Rwanda heroes day: RPA army struggle, a bless not a curse

President Paul Kagame took bold decisions that transformed the country.

February 01 is a day when Rwandans collectively reflect on the good deeds of Rwandan heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price for patriotic values  to put an end to the killing machine of the genocidal regime and chose to reconcile, build their country, and look to the future with hope and dignity.

When the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF-inkotanyi) and its military wing, the Rwandese Patriotic  army (RPA now RDF) stopped the  genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, it wasn’t only about the end of lethal attacks to human life but also the end of a terrible ideology that had divided  Rwandans  and  made  the county’s  economic  development impossible.

Twenty-eight years now, Rwandans  of  all  walks  of  life celebrate both respect for human rights, including the right to life which had been denied to a section of  the  Rwandan  population  for years.

Just like its topography, Rwanda’s history has been that of beauty and hardships. Much as the said hardships of bad politics and discrimination were manmade and nurtured by colonial masters and fuelled by leaders for decades.

October 1,1990. the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) launched army struggle from north of Rwanda. After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandese Patriotic Front  formed a coalition government. Its fundamental law was based on a combination of the constitution, the Arusha accords, and political declarations by the parties.
The first post-war presidential and legislative elections were held in August and September 2003. Now,  the current government prohibits any form of discrimination by gender, ethnicity, race or religion. The government has also passed laws prohibiting emphasis on Hutu or Tutsi identity in any activity,  especially in political activities.

From guerrilla to government 

RPF-Inkotanyi is a liberal movement that took power after a long time of army struggle. The post-war years were a struggling time to unify the country, restoring the country to order and getting international recognition as there were some countries who were still thinking that they were bush fighters who were sliding to power for their own interests, not for the cause of rebuilding Rwanda.

After a war to liberate the country, liberators face many problems, like problems of dislocation, youths uprooted from their home societies, grown accustomed to living by the gun, that constitute an outstanding threat to public order.

On the other side, The new regime’s own fighters need to be settled into the very different world of peacetime life; refugees have to find their way back and start to reestablish a normal existence. There are also political tasks to be tackled, notably in creating a sense of national reconciliation in the aftermath of  conflict. In fact, There is little opportunity for the winners to relax and enjoy the fruits of victory.

In Rwanda also,  things were not smooth for RPF-Inkotanyi. The biggest problems facing the government were the reintegration of millions of refugees who were returning from neighboring countries and beyond,  the end of Interahamwe militia insurgency who was concentrated in the north and  south west; and the shift away from crisis to medium and long-term development planning, to rebuild infrastructures but beyond of that, to bring together Rwandan society that were destroyed along ethnic lines and healing genocide survivors.

It was a troubling times but today, we celebrate a heroes day while unity and reconciliation increased from 82% in 2010 to 92% in 2016. Capacity of security organs has been strengthened to ensure law, order and security.

The level of citizen's confidence in security organs has also increased to reach 99.1% in the Rwanda Defense Forces and 98.1% in Rwandan National Police. In the international arena, reports rank Rwanda as the safest country to live in Africa and fifth globally.

Flexibility replaced rigidity 

In history of army struggle, There is no end point,  like the moment at which the  former  fighters take over the government, when victory is achieved. As the new regime settles into office, further and perfectly understandable problems of transition resulting from the simple fact that running a liberation struggle is a very different kind of exercise from running a government.

At this level,  the movement provides all purpose  power tool which, like fitting a new attachment onto a piece of mechanical equipment, can be converted from one use to another, transform it from winning the war against oppression to winning the new war against poverty, ignorance and disease.

Fighting a war is an enterprise with a single and readily identifiable goal, victory, to which all other considerations must be subordinated. This in turn calls for unity of purpose, and justifies total dedication on the part of the fighters, and a top-down structure  of  command  and  control  on  the  part  of  the leadership.

Running a government is not like that at all. There are multiple goals, which are often in some degree at odds with one another, and which call for a difficult process of agenda setting and priority identification.

Like in Burundi, Ethiopia and many countries around Africa, ethnicity had been politicised in Rwanda for decades. But consequences are far different. In Rwanda ethnic based politics resulted in conflict that threw thousands of tutsis into exile since 1959 and following years and 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi where by one million were slaughtered.

Aftermath of the holocaust that took six millions lives of Jews, Jewish soldiers who served in the British Army hunted down and killed Nazis that are estimated to be more than 60,000.

After stopping the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi,  there were a fear that Rwandese  Patriotic Army (now RDF) would revenge. But they came up with different story. They called national unity and work together to move forward instead.

After a war arena, RPF-Inkotanyi engaged in  building democratic  institutions  to resolve the conflict’s root causes, organisational change from  underground  to electoral politics, security shifts, the provision of mechanisms for transitional justice and dealing with the past, and the challenges of  maintaining internal cohesion in order to consolidate  peace and democracy.

RPF-Inkotanyi moved beyond war legacy

Liberation struggles arise under very different circumstances and take very different forms, and in some degree leave correspondingly different legacies to the regimes that they form on their eventual succession to power.

There is, however, a central and common theme that runs through these regimes, found more than  anything  else in  the  mentalities  of those  who come to power through struggle. This human legacy of struggle is at the same time both strangely difficult to pin down and also extremely difficult to change.

Participation in the struggle is for most of those who go through it becomes a life defining experience. It changes how they think. Even long after the struggle has ended, its former participants have achieved leading positions in government, it remains extraordinarily vivid in the minds of former fighters.

Liberal movements scholars showed that to be a good fighter doesn't mean to a be a good bureaucrat. Many liberal movements like RPF-Inkotanyi fail in shifting from war mentalities to government where they are asked to serve their people, all those who were at their side and those who were against them.
When this war legacy remains rigid, new leaders find themselves being accused of being ‘sell-outs’ to the vested interests entrenched in the government machinery.

In Rwanda,  RPF-Inkotanyi is blessed to have a good leaders like President Paul Kagame who succeeded in taking bold decisions that transformed the country from ashes to the shinning star.

Achievements snapshot :

1) WOMEN IN POLITICS:
Women hold 64% of seats in Rwanda’s parliament, which is more than any other country in the world. The female majority has ensured that laws aimed at raising the status of women are at the forefront of political discourse.

2. EDUCATION:
With 61% of the population being under the age of 24 the Rwandan government has made education a top priority. The government spends 17% of it’s budget on education and has made primary and secondary school compulsory for both boys and girls.

3. HEALTH:
90.6% of the population is enrolled in Rwanda’s national health program. Due to greater access to health services there has been a decline in death from diseases like malaria, which saw an 85.3% drop between 2005 and 2011.

4. ECONOMY:
Rwanda has made significant progress in restoring the economy to pre-1994 levels with an average annual GDP growth rate of 7%-8% since 2003.

Through GIRINKA Programme and other major programs, number of people living in poverty decreased from 45% in 2010 to 39% in 2014.

Financial inclusion has increased from 48% in 2008 to 89% in 2015 while in infrastructure, new roads have been constructed, existing ones rehabilitated and maintained and Rwandans with access to safe drinking water have increased from 74.8% in 2011 to 84.4% in 2014 and continues to grow.

5. JUSTICE:
Efforts have been strengthened to bring justice closer to the people (Conciliators, citizen forums, Access to Justice Bureaus- MAJ) leading to the citizens’ satisfaction with service delivery in the justice sector rising to 76.7%.

New ICT-based solutions have been introduced to accelerate the delivery of justice and Rwanda’s justice sector has scooped a continental public management award for its Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS).
As a result, court backlogs have decreased by 70% for the period between 2011/12 and 2015/16.

Struggle continues 

1990-1994 was a bullet struggle. And twenty eight years now,  it is struggle to transform the country in order to build the Rwanda we want.

From zero to hero, the small country in the heart of Africa is the African technology hub and it eyes to keep moving forward till it becomes Singapore of Africa.

Over the last seven years, Rwanda has registered tremendous progress in the four areas that  constitute the backbone of  the national programme, namely: economy, social welfare,  good governance and justice.

All  these  achievements  were realized  based  on  the  RPF-INKOTANYI’s determination,  commitment  to its political programme. The RPF-INKOTANYI believes that  good governance and justice are key for a strong and stable Nation.

The Journey that Rwandans started, a journey of determining our destiny and choosing people that will lead us there continues to gain momentum without allowing any iota of force, external and otherwise, to divert us. Even the razor-laced criticisms, have united Rwandans more, opened our eyes better, and have decided to speak with a voice that is so eloquent and loud, carrying a message of building the Rwanda we want.

According to 2017-2024 Manifesto, In the ECONOMIC sphere, RPF top priority will be to fast-track the economic development for all that is based on the private sector investment, knowledge and natural resources.

In the area of SOCIAL WELFARE, focus will be to provide an adequate standard of living for every Rwandan, so that he or she can grow into a self-reliant and capable citizen, through a stable society, quality education and healthcare and with respect to GOOD GOVERNANCE AND JUSTICE, attention will be on putting in place good governance and justice systems designed to act as a spur to sustainable national development.

Conclusion

I would like to pay tribute to our gallant sons and daughters of the soil. These exemplary men, women and children who made huge sacrifices for the love of our great nation.

By their memory may we be inspired to strive and advance the same values that they stood for, and may our nation continue to be a symbol of hope, freedom, and unity.

End

About the author:

Janvier KARANGWA is a media specialist, he got a bachelor degree of arts in journalism and communications from University of Rwanda, 2017.

Email: karangwajanvier55@gmail.com

Twitter: @karangwajanvie5

Telephone:+250782029326