs, while I explained to Mrs. Kagame what was covered in the INKOTANYI newsletter. 

After listening to both of us, Mrs. Kagame said, "I am very much willing to help. In fact, I even have my own typewriter here; it will be easy for me.”   Mrs. Kayonga was more than happy to hear that, what she considered as a big burden, Mrs. Kagame had willingly accepted to do it without any difficulty. In the first years of the struggle, there were few cadres who devoted much of their time to the cause of the struggle. 

When it came to discussing what the content of the newsletter should be, Mrs. Kagame sounded as if she had a plan beforehand.  "The newsletter should have a holistic approach to educate women on their role in the liberation struggle,” she said.  Mrs. Kagame further said that the role of a woman in the liberation struggle should start from her home, in the family. Women should be mobilised to take good care of their children and ensure they are fed on a balanced diet, a woman should not be seen doing kitchen work only. She must be involved in productive activities that support her husband’s income. Families should be sensitised to treat their young boys and girls equally and enroll them in schools without discrimination. In some communities, girls would not be enrolled in school and would be left to carry out ordinary chores at home, while waiting to be given away in early marriage. 

At this moment I was taking notes. Mrs. Kagame touched pertinent issues that needed to be addressed by women with the support of men. Mrs. Kayonga was very excited and listened carefully, seeing her prayer being answered through her first contact. The newsletter was called ABAHUJUMUGAMBI (those with the same purpose). Some people were tasked to come up with articles and Mrs. Kagame assumed the role of Chief Editor of the women's publication. 

Mrs. Kayonga got more than what she expected, and she was moved by the humility of the wife of a senior military officer. Fast-forward to when the military liberation struggle started in October 1990. This is when I well-understood some of the thoughts of Mrs. Jeannette Kagame on the role of women in the liberation struggle. When men who were bread-winners for families left to take part in the military struggle, women had been long prepared through the newsletter to engage in income-generating activities to support their families. Women single-handedly fed their families, paid school fees and even contributed funds to sustain the struggle. Mrs. Kagame’s thoughts on the role of women in the liberation struggle were farsighted. 

As the First Lady, Mrs Jeannette Kagame put into practice the same thoughts she cherished before the start of the armed struggle. In 2001, the Protection and Care of Families against HIV/AIDS (PACFA) was established as a project under the Office of the First Lady, focused on providing a holistic approach for dignified lives of families, including women deliberately infected with HIV/AIDS during the Genocide against the Tutsi.  In 2007, with a broader mandate, PACFA changed its name to Imbuto Foundation to reflect its evolution and new fields of activity, through programmes in health, education, youth and economic empowerment. 

Imbuto Foundation takes the role of a seedling nursery bed to support the development of a healthy, educated and prosperous society. As the old adage goes, behind every successful man, there is a strong woman. In a week in which we celebrate Rwanda’s liberation, my appreciation goes to the First Lady for her vision of caring not only for women and children, but the Rwandan society in general, with a view to help develop a nation of an empowered and dignified people. 

The writer is a former head of Media Development Department at Rwanda Governance Board