Following the establishment of the National Chancellery for heroes and national orders and decorations of honor, a lot is being done by this new institution to ensure that all exceptional acts in the society are recognised, and rewarded. The New Times Felly Kimenyi interviewed the Executive Secretary to the Chancellery, Ambassador Ignatius Kamali Karegesa, who spoke about the scope of work to be undertaken by the institution.The New Times (TNT): Please start by telling us the rationale behind the creation of the chancellery... Kamali Karegesa (IKK): It was actually a Commission some few years back, which was established in 1995 by the cabinet and it had the mandate of identifying the heroes and determining the day of annual celebrations for heroes which used to be 1st October. Later, the Commission agreed that this date should change from 1st October to 1st February as the national heroes day. Since then the commission has been working and they identified a number of heroes like the Unknown Soldier, Fred Rwigema, Micheal Rwagisana, Agathe Uwiringiyimana, the Nyange girls among others. So that’s basically what they did and I think the exercise was still continuing.In 2009, a law establishing the Chancellery for heroes and national orders and decorations of honor was promulgated. It was established to carry on the work of the Commission among other attributions. After the appointment (of the chancellery), work continued, we have some members of staff. We have the council for the chancellery in place. It has nine members who are persons of high integrity. So the work that we are doing, we are continuing the research and identification of heroes and other persons who may have performed outstanding acts that may be useful to the society and they may be Rwandans or non-Rwandans.  Once those are identified and approved by the chancellery, the list is submitted to the cabinet for further examination and approval. And once the cabinet approves, that is when they are rewarded.TNT: Why was it found necessary to be changed from a commission to a Chancellery? IKK:  The commission had a number of tasks cut out for them. They had the heroes identified, determination of the annual celebration day, which is now February 1 and also worked on the law establishing the Chancellery. Those were the major tasks and the way I see it, it was a Commission that had a limited number of tasks so it became a chancellery which meets many international standards. I think many countries have these duties vested in an institution called a Chancellery. So this is an international perspective. This is a permanent Body with a working structure and permanent staff of about 18 members. It is established by article 186 of the constitution as amended to date. So although the commission had been taking on this work, the government had in mind that this Chancellery had to be established. TNT: Please take us through the process of identifying these heroes. Is it something that you are going to continue doing? And if so, how?IKK: Since the establishment of this Chancellery, identification of heroes is one of the major tasks and it is supposed to continue for a very long time, that I can’t say it will stop at this particular time. You know heroism is a virtue that we know exists in societies. It is this virtue that Rwandans must be encouraged to appreciate and emulate the examples of the heroes. It is therefore a long-term programme in which Rwandans must participate in identifying these heroes, emulate them and so on. So we expect Rwandans to learn from this through sensitisation campaigns that we are conducting in secondary schools.  It doesn’t stop at identifying heroes, it goes ahead to sensitisation and that’s why we have on our yearly calendar the day of recognising heroes so as to encourage recognition and appreciation of doing well in our societies.  Now on the how side, the Chancellery has an executive arm headed by the Executive Secretary and then a number of staff. These are the ones that do the research on potential heroes and they basically look for those persons who may have performed the outstanding acts in their lives, in business, at workplaces, socially and so on. So the technical staff carries out the research and their findings are shared with the population for purposes of verification. You know people normally have information on people. We haven’t identified the systematic methodology to use in this process but the principle is there is going to be a research, where these individuals are identified and the findings are brought before the Chancellery, which analyses them, and if found reasonable, forward them for approval, if they are approved, they are published and then we say that we have our heroes. I would also want to clarify something here. People think that all those that are decorated are heroes, all those are not heroes, heroes are like the superior category but below the superior category, you have others. There are heroes, then those who get national honors and those who get recognitions of honor. TNT: To give us a clearer picture, going by those that have already been recognised, can you identify who are the heroes? IKK: Heroes are only those in the three categories of Imanzi, Imena and Ingenzi. Those in the supreme category of Imanzi, are people who did extraordinary deeds for the country and paid the ultimate price in the process and you cannot be in this category while still alive. For the heroes in the Imena and Ingenzi category, one may or may not be still alive. So even the heroes are categorised like that and they are all awarded medals. Below that, there is another category where in our different fields like work, or daily lives, we have other people who do outstanding work. These maybe awarded medals, recognitions and so on in order to encourage others to emulate those examples but this does not make them heroes. TNT: How deep will you go to ensure that this national recognition is felt at the grass roots level across the entire nation?IKK: As I told you, we are still working on a systematic order of identifying the heroes or those to be recognised but the process per now starts with research done by our technical staff.You may start by identifying the names of those people that everyone knows and can tell their contributions, and it is not only about people we have heard in the long history of our nation or the world but rather even today. It could be in work areas, social circles and so on. So you may ask people who they think has done the outstanding work in the everyday life. So we will involve the citizens in all levels in Identifying and  verification and all districts and at all levels up to the Mudugudu level. We also involve the Rwandans in Diaspora, so that shows how we want to involve all Rwandans at all levels. We want them to give us their views or even to make an input in the process. And you know in the past even before colonialism, the virtue of heroism/ bravery was rewarded, although in their case it was limited to war. Today we want to extend the virtue to other undertakings like social, business and so on. The objective is to encourage Rwandans to love their country and excel in their field. TNT: Someone has been decorated as a hero or any other national honor, at one point information is brought fourth discrediting this person of the honor that they received. Are there chances that this medal can be rescinded?IKK: Sure. It’s provided for by the law. As I told you some people may still be alive. And so if you have been identified for a given category to be awarded, and by any reason you commit a crime that disqualifies you from the award, then you are striped of the honor. The act for which the honor or medal was awarded will continue to be remembered in the history of the country but the person will not be because they committed the crime that disqualified them. TNT: In a few words, who are the people that you look at for the decorations? Be it as heroes or other categories?IKK: All this is to be found in the definitions of heroes and the other categories.  But bottom line is this person must have really excelled, and they must have performed outstanding acts that are useful to the society in different fields. For example look at an athlete, who has won a lot of medals for the country, a person who has encouraged and practiced reconciliation and so on…that’s why we go to the grassroots levels to identify such persons. So this person must have really excelled in their fields. For the heroes, it even goes to the level of sacrifice. Even to the extent of loosing ones lives. These are virtues that we want Rwandans to emulate and therefore the acts must be having that characteristic--a good act to the society generally. TNT: Let’s talk about the immediate family; does government take them into account, especially for those heroes that have paid the ultimate price?IKK: Sure, according to the law, the families for our heroes in the Imanzi category are provided for. The families are well taken care of. They are given facilities like a house, medical insurance, education and all those. But for those in the Imena and Ingenzi categories, there is a provision by the presidential order that is still under consideration to see how they can be provided for especially those in need. We are still studying the other benefits that come with getting medals and other recognitions and this is what the Chancellery is doing. After which, we will give the recommendations to the government, because this has got a component of motivation and also the actual thanking of these persons who have done outstanding deeds.

TNT: The issue of sustainability; what is being done to ensure that these national heroes are going to stay heroes even after the change of government of leadership of the day?IKK: As I told you, the establishment of the Chancellery is provided for by the constitution and the constitution is an important document that goes beyond the leadership of the day. We want this virtue to sink in the minds of Rwandans and as I told you, it is one of the values of our culture.  So once this culture has sunk, they will cherish it as part of the culture.  For sure that is going to take some time but once it has, it will be a legacy to leave with. So you have the Rwandans understanding, appreciating it and wanting to be recognised too. And so when it becomes part of us, then you are sure it won’t go away. We also have the constitution talking about it. TNT: How often are these recognitions going to take place? Is it something annual, or?IKK: It is going to be annual. Now that we are setting up an office that is going to follow up the research. The research is going to be constantly carried out such that every year, we have candidates identified for selection to be awarded.And as far as heroes are concerned, the awarding will take place every 1st of February and other areas like in unity, kindness and so on is on 4th July and on 1st May (Labour Day) we are going to be thanking best performers at work places. So it is 1st February for heroes, 1st may for people who have excelled in work places and 4thJuly for different circles in the social sector like unity, good hearted individuals and so on.TNT: Is there any particular reason as to why this date was changed from 1st October to 1st February?IKK: Yes. There is a reason. The previous commission was given the task of identifying the date of celebration. They chose February because the month of February has got significance in the history of Rwanda. Historically, February is when the communities are living well; they are harvesting and also have some food reserves from the previous season. Generally the month is a good time. It has nothing to do with heroism, they just chose the date where Rwandans are generally comfortable and are at peace.  TNT: In conclusion, what message do you have for Rwandans out there…IKK: The major aim why the Chancellery was established was to encourage the spirit of heroism, patriotism and outstanding performance, the love for one another and the country at large. So I would encourage Rwandans to have that virtue of heroism in their everyday life. I call upon them to understand and appreciate it and also participate. As I told you, we are trying to entrench this culture through heroism Clubs in schools among other efforts. We sensitise Rwandans about attributes of their culture . The other thing is that we have brought in some modifications. It was initially only recognition for acts of war but we have modified this to include other aspects. This is going to give motivation to scholars, business people and all the circles even women and children will be involved. So Rwandans should understand that identifying, rewarding and recognition is going to involve everyone. And finally Rwandans should know that the identification and thanking of this hero is not only a benefit of the hero but it is for Rwanda generally because it is going to encourage every Rwandan especially the youth to work towards earning this recognition.