FOCUS:Commemorating liberation day as we ponder how far we’ve come

As we celebrate the 15th liberation, it is hard to ignore the aspect of reflecting on how far we have come and the long road ahead of us. The liberation day, celebrated yesterday, holds a lot of meaning to Rwandans. It particularly reminds us of the pains and untold sacrifice many Rwandans underwent to see that sanity which included justice, the rule of law and equality are restored in our beautiful country. Just like how the children of Israel rose up to go to their promised land after centuries of enslavement in Egypt, Banyarwanda men, women, and old people who for many decades had been living in foreign lands rose up in arms to fight for and return to their country. Many of them lost their lives and other priceless things they will probably never get back but what is more significant is the fact that they could forfeit anything for the liberation of their country. Another aspect that the liberation day highlights is the fact that the struggle came with the stoppage of the 1994 Genocide against the Tusti. This horrible part of our country’s history claimed over a million innocent people who were gruesomely murdered by their government and neighbours. The unspeakable problems and a bloody legacy that the previous government and its psychopathic accomplices painted on our country will continue to haunt us for years but the fact is that all that has only and will continue strengthening us with a the drive to construct our country. In the previous community work exercise in Kicukiro, President Paul Kagame urged Rwandans to develop the spirit of hard work and dedication in whatever they were involved in as a way of saving the country from poverty. “We liberated ourselves from the bad past; the battle for liberation didn’t stop at victory over tyranny and stopping the Genocide against the Tutsi but had to continue over liberation from poverty,” he said. “We can’t afford to live with poverty while other people are living a better life. We can only achieve what we want if we put our efforts together, that is why I am so thankful to the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) for their new initiative of coming down to help the needy,” he added commending the country’s force in their outreaches to the vulnerable people. Early in the week while addressing the press the Minster of local government Protais Musoni called for clear understanding of the implications and embrace the day by remembrance of fallen heroes of the liberation struggle and collectively work to improve the lives of those who still live in absolute poverty fifteen years later. He went ahead to highlight the prudent initiatives in place and those in the pipeline, urging everyone to positively contribute to achieving the set goals. “Apart from disseminating information about the historical day, preparations to start charity services like building houses for Genocide survivors and useful infrastructure such as water sources, hospitals and schools are also underway,” Musoni said. He pointed out the need to involve the public in peace building, democratic governance and not undermining their contribution in getting rid of corruption, improving proper monitoring of government property and other related government strategies. The bottom line of our way forward is to appreciate the strides we have taken in healing and developing our country as we merge all our efforts and resources towards adding value to our economy to achieve development. Ends