As the events continue to unfold in Rwanda, I cannot stop reflecting on the endless pain the Rwandan people continue to endure, ranging from the refugees in the Congolese forests, who have been raped, maimed and continue to be displaced since 1994, The Rwandan refugees in Uganda who continue to be hounded by the killing machine of the Kigali regime, the growing opposition groups who also continue to look over their shoulders with constant reminders that they are stateless! All this reminds me of my own personal journey as an RPF cadre when I fought like my life depended on it. How I interacted with young and old who believed in the Promised Land, how our parents sacrificed their children and incomes because of the dream of a promised land but lastly, the brave sons and daughters who died so that the dream of the Promised Land is achieved.

Which leads me to ask, is the dream of a promised land fulfilled? Was it worth losing Fred Rwigyema and all those gallant sons and daughters who paid the ultimate price? Are we truly happy in the confines of our homes? But ultimately, is the Rwanda we are living in “a dream deferred”? Is this how dreams end?

 A very renowned African American poet and social activist named Langston Hughes wrote a famous poem called “A DREAM DEFERRED”.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

 

People have different interpretations of this poem but I think it best describes what is happening in Rwanda under Paul Kagame. The pent up frustrations from lack of political space, freedom of speech, human rights violations, unexplained disappearances, gross financial mismanagement, proxy wars and the fabrication of lies used to blackmail all sectors of society into submission are all signs that a revolution is inevitable, especially now when the loathing of the Kagame regime is at its highest.

Where are the voices of true patriots? Patrick Mazimpaka, Pasteur Bizimungu ,Christine Umutoni and others? Isn’t it a crime to keep silent as we watch the desecration of the dream? Are we content with this cabal of wolves at the helm?

IT IS TIME TO CHOOSE ON WHICH SIDE OF HISTORY YOU WISH TO STAND BY…..CHOOSE A SIDE AND STAND TO BE COUNTED!

Yes, it will not be easy but the brave Rwandans abroad have already set the pace for you by un-masking /shaming Paul Kagame wherever he sets foot and dispelled the lies he has spun all these years. His true character has been exposed both internally and abroad. He has assaulted our intelligence for far too long, he has abused our patience, but most of all he killed our hopes for a better future for our children that we sacrificed so heavily for!

 

A CULTURE OF LIES.  

We have to confront the unsettling decision of questioning our struggle to change the political situation in Rwanda from 1994 in order to understand how a lie changed the course of this struggle. This means that after Paul Kagame’s reign, we need to face our culpabilities in order to forgive one another and re-write our history. One man has had the power to deceive a nation and the world at large.

He managed to hoodwink an unsuspecting people who were dead set on returning to their homeland come what may! When we got there, the lies were spun to uncontrollable levels that undoing these lies will have their consequences as a new generation is has been spoon fed with them as a staple diet.

Depute Brigitte Tuyishime’s testimony about how her colleagues in Parliament conspired to label her an enemy all because she took interest in investigating certain village deaths that were brought to her attention. She had stumbled upon a sensitive issue that the RPF wanted buried without an explanation. That is how the RPF system works. When the powers that be brand you as an enemy, your life is at stake and you have no way of defending your truth. It happens in all sectors of Rwandan society but more so in the Gacaca courts, where it is widely known that when a Rwandan Hutu does not toe the line, you can ask Rwandan survivors and other Hutu to declare him a “Genocider”. For the rest of the Rwandans, it means you easily lose your job, your children fail to get an education, your business is brought down on its knees because of the sudden “tax burden”, not to mention the constant surveillance on all one’s movements.

This culture has been embraced by our children. They have been recruited as “intore”. You only need to read The Newtimes Newspaper to see the fanatical fervor with which these young impressionable Rwandans attack any opposer of the Kagame regime.

This fanaticism can be found in Universities abroad, in the brand new Government bodies in which the Kagame’s have used to entice these unsuspecting youth, many whose parents fought alongside Paul Kagame and became sidelined after voicing opposing views. Being the Dictator he is, Kagame and his wife have aggressively pursued our sons and daughters in the hope that their parents will continue to be held hostage in Kigali and not join any other political party. This has bred mistrust between child and parent!

 

AGASUZUGURO

Never has Rwanda had a leader who was so insensitive, who despised his people, who abused his people and when hard times rolled around, never had we seen a leader ask Rwandans to give their all like Mr.Paul Kagame!

He is known to insult men old enough to be his father, slapped and kicked friends and acquaintances who struggled to get him where he is now, verbally abused women and spouses of his Ministers and Officers, the list is endless………

-When a President boasts that his agents are known to be good marksmen, they never miss, shortly after he attempted to assassinate his former chief of staff in South Africa.

-When the President was asked about the murder of Charles Ingabire, a Rwandan journalist in Uganda, President Kagame explained that he was killed because he was a thief who had stolen money while in Rwanda.

-During the 16th Genocide commemoration, President Kagame called Victoire Umuhoza Ingabire a “political hooligan”, “useless”

-When a president boasts at a prayer breakfast that he cannot go “down” in history, as if he knows what awaits his future……..

-When a President has stifled press freedom and muzzled local media, only to employ foreign journalists who receive huge cash sums for services rendered(e.g Andrew Mwenda, Arinaitwe Rugyendo et al)and given the green light to Manage state –run journals because the President trusts them more than he does Rwandan journalists…..if that is not Agasuzuguro, I don’t know what is!

-When a President gets rid of all the educated and talented people in Government and replaces them with lackluster personalities such as Ambassador Eugene Gasana, Jack Nziza, James Musoni , Ngarambe, Manaseh Nshuti , Musa Fazil et al…….. Should we be led by such? Is the country devoid of intellectuals?

But that is how Paul Kagame views us. These individuals reflect the loathing he has for upright, smart and intelligent Rwandans that should be contributing to the development of this nation.

 

CHANGE HAS TO HAPPEN

 

Do we truly deserve the leaders we get? In Rwandan folklore, there is a saying “UWIGIZE AGATEBO AYORA IVU” meaning, when we lower/demean ourselves, we attract dirt….. Rwandans deserve better. Today, Paul Kagame has tightened his grip on Rwandans. Parliament has approved a law that gives security agencies the right to “tap” (listen in on people’s phone calls) citizen’s phone calls, internet services will be restricted, private mail intercepted and cell phone sim-cards registered.

The public is being urged to pay a percentage of their earnings to AGACIRO FUND since donor countries have discontinued disbursement of foreign aid.

However, Rwandans already earn a meager income so one is left wondering how long our people will carry this burden all because of the arrogance of our President’s exploits in Congo.

Life is getting harder.

The peasant upcountry has been stopped from growing staple foods in order to give up their farms for large scale farming of corn, something that is foreign in the Rwandan peasants’ staple diet. Rwandans have to pay a fraction of their earnings to build classrooms to accommodate basic primary education to Grade 9.

All Rwandans are required to pay a monthly fee for “irondo” (groups of young men paid to patrol their neighbourhood as security).

Recent graduates will have to work for free for the first seven months to show their patriotism.

The list is endless. Donors have suspended foreign Aid to Rwanda as a result of Rwanda’s backing Congolese rebels, meaning, if a Rwandan peasant was living on a $1 a day where does that leave him? If a soldier who keeps watch over our borders was earning $50 a month but will have to make do with less and continue to fight Kagame’s wars, surely, should’nt he weigh the situation and choose the right thing………DEMAND CHANGE!

Soon, Kagame will begin telling Rwandans what time to sleep and when to wake up. Tyranny has a way of creeping up unexpectedly in our lives.

But today, my call is to all Independent minded, proud Rwandans to take a stand and demand change to the status quo.

It will definitely not be easy but look what is happening to the Syrians. Is it that they don’t want peace? Their peace rests with the fact that it can be achieved after Bashir Assad exits Syria. We must demand the same. Our dream deferred lies with the forcible exit of Paul Kagame!

Written by the Anonymous veterans

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