Rwandans have clearly shown they can stand their ground

Editor, RE: “Ignore distractors” (The New Times, January 6). For a long time, I’ve been of the same opinion. We’ve made our decision and are willing to live with it; we should not seek validation from foreigners who, without fail, will find a way to put a negative spin to all that is different from their way of doing things. Umutoni *********************** It is gratifying to find out that other Rwandans subscribe to the view that we should be prepared to stand our ground on issues that are solely ours to decide on, no matter the power of those who are trying to deprive us of our powers of agency, or the cost of bucking them. What, otherwise, would have been the point of the sacrifices of so many for our liberation? I do not hold the view that we should close our ears to what others (from the most powerful to neighbours) say about us. We are, after all, members of a global community (even though the powerful members of that ‘community’ rarely, if ever, accept that they should behave as such, preferring, instead, to act as masters vis-à-vis fellow members who are, in turn, expected to accept their roles as vassals of varying importance). But when all has been said, we should be able to take decisions about our affairs and own both their benefits and costs without hectoring or illegitimate attempts by outsiders, no matter how powerful, to interfere in the processes of making those decisions. Such interference is of course encouraged the more we seem to crave outside validation and approval. Any suspicion that we are so unsure of our own choices or worth and that we, therefore, hunger for approval becomes an open invitation for meddlesome outsiders to move in and take charge. And yet the hallmark of true independence is to be ready to think for yourself and to accept to carry the burden – no matter how heavy – of the choices you yourself have made. I believe a large and continuously growing proportion of fellow Rwandans have understood this basic fact of life. It is what explains the huge number of those who, in both Rwanda and the Diaspora, flocked to the voting booths and voted so overwhelmingly to choose their own path. I was especially struck by the fact that both in the country and in the Diaspora over 98 per cent of voters went to the polls and almost the same proportion of the voters said “Yego”, repudiating the brazen foreign attempts at interjecting themselves into an entirely internal Rwandan process. This should tell us something about how far Rwandans have progressed in absorbing the lessons of Agaciro (self-dignity) and wresting the primary role on their affairs from foreign control. Mwene Kalinda

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Rwandans have clearly shown they can stand their ground