As we close the Genocide commemoration week, we should not forget that it did not only take one mere week but a whole one hundred days, in which close to a million lives were prematurely terminated. As this was busy unfolding in the country of a thousand hills, the world (if America and its allies can be termed so) folded their arms on their chests seemingly to say, “Let the Africans sort themselves out”. Else, how would one explain the situation where Rwandans were abandoned in their final hour of need? Imagine, the so-called United Nations Security Council deciding to pull its troops out of Rwanda as all signs of the Genocide were unfolding! Once again, fourteen years after the Genocide, some countries out there are still allocating themselves the powers to judge those who helped stop the evil committed by their own so called civilise kin and kith. I was greatly angered (if that is the word), to hear the likes of, is he Burogozi (the infamous French judge), followed by his Spanish partner in arms. The existence of the genocide ideology in so many sectors of our lives is a real sad phenomenon; how on earth can reconciliation or rather, the aggrieved come to terms with what happened and then forgive those who wronged them? It was very sad to hear of the heinous attack of the Kigali Genocide Memorial site by unknown assailants to the extent that a gallant policeman, in the execution of his duties, lost his life! Not only that, there was another incident somewhere near Remera where a speeding driver crashed into a procession, killing some and seriously injuring many others. How on earth does such a beastly human being expect others to simply brush such acts aside and grant forgiveness? Forgiveness is a process that requires nurturing carefully till it matures; if some people are bent on “killing” the process before it matures, isn’t this quite absurd? Nevertheless, let us not get distracted from our goals by mere self seekers. As a nation, we should fight against all forms of sectarianism as well as reactionary forces; never should we allow the nation to experience the same excesses as was experienced in 1994 and all the years preceding. We should not look forward to any outside help in maintaining the hard-earned peace but onto our selves. So many laid their lives on the hook so that this nation may raise from the ashes of yesterday to a level where everyone moves with their heads high, save for those who have their own reasons not to do so. As we remember those who were brutally murdered for what they were or were thought to be, we should all shout out that, NEVER AGAIN, Never should this nation be subjected to Genocide. I sincerely pray that, the Almighty God may rest the souls of all those who perished in peace; and may he grant all those that suffered in one way or the other solace and healing. Contact: Mfashumwana@fastmail.fm
