She is known on social media platforms for her resilience and determination to fight genocide deniers and people who try to ‘drag Rwanda through the mud’. She does this by sharing facts and challenging false narratives about the country, even confronting ridiculous claims and notions by self-appointed ‘experts’. Francine Uwera Havugimana believes defending her country is priceless; to defend and serve the country and government that saved her life and dignity is a calling she doesn’t have to be paid for. Whatever she does, whether in the private sector, where she is renowned, or in other sectors where she has influence, is aimed at contributing to nation-building. The 45-year-old entrepreneur knows all too well what it means to feel ‘stateless’ in your country when you are treated like a second-class citizen, and later see your very own being killed for who they are. ALSO READ: Genocide denial a setback on justice gains – Rwandan diplomat Born to Emmanuel Havugimana and Speciose Iribagiza, an affluent business family in Kigali, Havugimana grew up seeing how her family and Tutsi, in general, were mistreated at the time. Before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, her father was a renowned businessman in town, specialising in exporting and importing petroleum products and cooking oil. He also owned properties around Muhima. Havugimana (her father) was from the Masango Commune, current Ruhango District, where his business acumen started before moving to Kigali and establishing himself as a prominent businessman. His shrewdness and acts of kindness endeared him to many, including leaders whom he relied on to navigate his way into the business world, but it was not safe for him because he was Tutsi. “By the time the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi started, we were living in Kacyiru, where my father had built his residential house. Before that, he had been harassed and arrested on many occasions,” Havugimana says. When he was building the house in Kacyiru, he was arrested and accused of conspiring with RPF-Inkotanyi, which at the time had launched a struggle to liberate Rwanda. Those who jailed him wanted to know where he got the money and why he was building the house. He spent a year and a half in prison on bogus charges while her mother also served time on the same accusations. “My family started suffering the injustices even way before the Genocide. They were denied many rights, we did not have any documents such as passports,” Havugimana says, explaining how her family had persevered over the years. ALSO READ: Official rallies social media users on fight against Genocide denial Her father being a humble but popular businessman, her family was among the first to be targeted on April 7 when the Genocide started. “On April 7, around mid-day, the attackers arrived. We were all at home with our parents and two uncles who lived with us. They had a list. They had planned this earlier. They had actually told people they were not going to kill, those who lived around Kacyiru near the US Embassy and ‘Ministeri’, to leave the area. “We saw trucks of soldiers being deployed in the area. We locked ourselves in. They attempted to enter in vain. They used a truck to knock down the gate and hurled grenades inside,” recalls Havugimana, who was 16 years old at the time. Havugimana says that the attackers suspected that Inkotanyi fighters were hiding in the house and wanted to get inside by hook or crook. “We were used to this. They would come home always to search the house on baseless allegations,” she says, adding that by the time they made it inside, all the windows and doors had been shattered. “They burned the cars in the parking lot so that we couldn’t escape,” she adds. While building the house, her father had created a hiding space inside. As the attackers threatened to break inside, he hid his youngest children in the spot as they couldn’t all fit. “He told my elder brother to find somewhere else to hide because the militia knew he (dad) was around so he was willing to face them as we found somewhere to hide,” Havugimana recalls. A staunch Adventist and believer, Havugimana had prepared his family for what may come ahead, having experienced it all. He had made peace with what might befall him. He prayed for them and told them to always read Psalms 23 whenever they were in difficult times. “From where we were hiding, we saw him go towards the attackers. He first negotiated with them, they asked for money, and he gave it to them but they still killed him. “They then killed our mother. We could hear everything from our hiding place. They then shot my brothers and uncles. It was the longest day of my life. They spent many hours at our house,” she says. After killing everyone they saw at home, they started looting, but Havugimana and three of her siblings remained put in their hiding place. When the killers left, they got out of their hiding place, her young brother used a fixed phone they had in the house to call the home of Costa Pierantonio, an Italian national who was a businessman and consul living in Rwanda at the time. Pierantonio's son studied with Havugimana’s younger brother at Ecole Belge. Before they killed their mum, she had called Pierantonio to alert him on what was going on, and that any time they would be killed. However, Pierantonio explained that the situation was equally life-threatening. The security there had been withdrawn. One of the attackers who stayed guard and knew Havugimana’s family before due to his deeds, knew that there were some people still hiding in the house. He did his best to try and protect them. He would bring them food and beverages and would convince the others that there was no one else left to kill in the house. “He offered to move us elsewhere for our own safety. He moved us, one by one, to a house owned by a soldier but said that if he found us there, he would kill us. “He said that he would go to Kiyovu and look for the soldier, and tell him that he was hiding some people in his house to see his reaction,” she recalls. Outside, Interahamwe had figured out that some people were hiding in the house and camped outside. “He gave us grenades so that if they came in, we were to set them off and die instead of being hacked with machetes. And he left.” Armed with grenades, they stayed in the house and the soldier came before the man could return. “We thought he would kill us. But when he arrived, he told us that the only thing he could do was to take us to Mille Collines, and God willing, we would survive. “He took us to Mille Collines and when we got there, we found people were paying soldiers at the gate to enter. We didn’t have money, he paid for us,” Havugimana says. Havugimana says that inside the hotel, people were paying to stay, and that is where they heard of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel’s manager. “He was the one charging people inside. Those who didn’t have money would sleep in the corridors or outside. At first, it operated like a hotel, but as more people came, Rusesabagina and others saw an opportunity,” she says. That was between April 9 and 11, as countries started evacuating their residents from the hotel. Eventually, nearly all the people left behind were Rwandans. At Mille Collines, they managed to call Pierantonio again and he came and smuggled them out, using his diplomatic status, and took them to his home in Kiyovu, where nearly all Italians in Rwanda were. Pierantonio processed travel documents for them as Italians, as they used to do for adopted children. Foreigners would register at Ecole Francais and later be evacuated to their respective countries. He had three children and a wife. The number of people in each family was limited. “He decided that his immediate family was not in danger but we risked being killed. He said he would escort us first to Kenya and return to take his own family, and he did,” Havugimana says. Pierantonio fought to ensure that they were allowed to exit. The Rwandan Ambassador in Kenya was stationed at the airport to identify them as soon as they arrived. “Our dad had trucks in Kenya and the plan was to kill us and take his property,” Havugimana says. However, one of the drivers of her father’s trucks in Kenya caught wind of the plan and worked around the clock to help them escape Kenya to Uganda, where they stayed until RPF-Inkotanyi stopped the Genocide and liberated the country. In Kenya, they acquired documents for refugees. At the time Rwandans were being relocated to different countries. Her younger siblings moved to Canada and Sweden. “My young brother and I decided to return to Rwanda. Since we had documents as refugees, we were not allowed to come back to our country of origin. I had to hide to avoid being taken to another country,” she says. Havugimana wanted to come back to her own country not only to restore her father’s legacy but also for the first time, to feel like she had a country she could call her own. Back home, she had to fight tooth and nail to claim back her fathers’ properties, fending off banks that were conniving to auction them off. ALSO READ: The forms of denial of Genocide against Tutsi and its mutation She also joined the private sector to keep her father’s legacy going and whatever she does today is in his honour. Today she is among the senior members of Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation. Until recently, she served as a commissioner in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi), of which she is a member. On her service to the nation, she says there is no price that can be attached to that and she will continue to do so as long as she lives. The mother of five also makes sure that her children pick up the mantle and encourages them to pick up the spirit of serving the nation beginning at an early age, just like the people who liberated the country.
