President Paul Kagame, last weekend in Brussels, met with more than 2500 members of the Rwandan Diaspora living across Europe. While addressing them, he advised that they should be good ambassadors, who speak the truth about their country and disregard the lies propagated by Rwanda’s detractors. Rwandans know, more than anyone else, what the new Rwanda represents, having experienced, firsthand, the brutality and discriminatory practices of the previous regimes. They understand that, prior to the liberation struggle, children had no equal access to quality education, a section of the population had been banished to life in exile, human rights violations were the norm, and that ordinary Rwandans, generally, had no right to demand leaders to deliver public goods – healthcare, roads, water, among others. Rwandans anywhere, are now more welcome than ever, to return home and join their compatriots in building their motherland. The masses freely choose their leadership and are free to recall them when they fail to deliver. Rwandans have foras in which they meaningfully engage in constructive debates. Women, at all levels, are now empowered and are actively involved in the country’s socio-economic and political processes. This is the Rwanda which many people risked their lives for, and we should all jealously guard it against anyone, foreign or Rwandan, seeking to take the Rwandan people back to the dark days. Indeed, the task to build and defend this country is every Rwandan’s responsibility, including the Diaspora community. Ends
