The Rwandan Liberation Struggle that started in October 1990 left much food for thought for the leadership of the late President Juvenal Habyarimana and his supporters, both Rwandans and foreigners. The then government misled Rwandans to believe that what the RPF regarded as a liberation war was instead a war of aggression.

To them (the Habyarimana regime), Rwanda had been attacked by enemies of the country (inyangarwanda), Tutsi who wanted to restore their domination in bringing back the monarchy that had been abolished in 1962 and replaced with the Republic.

The Habyarimana leadership forced the whole population to participate in a mock burial to mark the death of Gen. Fred Rwigema, the RPF army commander killed on October 2, 1990.  There was a dehumanisation campaign that RPF soldiers, Inkotanyi, were not human beings like others! They were malicious creatures, with long ears and tails!

The government willingly did not properly inform the populace that there existed their compatriots who had been forced to live in exile. This lack of information caused ordinary Rwandan citizens to have incomplete understanding of the problem of Rwandan refugees. It further strengthened the ethnic solidarity of Hutu who continued to support the regime that they considered as ‘their own’, even though it had never helped them to achieve any tangible development! It only made them to live in continuous conflicts, based on ethnicity and region, eternal hunger and social favouritism.

When the Liberation Struggle started in 1990, Tutsi inside the country were on the receiving end of injustices of all kinds. Some were imprisoned simply because they were wrongly suspected of being allies of the RPF; others were forced to abandon their properties and jobs; whereas others were used as guinea pigs to test the execution of the genocide plan.

This was the case of Tutsi killings in Kibirira and Kanzenze in October 1990, Bigogwe in January 1991, Bugesera in March 1991, Murambi in 1991 and the climax was the Genocide against the Tutsi in April 1994.

After 19 years, nobody can understand how the war that had been maliciously described as one of aggression aimed at restoring the monarchy, had resulted in a first-rate government giving equal chances to all Rwandans, unifying them, bringing peace and security to its people, setting up good leadership where all citizens participate, introducing education for all, improving the justice sector which had been almost not existent, creating dignity and pride among Rwandans and helping the country to be respected internationally.

Fruits of the Liberation Struggle are many and their number is growing by the day because of good governance of the new Rwanda under the RPF leadership.

The problem of Rwandan refugees that had become endemic will soon be considered as history. Indeed, since 1994 more than 3.4 million people have been repatriated and helped to reintegrate normal life. Since June 30, 2013, the Cessation Clause to end the problem of Rwandan refugees has gone into force. Rwandans living abroad are no longer considered as refugees. With this clause, Rwandans are free to come back home or stay in countries that have hosted them but not as refugees.

In the First and Second Republic studying in Rwandan schools from primary to higher learning institutions was a favour.  Being admitted into secondary and universities was not based on one’s merit. It was instead a result of ethnic and regional segregation. Today this has completely changed.

Rwandans are free to go to school without any form of discrimination. Rwandan students attend secondary and university studies because of their ability and performance. This new policy has helped to increase the numbers of students in the country’s schools. For example, the number of primary schools increased from 1671 in 1990 to 2594 in 2012, in the same period the numbers of pupils increased from 1, 030,000 to 2,400,000.

The number of secondary schools increased from 175 to 1466, the number  of secondary school students increased from 26,251 to 600, 000; the higher learning institutions increased from 7 to 31 and the number of students increased from 1500 to 80,000. These figures show that the number of schools and students increased by more than 500 per cent!

Before the Liberation Struggle, as a result of bad leadership, the then Rwandan government considered the country as a glass full of water that could not accommodate any refugees who wanted to come home. Today Rwanda sees the population at 10.5 million from 7 million in 1990 and they are happy to live in the country. The borders are still open to any Rwandan or other people from abroad who would like to come and live within the country. 

Because of the continuing improvement in the social and economic conditions of the population the life expectancy of Rwandan has increased from 39 in 1990 to 58 in 2013. 

Cleanliness and hygiene have become part of the culture for Rwandans of all walks of life. In developing countries, the City of Kigali is one of the cleanest, most spotless towns. Even rural areas are very tidy and well kept. Respect of rules and regulations to protect the environment can be seen countrywide. It has to be noted that cleanliness of the country does not leave behind the smartness of the minds of  Rwandans.

The use of IT and technology has developed tremendously. As an example, mobile phone penetration is at 59% and it will have risen to 70% in 2017; for internet access, the current figure stands at 25%, and the target is to double this by 2017 to 50%. The use of IT has had a positive impact on economic growth, helping the business sector to come up to speed.

It has also helped the banking sector to improve its service delivery. Indeed, because of IT, it has become easy and convenient to do different kinds of bank transactions, from one end of the country to the other. Today, Rwanda has 293 ATM and 666 selling points.

Before 1990 Rwanda and its people were living in isolation. This prevented many opportunities, whether economic, political or social to its people. Joining the East African Community (EAC), Commonwealth and Comesa has opened Rwandans’ minds and helped them to enjoy the benefits of being members of those organisations.

The Liberation Struggle freed Rwanda not only from a tyrannical regime but also from extreme poverty. As an example, before the 1990 war, GDP growth rate was at 2.2% exacerbated by a rapid increase in population growth, at a rate of 3.2%; today the average GDP growth is estimated at 8.5%.

The GDP per capita which was less than $185 in 1990 rose exponentially to $644 by the end of 2012! In 1990, Rwanda’s total budget was a paltry Rwf45 billion – nearly 100 per cent of it externally funded–, which pales in comparison to the Rwf1.6 trillion for the 2013/14 budget, of which internally mobilised resources constitute over 60.2 per cent. 

We, Rwandans, have a huge debt to people who helped liberate Rwanda from the dictatorial regime, especially to those who lost their lives in the struggle to free our country and make it what it is today, a country that everybody feels proud to live in and where all citizens enjoy equal opportunity.  

To pay the debts that we owe those patriots we have to ensure that what has been achieved is sustained. In addition, we must prevent the causes of the Liberation Struggle from ever being repeated.

In a bid to prepare the 20th celebration of the Liberation Struggle which is due next year, let’s continue to sustain what has been achieved in peace and have all Rwandans, the youth in particular, work hand in hand to make our country even better.

The writer is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda.