The brave men and women in Kinshasa this week resisted the heavily armed Congo security forces; this forced their senate to amend a controversial census bill which would have given the Kabila regime an open checque to extend his rule beyond his constitutional mandate next year.

DRC protesters

Following four days of violent nationwide protests, President Kabila and his backers, backed down.

The new bill, to be approved by the lower house, removes the requirement to hold a census before the next election. The opposition and many Congolese had said this was a way for President Joseph Kabila to extend his time in office rather than stand down next year as planned.

While many people lost their lives, the Congolese people have been praised for this heroic act of resisting the tradition and culture of our leaders for over staying in power. National and internationalHuman rights groups estimate dozens of people were killed during the protests.  As the Senate changed their course of action, the Senator President said they listened to their people.

“We have listened to the street. That is why the vote today is a historic vote,” Senate President Leon Kenga Wa Dondo said after the amendment was passed. Under the senate’s amendment, the elections could be held in 2016 as planned, before a census is conducted.  President Kabila first took power in 2001 following the assassination of his father Laurent, who was president at the time, and is constitutionally barred from running for another term.

It is in this context that Rwandans need no more no less, the Kagame term expires in 2017, although he has not publicly said that he will stand after his term expires, all indicators suggest that the so called strong man will not honor the Rwandan Constitution which does not only allow his extension, but categorically says that under no circumstance shall the President seek extension of his term.

The Rwandan Opposition and the Rwandan people should stand united against any attempt by Kagame to make any constitutional Coup. The Heroes of Burkina Faso revolution that resisted the Compaore’s maneuver to amend their Constitution should be Rwanda’s inspiration. “The mass uprising in Burkina Faso which led to the overthrow of long-serving ruler Blaise Compaore has turned a tax inspector and a student into heroes of the revolution.” writes the BBC’s Lamine Konkobo.

Rwandans should therefore emulate one of the most celebrated revolution of Burkina Faso heroes Mr. Lassina Sawadogo who faced the armed security forces of Blaise Compoare to say no to the constitutional change. On the morning of 30 October, Lassina Sawadogo knew he could die on the streets of his hometown, Ouagadougou, but he had no idea he was on a journey to becoming a celebrity.

Mr Sawadogo was one of thousands of protesters who rose up that day to oppose an attempt by the government to amend the constitution to make it possible for President Blaise Compaore to extend his 27-year rule beyond November 2015.  The people of Burkina Faso were fed up with the Compoare’s rule that they wanted him to go after his 27 years of rule since he assassinated his best friend Capt. President Thomas Sankara.

The Rwandan government is so obsessed with power and Kagame to an extent that, some people in his Cabinet are not ashamed to say that without Kagame there is no Rwanda. In the same way , some people in Burkina Faso argued that  they had no problem in the daughter of the president succeeding  him “Government had become a matter of a personal patrimony and some officials from his party were saying that they even found no problem with Jamila, the president’s daughter, taking over from him as president,” . One of the street protesters said in Ouagadougou.

Rwandans should transform their long time suppression and frustration into a united front against the Kagame dictatorship. We have a thirst for freedom and we want to live through an experience of change. Rwandans should realize that RPF was a government run by some few guys that have made their fortunes sucking blood off the Rwandan people.

We need soldiers of the people, as much as we need a change from Kagame we should remain on the lookout to make sure that any new leader emerging after Kagame puts the people’s aspirations above all other considerations. We need to stand upright and tell whoever wants to lead the Rwandan people that if you do not do what we want, we will have to just ask you to clear off.

Kagame and RPF have made it a common practice of not allowing free speech and free assembly. Kagame is an autocrat, who frequently imprisons critics, shuts down the presses, forces authors into exile, or censures written and artistic works. The struggle against licensing requirements in Great Britain in the 17th century, the American Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, the recent Congolese and Burkina Faso position on the Constitutional change should inspire new realms of independent expression and thought in Rwanda Today. “He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself”. Thomas Paine.

Jacqueline Umurungi.