Rwandans have been signing up in ever growing numbers to have the constitution amended and remove presidential term limits. Close to three million petitions by ordinary citizens to start the amendment process have been received by parliament. 

This has outsiders baffled and has the so-called Africa experts scratching their heads for answers to what they consider an unusual happening. And sure enough they have an answer. The people are not expressing their free will. They have been manipulated. Interpretation: Rwandans are too stupid to think for themselves. They can never come up with anything that’s good. 

This is, of course, nothing new. It is the usual attitude to Africans and we are supposed to accept it. The surprise is that Rwandans reject this view of themselves.

That is exactly the point. Rwanda does not fit neatly into a pre-defined mode of doing things. The whole process of demanding change in the constitution is proof of that. Rwandans know what they want and how to get it. 

Still, our experts and teachers don’t get it. You see, they have a template about how African countries behave in these matters. This model has several characteristics.

First, in other places it is usually the rulers who want to stay in power against the wishes of the people. Now these stupid Rwandans go against this sensible position and are pleading with their president to lead them for another term. That’s another silly idea Rwandans hold: they have leaders, not rulers.

Secondly, constitutional changes are usually forced by the rulers. They are never demanded by the people.

Again the Rwandans mess up things. They are all over the place saying they made the constitution and therefore have the power and right to alter it when their interests as a nation demand it.

The president is not helping matters either. He has not said he wants to stay after his current contract expires.

He has actually said he is not convinced that that would be necessary. In fact he even suspects that those who want him to stay a little longer are doing it for selfish reasons – to load him with the entire national burden while they enjoy the good life.

Thirdly, in all these other places, the change is accompanied by force. The rulers wishing to extend their stay in power ram the amendments through parliament or whatever institution deals with it. When there is any resistance, the protesters are bludgeoned into submission.

Quite often, those opposed to the wish of the rulers take to the streets with an assortment of weapons – stones, clubs, machetes, and used tyres. Invariably they carry tree branches with all their green leaves in a sort of carnival parade. Lately they have started co-opting animals, especially pigs and donkeys, in their protests.

What do these unruly Rwandans do? They collect signatures, take petitions to parliament in colourful baskets or equally colourful gift boxes and tell the Speaker what they want and then go back home. They expect the lawmakers to do the needful. Even the lone voice opposed to changes to the constitution won’t go to the streets. He is also making a petition of his own – to the Supreme Court.

So these Rwandans have refused to fit into the template that has been designed for Africa. They are not behaving to type. That’s a bit baffling to outsiders. You see, it is not normal for these Africans to make independent national choices. And yet these Rwandans are doing just that. What bad manners!

The same outsiders whose interest in matters Rwandan goes beyond the curious or the polite still want us to be pigeonholed into something they recognise. They refuse to accept that Rwandans have a right to choose what is good for them and are actually exercising that right. That too is baffling – this time to Rwandans. Are these the same people who teach about all manner of rights and force us to respect even those that are alien to us? And when we exercise those rights that becomes a problem? We are being manipulated?

There is a word for this sort of behaviour: hypocrisy or double standards.

One thing is less puzzling, however. Rwandans want to amend their constitution to ensure continued good governance and transformation of the country. They do not want to be robbed of the services of exceptional leaders now and in the future.  For now that leader is Paul Kagame. In future it will be others.  

The ones who decide what is good for us don’t want that to happen. They want us to fit into the template, and if we are stubborn and refuse to comply, at least we shouldn’t veer too far for then we might get out of control, and what’s worse, others might follow. This would upset the world order that has been carefully constructed. But Rwandans want to construct their country and determine their place in the world.

In a fair world, they would be getting kudos, not condemnation, for going about it in a peaceful, legal and democratic manner; for choosing transformation, stability and continuity.

jorwagatare@yahoo.co.uk