Election lessons

Congrats to all the winners. I don’t know what to say to all else that do not belong to this category. Like in any other election, some people chose to stay home on August 4. They abstained. But this is a negligible percentage so we won’t dwell on it long. All we will say to them is, in any election, you will be free to stay home if you so wish. But don’t delude yourself that you did not vote. Truth be told, there is no such thing as not voting; there is no such thing except if you’re not eligible to vote. So just know that technically, every Rwandan eligible to vote indeed took part in the process on August 3rd and 4th. There are two ways by which one can cast their vote; One of them is to stay home and refuse to be bothered, the other way one can vote is by actually voting. But how then can sitting home without a bother be called voting? Well, by staying home, you are only unwittingly adding value to whatever vote went to the guy you did not vote – call it your un-preferred candidate. Now that the negligible majority that abstained is out of the way … Twatoye Twatsinze These two seemingly innocent words will go down as one of the by words of the election. Well, tell a lie, the two seemingly innocent words are actually a wildly catchy Bruce Melodie song hook, in an election that was spiced by an array of artists and musicians. Forget Twanweye Twasinze, forget Ikinya … enter Twatoye Twatsinze. Climate of cheer This was the concerted and overwhelming response, complete with video and photographic evidence chorused by Rwandans from different walks of life in response to “climate of fear ahead of Rwanda vote”, the wild and disparaging claim by the ever busybody Amnesty International. Numbers don’t lie Let’s just say there was also a Rwanda presidential polls 2017 version to the 2005 Shakira hit, Hips don’t lie. The Numbers don’t lie version was propagated by local Telco giant MTN, and again, with the backing of photographic evidence. The silly season The name that is usually bestowed upon such occasions like Christmas and New Year’s and presidential elections, on account of the fact that, typically in such times, many societies and many people now collude to take leave of their senses and make not only an utter fool of themselves, but also a mockery of the very essence of these occasions. Well, as you ought to already know, it will be eons before the silly season and elections in Rwanda can sit in the same sentence. Political sanitation This simply refers to the political atmosphere that prevailed in the country in the run up to the elections. Political sanitation simply refers to a situation where the poll is so meticulous, so flawless, so business-as-usual and so not-silly season. Made in Rwanda Finally, the August 4 poll inevitably went to the camp that exhibited the most enthusiasm in incorporating the Made in Rwanda mantra in its campaign wardrobe. Félicitations!

Lifestyle

Election lessons