Presidential campaigns in Rwanda are gearing up as Rwandans move day by day towards the D-Day of casting votes, hence prompting us to critically analyze democracy in the country. The four political parties; RPF, PL, PPC and PSD have come with manifestos to tell Rwandans what they intend to do if elected to lead the nation. What we should however understand in the Rwanda of today is that the electorate demands have changed from listening to mere politicking, to demanding community based problem solving mechanisms. It is this paradigm shift that has pushed us, to ‘uncapsule’ the classical definition of democracy-‘The rule of the people by the people and for the people’ in the Rwandan context. The rule of the peopleRwandans of today know that the power lies within their hands; it is them to decide who is to be out or in, and nobody else. How do they realize this? Right from the grass root, leaders are elected by the people depending on set criteria that serve the people’s purpose. You will never be elected to lead even a cell, if the people within that small community, don’t believe in your capacity to serve them. The rule by the peopleIt is remarkable that leaders are community born-there is no more belief that a leader is supposed to be a unique breed, imported from a far. In the past there was a belief that a village born, for instance, would not make a good leader in that particular area. People have therefore domesticated leadership and take it upon them to spearhead their communities and society. The country’s leadership is thus in the hands of the people. The rule for the people This last part of the definition is actually the most demanding one, especially for those vying for the presidential seat in Rwanda. Anyone demanding the people’s votes has got to convince them how he or she, is going to serve the people. Leadership in people’s interest and demands has taken shape. This is the principle that is dominating the presidential campaign process; each candidate is explaining what he has done, or is planning to do for the country in the next seven years. This is where the difference lies-what you are going to do for us, as opposed to how articulate or eloquent you are in explaining paper manifesto, is the people’s concern. The hottest topics on the presidential agenda hence focus primarily on improving the quality of people’s life.According to Daniel Mwesigye, 45, a businessman in Kayonza the atmosphere of the elections is shaped by the people’s demands. He says that the atmosphere is calm, because all people need is actions towards empowering them and not political exercises. “People want to know about access to the water supply, to electricity, and they want price controls on the cost of food, such as rice, which is a staple of the diet here.”Whoever wins the elections, thus, will have made a difference in this line of thinking. The campaign atmosphereRwanda’s presidential campaign has kicked into high gear, as candidates take the one month to meet with voters in the hope of becoming the country’s next leader. But so far, the campaign atmosphere is peaceful and calm and there is no sign that it will change.Supporters have put up posters throughout the country and drive around the country, singing and dancing to their respective party slogans and songs. All the parties however, do it, by observing that National Electoral Commission (NEC) call, for campaigning in a “restrained” and calm atmosphere. So, before Rwanda is classified as the least violent nation during presidential campaigns and elections, just as it was yesterday on corruption, we must understand the underlying reasons. Electorate political maturityRwandans have been taught by all sorts of experience; the bad history of the country, the vigilance of the government on civic education, etcetera. It is against such background that Rwandans exercise accommodative and tolerant politics. Before the kick-off of the campaigns, NEC gave Leaders of the ruling party and opposition parties, clear instructions to pass to their members. One of them is that acts of violence will not be tolerated. This is what puzzles foreign election observers and some trigger happy politicians in Rwanda! Of course they can be forgiven owing to the fact that in this part of the world, elections procedures are marred by political violence that normally escalate with the kick-off of presidential campaigns. We have seen in so many cases, in Rwanda, where individual party supporters mistakenly found themselves in the camp of rivals, but are not manhandled or abused in any form, but re-directed to their own camp. The bottom line is that we don’t need violence and nasty scenarios to classify elections as a reflection of democracy. What we need is contextualize democracy as per our societal needs and educate our visitors or observers on what Rwandans want. Ends
