He is mostly known in Rwanda for his work in performing art and music, yet he has built a name for himself abroad as an author. Aimable Kubana’s latest book, which is already on sale in Europe, has been met with fierce debate, is set to hit the local shelves come April. Aimable Kubana. In an interview with The New Times, Kubana said he plans to travel to Rwanda in the coming days to launch his book around the time the country will be marking the 21st commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi – in April. His new book, “Tu es Tutsi mon fils” (French for My Son, You Are Tutsi), was released in Paris on January 10, with the France-based author saying it was deliberately released just ahead of the Genocide commemoration period. In the book, Kubana, a Genocide survivor, writes about the country’s history and preparation of the Genocide, with the writer dwelling mainly on what it meant to be born Tutsi in Rwanda at the time. “I used the book to share with the world my own experience, especially to share it with those who were not in Rwanda at the time what our country went through. “As a result, I don’t just dwell on what happened in 1994, I wanted to give a clear picture of the situation even before,” Kubana told The New Times in a telephone interview. He tells his story in the eyes of the nine-year old boy he was when he first encountered what eventually led to him knowing his ethnicity and coming to terms with the brutal government sponsored ethnic-based discrimination that characterised Rwanda at the time, even among young children. “In 1985 while at school, my class teacher asked Hutu students to stand up and move to the front. A big number of the pupils moved and a small number remained seated. The teacher then asked the Tutsi students to move to the back of the class,” “The remaining students moved to the back and I remained seated because I did not know where I belonged among the two (Tutsi and Hutu),” he says. Then, the female teacher quickly approached him and asked if he was ‘Twa’ but Kubana denied being one and the angry teacher retorted: “If you are not Hutu, Tutsi or Twa, then what are you?” Panicking, Kubana answered “I am a Christian”. The teacher ordered him to take that question home and ask his parents for an answer.Kubana says he turned nine years before he could hardly separate ethnicity from religion. “When I reached home, I explained to my parents what happened. My father was taken aback. His mood immediately changed and with a lump in his throat, he told me ‘My son, you are Tutsi’,” Kubana recalls. The next day, Kubana went back to school and the teacher asked him to tell the whole class his ethnicity which he did. He explains that the teacher most likely already knew the little Kubana’s ethnicity since all students had files with their family details, including ethnicity. “I think they were doing this at an early age to ensure that children grew up believing that they were different and can never be the same or equal.” “In 1990 when the liberation war started, school heads started telling students that they should get rid of the enemy, meaning Tutsi or Inyenzi as the called them,” Kubana recalls. Following the incident in class, Kubana started thinking that Tutsi and Hutu were naturally meant to be enemies. He also recalls the words by Martin Bucyana, an official with Impuzamugambi militia of the CDR extremist political party, at Kigali Regional Stadium (Nyamirambo), openly urging Hutu citizens to hunt down Tutsi and kill them. In the book, Kubana gives a day-to-today account of what transpired during the 100 days of the Genocide, including accounts of how his relatives, teachers and friends were killed in his presence. Kubana explores the brutality of the genocide machinery, stating that not even children born of mixed parentage – Hutu and Tutsi – were spared. But he also talks of the moderate Hutu who put their lives on the line but challenging the genocidal regime, citing such people as Agathe Uwilingiyimana, then prime minister who became among the first Genocide victims for her opposition to the genocide plans. Kubana also pays glowing tribute to ordinary Hutu who saved life during the slaughters. However, Kubana says that post-Genocide Rwanda has since steered clear of ethic-based politics and forged ahead as a nation of one people. This is Kubana’s second book on the Genocide, with the first published explored the tragic experiences of the Tutsi who hid at St Paul in Kigali during the massacres. The 75-page book published by Editions Amalthée in France can be obtained in Rwanda through direct orders. Born in 1976, Kubana worked as a journalist and event manager after the Genocide before relocating to France.
