Victoire Ingabire was given platform by openDemocracy to write about Women’s Day 8th March. Ingabire found a perfect subject, however struggles to find fault with women dominance in Rwanda’s Parliament. Ingabire’s central theme is that the 61.3% of parliamentary seats and 55% of ministerial positions held by women, doesn’t add any value to women emancipation because these high profile women advance RPF agenda. Her argument is that the RPF agenda is a bad one for the country. Ingabire argues that the women holding authority help themselves and the Party, not the other women. Ingabire goes on to advance the usual divisive political gimmicks, that I won’t bother to repeat here. However, the solution Ingabire gives which she claims will help women more, is that government lets “fresh minds” to emerge in the country. I hope when Ingabire wrote this, she wasn’t including herself as among those fresh minds. Unless if the meaning of these words has changed. By my understanding of what fresh minds actually means, Ingabire excludes Herself. Ingabire has been promoting a dangerous narrative of a double genocide as having happened in Rwanda in 1994. The same Ingabire promotes ethnic divisionism, which is criminal under Rwanda’s laws. The women MPs whom Ingabire claims as useless, have actually passed laws that benefit the entire country. There is no program, and subsequently government program that has been developed to be enjoyed by only RPF members. Let me cite some examples. There is law on maternity leave which gives 12 weeks leave to women after giving birth for formally employed women, as well as two weeks before birth. The same law give full pay to these women during their leave. Ingabire seems to insinuate that this law was passed to benefit only women in RPF. When universal health insurance, which covers over 90% of the population, was passed, it didn’t come to be enjoyed by RPF members alone. Recent amendments were done to deepen its impact. Ingabire speaks about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing out the widespread impact on women. Ingabire doesn’t speak about the Economic Recovery Fund: first and second phases. Government pumped Rwf 105 billion into the first phase of the Economic Recovery Fund to support businesses. A large slice of this allocation (Rwf 73 billion) was allocated to loan refinancing 151 hotels, 69learning institutions and 55 public transport operators. Rwf 11.5 billion was allotted as working capital which supported 157 businesses in different sectors. Rwf 6.7 billion supported existing micro businesses through 344 SACCO’s. The second phase of $250million was launched in May last year. I believe similar disbursements like in the first one will go to helping ordinary people. There has never been any allegation that women seeking small loans in the village SACCO have been asked to present their Party card. The loans have been given out on the merits of their projects. I can also give another example of the fruit selling markets that are established everywhere around the country. Is Ingabire suggesting that the women working in these markets are only RPF women? Is Ingabire suggesting that the girls’ rooms that are being set up in all schools, so that they have a place to rest during the menstrual period or other illnesses, will only benefit RPF girls? The office of the prosecutor general has set up a government run database for convicted rapists, in an effort to put a stop on the abuses targeting girls. Does Ingabire want the world to believe that this effort is only meant to help girls from RPF? Ingabire may want to hoodwink her international financers that she is engaged in genuine political activism, but won’t take us Rwandans for the same ride. We know her. Ingabire shouldn’t claim to be among the “fresh minds” she purportedly is advocating.
