Rewarding our liberators

TODAY is Liberation Day and I don’t know about you but I can’t get enough of the stories of our freedom fighters. We all know the story of the selfless RPA soldiers who liberated this country but how it happened is one thing that keeps changing, at least at campus it does. Apparently there are people who tell the story like they were there in person or rather, part of the liberation struggle. Yesterday, I met a student who narrated how the RPA soldiers came from a hill, and as he spoke, he made the sound of a shooting gun with his mouth, even playing out how the soldiers saved people. If Eric Kabera, Director of Kwetu Film Institut, saw this gentleman narrating the story, he would instantly give him an acting role because his skills are clearly on point. Then he described what the country looked liked after liberation and what it is like today. If I had the power, I would make him ‘Country PR’. I would have given him ambassador or even foreign affairs minister but the passion with which he talks can only be associated with PR. The way he describes the Kigali Convention Centre, it is like it’s already complete. For a moment I even thought it was finished and furnished until I passed by it and realised that he was giving me his imagination of the building. For guys like these, they think liberation is only about fighting – it goes beyond that. For him, he must start by liberating his brain because it is bent on thinking inside the box alone. The youth need to do their part to build the Rwanda these soldiers fought for. We must acknowledge and celebrate what the liberators did for us but also take it on from there and in that way, reward their selfless deeds.