A sense of entitlement: Simplistic and paralysis of a mindset (Part II)

Readers of the part I of these series emailed a number of suggestions and comments that I found useful and appreciated. Reading through the comments though, one gets the feeling that, some readers don’t take into account our past context and as such, address another environment not ours with our abnormal past. In our case, we shall have to consistently look in the rear mirror of our horrendous past, if we are to make prudent decisions about our future. With our abnormal past – one that no other independent African country has witnessed – we will have to be our own point of reference in all we do as a people and country for many years to come. Context for us becomes not only the key word in all we say/do, but also a development national positioning center point. And so any assessment/narrative/perception/prescription/opinion that fails to capture our abnormal past ends into subjective conclusion and falls short in the analysis of who we are as country and a people, where we are, and where we are headed. In fact, part of our abnormal past may partly be explained by serious sense of entitlement by a section of our society, who saw others as not entitled and thus second class citizens or at worst, no citizens at all. When a sitting President (late Juvenal Habyarimana) declared that, Rwanda was full and could not accommodate her citizens (who were refuges the world over), advising them to permanently settle in the countries where they had been granted refugee status, tells it all. One wonders whether Rwanda expanded in size when all refuges came home, including this writer. But this is indicative of systematic endorsement of entitlement of one section of our society over the other. The stories of decades of marginalisation of Tutsis who stayed in Rwanda after many pogroms in which tens of thousands were killed by their compatriots, abound. And of course the final assault, the 1994 Genocide. The people were denied their right to education, employment, representation, association and a host of others and this was all in the name of un-entitlement. Politics of entitlement: A historical perspective Our past political landscape has been defined by extreme culture of entitlement so much so that, it defined who was who and who was not in our development as a country. The so called 1958 Hutu Revolution (or Belgian revolution?) was premised on the ‘social justice’ which was underpinned by the perception that, the ruling Tutsi elite were entitled to everything. It might have been true to some extent that, a few elite Tutsi especially under monarchical system felt entitled (like in all monarchy systems the world over), but majority Tutsi were not entitled. In any case King Rudahigwa had abolished entitlement by abolishing Ubuhake (loosely translated as servitude). The theory advanced that, working for a landlord with lots of cows (which at the time was unit/store of value/currency) was servitude. This was an over statement of the situation at the time, and had serious political coatings by Belgian system that had their political agenda. The truth is that, this was mere employment, where the employee was rewarded for work done in form of cattle or agreed unit of exchange. Conventional employment we have today is no different except only in the unit of exchange. However, the so called Hutu Revolution aimed at ensuring ‘social justice’ was not to be for even among the Hutus. Those who originated from the South of Rwanda were more entitled than those from the north. Catholics were more entitled than Anglicans and Muslims. This led to resentment among the Hutus especially from the north, who were to topple Gregory Kayibanda through a coup led by Habyarimana in 1973. Entitlement this time round shifted from south to north, and to a few Hutu political elites. Tutsis were not entitled and had to contend with the crumbs, if they did get them. The enormity of entitlement system is that, a few may in fact benefit from the same, but the entitlement perceptions extend to all by association. RPF and the real socio-economic justice As pointed out in the first part of these series, most African political economies are anchored on various forms of entitlement based on either region, religion, ethnicity, elitism, cronyism, etc, and these breed systematic corruption which is then resented by the un-entitled who either form opposition not based in ideological differences (although it is cited as such) but rather a chance to be entitled and their turn ‘to eat’. That RPF has demystified this through the conduct of its cadres and ensuring governance with real and inclusive social and economic just systems where social as well as economic goods, whether public or private, are accessed by all irrespective of their religion, region, class, or tribe is an achievement of proportions. That, the exemplary leadership of President Paul Kagame has demystified entitlement in the entire government systems and by contagion to the private sector, is a heroic achievement we need to hold dearest as a country and a people. We can only hold onto this at any cost for not doing so is more costly now and for generations after us. The writer is an economist and financial expert. Email: nshutim@gmail.com. To be continued…

Opinions

A sense of entitlement: Simplistic and paralysis of a mindset (Part II)