President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame on Saturday, November 23, attended Tito Rutaremara's 80th birthday celebration, joining the veteran politician's family and friends. Rutaremara, who is fondly called Mzee Tito, has been active in Rwandan politics for more than three decades. He is a former Senator and Ombudsman. The veteran politician is among the founders of the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU), the political movement founded in 1979, which later became the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) in 1987. The RPF/Army launched the war to liberate Rwanda in 1990, seeking the return of Rwandan refugees, and in 1994, they stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi. ALSO READ: Tito Rutaremara on why war was the only option to liberate Rwanda Rutaremara is currently the Chairperson of Rwanda Elders' Advisory Forum, which advises the government on national issues, political orientation and challenges related to good governance. Born in 1944 in Gatsibo, in then Kibungo territory, in today's Eastern Province, Rutaremara fled Rwanda with his family after the 1959 pogroms that targeted the Tutsi. Young Rutaremara, who had attended primary school in Gatsibo and left Rwanda when he was in the second year of secondary school at College St Andre, continued his studies in Uganda. He later went to Europe for his university studies. ALSO READ: Stories of Rwanda's keypolitical actors beginning to be told In an interview with The New Times in July this year, Rutaremara reflected on the war that put an end to decades of ethnic discrimination and genocidal violence in Rwanda. We started [the war] on October 1, 1990. Because we didn't have any other means, we had to come and liberate by force, Rutaremara told The New Times' Linda Kagire. He was one of RPF negotiators during the Arusha peace talks with the Juvenal Habyarimana regime, seeking to bring the early 1990s war to an end. https://x.com/UrugwiroVillage/status/1860428530540052515?t=TU7wXBgH7364rQPqyiAsiQ&s=19 Rutaremara, who has seen Rwanda during and after colonialism and taken part in its liberation effort since the 1970s until 1994, said that the actual liberation started after the Genocide against the Tutsi, when Rwandans had to build a unified country the tragic history. ALSO READ: Tito Rutaremara on how unity is Rwanda's foundation The man who has also taken part in the post-Genocide reconstruction believes that the journey to liberate Rwandans continues today in various aspects, including poverty eradication. It is still a journey. Of course, in some areas we have achieved high results and in others, not yet, but we are yet to get where we want to be, Rutaremara said. He believes that Rwandan youth must take over the liberation baton to continue to develop the country. He also believes that Rwanda's leadership with Paul Kagame as President has a good vision for the country. We have got a very good visionary leader who sees further than anyone can see, who knows how to organise and mobilise people, Rutaremara said, reflecting on President Kagame's development vision.
