Editor,
I was thrilled with Frank Tanganyika’s article that reviewed Brig. Gen. Frank Rusagara’s book "The role of the military in national building”.

It depicts the real history of our military, the triumphs and the defeats; this kind of history is imperative, especially for the youth that do not have a clue about their country’s past.

Nobody will object to the fact that history is one of the most important academic disciplines. History helps us understand "today”.

We pose ourselves these questions daily… Where do we come from? What are we destined to do? Where do I fit in my surroundings?

These questions might sound philosophical and of no practical use, but we still lie in bed thinking about what awaits us the next day.

There is a hypothesis about things going in a cycle. Old things return to change what was deemed ‘new’. When do people usually begin to learn history? Not out of a history book.

The learning process starts when you hear the world famous "once upon a time” from your granny or father.

It is this kind of constructive history, as that depicted in the General’s book, which I find relevant in our current situation.

The stories that inoculate patriotism among the youth should not be accepted to be forgotten.

Some may consider this to be nonsense, used only to waste our time. But how is your outlook and ideology formed? By history. It is our biggest treasure of and we have to value it.

We learn lessons from famous leaders who lived hundreds of years ago and we use their experiences daily. It is very important that we acknowledge those who left us such a priceless heritage.

Considering our recent past, where the true history of our country was manipulated by the leaders of the time, a situation that culminated with the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, we need the media to be a conduit of the true history of our country.

The media is important in this because the 1994 genocide robbed us of our traditional libraries, the older generation, who kept our history alive. 

Therefore, The New Times should continue to be the conduit of our history.

Seth K Buhigiro
sbuhigiro@caa.gov.rw