Why this referendum is important for Rwandans

Editor, RE: “World should listen attentively; Rwandans are about to speak” (The New Times, December 17). It seemed Rwanda was never meant to recover from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. And yet here we are, about 20 years later, rising and moving forward against all odds – thriving! The world is not used to this. There are those who wish for African countries to remain wretched vassals in lifelong service of western geopolitical and global economic interests. It is as if we are not meant to rise up and move forward by the power of our proverbial own two feet. It is as if self-determination, positive development and progress are meant only for our “betters”, and not for the likes of us. There is a prevailing stereotype about African countries, and we in Rwanda boldly defy that stereotype. We are building a country for ourselves that is meant to lift us and future generations ever higher. And not everyone is as enthusiastic and excited about this as we Rwandans are. That is why you have all these concern trolls, especially in the western media, talking about President Paul Kagame’s legacy this, legacy that. When you have just started building something great, something fantastical, and along comes a group of people who are trying to get you to stop, people who are telling you to let some unknown “somebody else” continue, because “Oh, do please think about your legacy....”, then you really have to wonder. Not everybody who smiles at us is our friend. A legacy speaks for itself, after the work has been successfully completed. If you are telling someone to stop what they’re doing for the sake of their legacy, then you are not interested in the success of what they are doing, in the first place. Rwanda is being subjected to concern trolling. Definition according to Wikipedia: A concern troll is a false flag pseudonym created by a user whose actual point of view is opposed to the one that the troll claims to hold. The concern troll posts in Web forums devoted to its declared point of view and attempts to sway the group’s actions or opinions while claiming to share their goals, but with professed “concerns”. The goal is to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt within the group. This online encyclopedia defines concern trolling as “offering a poisoned apple in the form of advice to political opponents that, if taken, would harm the recipient”. As a country that was abandoned in our time of dire need by these same concerned groups, we should be very wary about their input in our matters, when these matters do not concern them. After all, Norway does not care what Namibia thinks about Norway’s government processes, right? Constitutional amendments, limited or unlimited term limits, are not a matter of question in western countries.The United States of America has amended its Constitution a whopping twenty-seven times (27)! The German head of government Angela Merkel has been Chancellor since 2005, and she has no term limits. In fact, the majority of European countries have no set term limits. Do you see Malawi or The Gambia “expressing their concerns” about Merkel’s “legacy”? Would Germany even care if they did? It is deeply insulting to presume that Africans are somehow incapable of democratic self-determination. This is our country, our President, our referendum, and our future. It is our responsibility to do what is best for us – nobody else’s. In fact, we have today in our President and his cabinet a government that is far more representative of the people it serves, than you would find in most western countries. Democracy and great governance is just one of the many things the world can learn from Rwanda. Dayo Ntwari

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Why this referendum is important for Rwandans