Rwanda's independence and what liberation means to the people

On Wednesday July 1, Rwanda celebrated her 53rd independence anniversary and tomorrow, July 4, the country is celebrating its 21st Liberation anniversary. The two events, while important in the nation’s history, were attained under different circumstances that were trying and at a great cost. Using tactics of divide and rule, Rwanda’s colonial masters, the harbingers of the nation’s misfortunes, introduced the infamous “quota system”, in which leadership, as though by divine providence, was allocated to a section of the population, who were so chosen on grounds of their ‘features’, and the number of cattle they owned. Being in place of leadership, and perhaps a bit relatively more exposed than the rest, they were the ones who rose to demand for independence, encouraged by the experience Africans had in the Second World War. It will be remembered that Africa’s contribution to the Second World War, while not given prominence by our colonial masters, did expose the Africans to the fact that Europeans were not as invincible as they had wanted our forbearers to believe. The leaders of Rwanda in the early 1950s began demanding for independence. The Belgians were not amused: There was danger on the horizon; independence meant their exit on terms they were not comfortable with. The new leaders of Rwanda after independence did little to emphasize what united their people. It is not news that they preached and practiced divisive politics. They fell in the trap of their colonial masters and mentors who chose to see the people of Rwanda as different and preferred to propagate the use of spectacles of ethnicity. Yet, historically, culturally and, in many other aspects, the people of this nation have been and will continue to be one and the same. They have shared the same hills, intermarried and lived side by side in good and difficult times. The consequences of the divisive politics of post-independence Rwanda affected all Rwandans and brought this country to the horrendous Genocide of 1994. The Rwandan story after 1994 is a story of transition, resilience and hope. The perpetrators of the Genocide caused an indelible mark on the psyche of the Rwandan people, and for generations to come, Rwandans will live with the trauma and experience of a dark chapter in their difficult history. As it is now known, putting this nation of a thousand hills back on its feet required lots of courage and resilience and Rwandans have managed to surpass ‘differences’ they may have had and have risen to the occasion to rebuild their shattered lives and nation. The last twenty-one years, therefore, have been, to a great extent, a tale of determination to rise from the ashes of history. It is not uncommon, for instance, to find in Rwanda victims of the Genocide living side by side with their former tormentors in an atmosphere of relative quiet and peace. Some people have rightly called this a miracle. I have no reason to doubt this observation either. Impunity that had successfully been fine tuned into a culture in the past has been dealt with. There is rule of law and reforms that touch on nearly all aspects of public life ranging from education, health and justice, to social affairs and other areas of human endeavour, have been introduced. It is important to recognise the role of education in this process. Usually the lack of educational opportunities had created problems in many countries in Africa that were struggling to break the chains of colonisation. In Rwanda many uneducated youth believed that killing would solve their problems of poverty and unemployment. Lack of access to secondary education in pre-Genocide Rwanda may have accounted for the hostility of the perpetrators against educated people. Prior to 1994, Rwanda had no system of national examinations. There was no examination body to regulate exams. By 1994, less than 3,000 University graduates had come out of the sole National University of Rwanda in Butare from the time of independence in 1962. Education was a privilege to a few who were well connected. Now, more Rwandans have graduated from various institutions of higher learning over the last twenty-one years than in the previous 54 years! 1962 was the year of Rwanda’s flag independence. However, the euphoria of independence did not come along with tangible results for the benefit of the people. The tragedy of 1994, whose consequences Rwandans are still grappling with, did ironically sow seeds of a promising future. Today, the new flag is up comprising of three horizontal bands: topmost is blue, middle is yellow, and lowermost is green. The green and yellow are of equal width, and the blue strip is of double size of those two. On top right corner is the sun emitting 24 rays. It is symbolic of unity, new hope and light that clears ignorance and spreads enlightenment. We must not be bogged down by the dark parts of our past by caused poor ideologies, we must move forward together as one people towards a bright future. This is the hope that we are bound; we have overwritten our history, built on the present and redefined our future. Back then, gaining our independence and liberation was our vision of who we wanted to be, our ideal of freedom, how we were going to be different, and what the Rwandan experience was going to be about. This is where we are! oscar.kimanuka@yahoo.co.uk

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Rwanda's independence and what liberation means to the people