Dignity is tied to clean politics

As we commemorate the 17th year since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, we ought to reflect critically on this year’s theme, “Upholding the Truth, Preserving our Dignity.” The theme is indeed pertinent to the prevailing challenges that we continue to face as Rwandans and also as human beings. The message of upholding the truth carries great significance at a time when we still have people bent on distorting and downplaying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The truth about the events in 1994 is well documented and more importantly, people who witnessed it first hand as victims or perpetrators are still alive. They are in position to testify and counter the falsehoods from those aimed at rewriting the history of this country. It is therefore a remarkable achievement that a fully stocked resource centre is now in place at the Kigali Memorial Centre. The documentation of our history will certainly go a long way in giving the truth a life. This truth should not die with the witnesses or victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. As Rwandans continue to focus on a brighter future, the upholding of the truth is a crucial aspect in ensuring that human dignity is preserved. In 1994, this country was robbed of its dignity when rogue politicians urged people to kill each other. Some people like to point out that politics is a dirty game, but I would be quick to add that that happens when you have unprincipled politicians in office. Only a politician without principles or morals can orchestrate genocide. This is because there is no way you expect to score any tangible political mileage, by organising the deaths of the same people you are responsible for. When politicians resort to narrow objectives like sticking to power even against the constitution, instead of devising policies to improve on the livelihood of the people, you are sure to have people with crazy ideas like the extermination of a group emerging and gaining a platform to execute their evil plans. As I was writing this piece, many Kenyans were quite busy trying to keep pace with the court proceedings at The Hague. The infamous Ocampo Six (six individuals accused of being responsible for the 2007 Post-Election violence) eventually made an appearance in court. After the elections in 2007, Kenya became a centre of violence that many feared would turn into genocide. In the Rift Valley Province, Kalenjins turned on their Kikuyu brothers killing and forcing the recent to flee to camps. Just like the Interahamwe, the Mugiki, a Kikuyu militia, were used to attack and kill innocent people. The police force also took sides in the conflict along ethnic lines. I actually travelled through Kenya just before the violence and soon after. It is simply shocking how quick a country can be destroyed in terms of infrastructure but more importantly, the social fabric. All these troubles stem from the divisive politics that reduce political decisions to struggles of ‘us’ against ‘them.’ Like genocide, you have one section of society bent on monopolising power, while another section is unfairly persecuted and kept from the political sphere, something that ultimately polarises an already deadly situation. These same events are also playing out in Ivory Coast. Presidential elections held at the end of last year, were supposed to serve as a solution to the country’s civil war situation. Instead, when the ballots were counted and Alassane Outtara was announced winner, the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede even when holed up in a bunker! The reason why I brought this up is because thousands of innocent lives have been lost during the period of this political impasse, and some of the killings have taken on an ethnic hue. For example, according to the BBC website, UN officials reported that in places like Duekoue, bodies belonging to the Guerre ethnic group were found. Rwanda has managed to move forward by cleaning up its politics thus ensuring that the Never Again message is not mere rhetoric. In other parts of the world, dirty political manoeuvrings seem to serve as major paths towards genocide as we have seen in places like Sudan, Kenya, Ivory Coast as well as Libya. At the end of the day, the best legacy we can bequeath this nation is clean politics that does not give room to situations like the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Never Again! ssenyonga@gmail.com