Keep the Agaciro spirit alive

WHEN THE Ameki Colour chief executive, this week, observed that “there has been silence on Agaciro Development Fund (AgDF) initiative this year” and added that he hoped the Rwf26 million his company was contributing would reawaken the spirit, the message left many unanswered questions. Are Rwandans loosening up on the pace they set in the vision to be completely self-reliant? Is it only cheques of million-franc donations allowed at the Fund’s front desk? What can an individual citizen do to help the cause? Companies contributing usually say it is a pool by employees. This means individual coins go a long way in adding up to the millions that we see on dummy cheques. Now, it has been told eon of times that donor funding is a step in a circle. There are just too many strings attached that progress itself depends on who is pulling what string. But Agaciro Development Fund is by Rwandans and friends of Rwanda for Rwanda. It is the most resounding confirmation of the resolve Rwandans have put to be self-reliant. When the solidarity fund was launched in August 2012, it looked like an unfeasible dream. But riding on relentlessness second to none, Rwandans have showed that nothing can stop them from mapping their own destiny. Today, the Rwf26 billion in the Fund’s basket is a statement of the confidence Rwandans have in themselves as a people; their pride, their dignity. With AgDF, citizens are financing key priority projects for the nation as identified by Vision 2020 and EDPRS II. Officials say plans are underway to roll out a campaign that will boost the voluntary contributions, but for a people who have for the last 20 years embraced civic responsibilities, we cannot sit back and wait for the campaigns. We should all get down and flaunt our national pride by pooling resources to ensure that the West have no umbilical cord to tie on Rwanda. The media, too, should not make it look like only million-franc contribution is worth talking home about. Every coin counts.

Opinions

Keep the Agaciro spirit alive