When you speak about women’s rights and gender equality in Rwanda over the past thirty years, one of the most outstanding figures and voices that comes up on the list is the name Marie-Immaculée Ingabire.

For three decades, Ingabire has been at the forefront of advocating for human rights, especially focusing on women, and she is also the face of Rwanda’s fight against corruption, having been the chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda Chapter since 2007.

She never shies away from cameras or microphones, using her big hoarse voice at any given opportunity to raise issues, including some that most Rwandans will not talk about, doing so without fear or favor, even if it means making some people uncomfortable.

She will not hesitate to criticise what is not going right or what needs to be corrected.

Despite her advanced age, in recent years, she has made her presence on social media felt, challenging narratives she doesn’t subscribe to or taking on those who attack her, accusing her of this and that.

In an interview with The New Times, Ingabire narrated her life journey, which started in Burundi, where she was born in 1962, growing up in exile, and later returning to Rwanda with her family to embark on a career that has seen her become one of the most respected women’s rights activists in Rwanda.

Ingabire considers herself ‘a very ordinary person’, but her work over the years paints a rather extraordinary character that appeals to all—young and old—mainly because of how vocal she is about issues.

Her strong voice is matched by an even stronger sense of humor, cracking jokes even in the middle of discussing serious issues, as well as a kind heart, which keeps the door to her home open to all who come to her for all kinds of advice and help.

"Like many Rwandans, I was unfortunate to be born in exile. Our history prevented us from being born and raised in our country, Rwanda. I was not alone. There are many of us who were not born in this country, and that is part of our history,” Ingabire says.

Growing up in exile, Ingabire did not get the opportunity to study what she wanted.

She originally wanted to study law or anything related to human rights, but she could not be given a chance in Burundi because they prioritised nationals.

"It was a case of saying that you cannot give milk to a neighbor’s child before giving your own,” she says, adding that, among other things, she is thankful to the Rwandan government because it not only gave the country back to Rwandans, but it also did away with discriminatory practices when it comes to opportunities.

Ingabire says that the discriminatory politics enshrined in Burundi and Rwanda at the time denied many life opportunities, including herself.

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"I studied journalism and communication, not because it was the course I wanted, but because it was the easiest to get into,” she recalls, adding that even studying journalism at the time was a difficult choice because there were limited media outlets to practice with.

At the time, most African countries had only one national radio broadcaster, while national televisions came later as nations progressed.

From a nun to activist

As a child, Ingabire, the second youngest of seven siblings, wanted to be a nun, having been born into a devout Roman Catholic family—a revelation that comes as a surprise to many who know her.

"I was born into a very religious family; my parents were devout Catholics. I recited the rosary many times; sometimes I tell people I already recited enough rosaries to sustain me for the rest of my life,” she jokes.

"As a little girl, before deciding what I would study, I thought I would be a nun,” she recalls, adding, however, that later as she grew up, she wanted to be a teacher.

"I wanted to become a teacher so that children would respect me,” she says, adding that, unlike today, back in the day, children respected three types of people more than anyone else: parents, teachers, and priests. Whatever the three did or said was considered gospel truth.

But the more she advanced in age, the more she noticed many societal ills, which disturbed her, especially the challenges women were facing, and that is when she decided that she would study law but never got a chance to.

"I really wanted to be a lawyer because I saw many issues that made me sad, and I felt I couldn't do much about them. That is when I said to myself, I will study law and deal with these problems,” she says.

However, when she ventured into journalism and communication, she would later fall in love with the profession because in one way or another, it helped her advocate for and bring to light issues in society.

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Upon returning to Rwanda in 1994, Ingabire joined what was the Office Rwandais d'Information (ORINFOR), which was the national broadcaster, now Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), where she worked as a journalist in what she describes as a very difficult era of her career.

At the time, there was only Radio Rwanda. Rwanda Television reopened later. She practiced journalism in the initial post-genocide years, which in a way helped her crisscross the country and see the different challenges people were facing, especially women.

"I joined ORINFOR in 1994. We worked in very difficult times, at a time when infiltrators, known as ‘abacengezi’, were attacking the country. I remember there was a time they attacked what was then Cyangugu, and they killed many local leaders, who were burgomasters there,”

"I remember we went to cover the story at night, and we didn't even know where we were going. They had burned down schools in Muramba. It was such a difficult period,” she recalls, adding that, at the time, everybody looked like an infiltrator because you could not tell people apart.

While those were difficult days, Ingabire doesn’t regret it because she believes that her time as a journalist is what made her aware of the issues the Rwandan society was grappling with.

"It shaped me, it made me who I am today. It made me aware of all the problems we had. I learned about the issues women in Taba Commune had, where I had gone to cover a story,” she says.

Commune Taba, now the current Kamonyi district in Southern Province, had seen some of the worst atrocities during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, overseen by Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former burgomaster of the area.

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He would later be handed a life sentence by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for genocide crimes and crimes against humanity.

When she got to Taba, Ingabire realised how the women, who had been raped and violated in the most inhuman of ways, had not received any kind of justice for the horrendous crimes committed against them.

It is from here that she decided to transition into civil society and later pursue law and human rights courses, to be able to advocate for the rights of Rwandan women and ensure that they are accorded their rights.

"I left ORINFOR and joined the civil society because I had been impacted by the issues women in this country were facing. Women had a very sad status in Rwanda. They were oppressed by the law, oppressed by society, oppressed by culture, everything,”

"They were not valued at all. I thought it was unacceptable,” says Ingabire, who would go on to join a number of organizations that advocated for women and children’s rights, as a member.

She joined Réseau des Femmes Oeuvrant pour le Développement Rural, commonly known as Réseau des Femmes, and Haguruka, non-governmental organizations that advocate for women and children’s rights, and also ProFemme Twese Hamwe, an umbrella body that brings together women’s rights organizations.

She was also among the founding members of the Association of Rwandan Female Journalists (ARFEM) and later would work with Sevota, an organisation started by a group of women who were widowed by the genocide against the Tutsi, in what was called Taba Commune then.

Ingabire joined the women in Sevota to bring their plight to the fore and to ensure that they get justice and their basic rights.

"These are women who were raped and abused, some of them impregnated during those atrocities, some giving birth to children who they didn’t know who the father was because many people did terrible things to them,” she recalls.

During that period, she noticed that women were being held back by patriarchal beliefs and gender norms, which compounded their suffering further.

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At the time, there were few men in the country because many were in jail for committing genocide while others had fled the country. This meant that women had to work, which had been reserved for men before.

Part of what she did was to help dismantle the gender norms and beliefs, for example, that a woman cannot milk a cow nor can a woman build or fix her own house, yet these are things they could do themselves.

Often, women in rural areas would have to beg men to help them, and the same men would take advantage of them.

Among other things, she recalls a battle they launched to push members of parliament to include rape among serious crimes committed during the genocide, ahead of Gacaca Courts, so that the perpetrators could be punished.

"When they were putting in place the Gacaca law, they said those who raped women should be put in the fourth category, along with those who stole or ransacked people’s homes,”

"It was infuriating. I felt a sharp pain run through me when some people argued that men who raped women should be forgiven. I felt like they didn't know the gravity of rape,” Ingabire says, adding that some would argue that "at least they didn’t die”.

Ingabire says that they explained to them that rape victims were, in fact, killed twice because they will forever be affected mentally, with what they went through being as good as killing someone.

Women mobilised themselves and protested the law, urging female MPs to reject it, and the pressure yielded. The law was amended to include rape among the grave crimes.

"We made noise, and they heard and changed it,” she says, adding that at the time, many did not understand the gravity of the crime of rape, but once they explained it to them, they understood.

"When we say that we are fighting for more women in decision-making bodies, it’s not just because they are women. It has something to do with the Rwandan society, which we must change,” she says.

Joining the fight against corruption

Once she was firmly anchored into civil society, she was persuaded to join a group of people who were looking to set up the Rwanda chapter of Transparency International, having figured out what the international corruption and bribery watchdog does.

Ingabire says that after hearing the mission of TI, which is to fight corruption and injustice, she felt like it was in line with what she likes and was doing. She joined the organisation in 2006 and became chairperson in 2007 after François Mutemberezi, who was the first chairperson, passed on.

"When he passed away, I was appointed to replace him, from that time until now,” she says.

Answering her critics

Often, some Rwandans living abroad attack Ingabire, accusing her of being pro-government, claiming that she is supposed to be neutral in her role to keep the government in check.

However, Ingabire says that those who accuse her of working under the shadow of the government do not understand how Transparency International works because it is not an opposition party.

"I don't know what it means to work under the armpit of the government,” she says, adding that she works within the confines of the laws that govern the country, but again she is not ashamed to say that she likes and supports the current government.

"My position does not mean that I should be a rebel. Transparency International is not an opposition party,” she says, adding that wherever Transparency International is, it aligns itself with the government programs and policies.

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Ingabire says that since she took up the role, no one has ever accused her of being biased, nor has she received a warning letter from anyone due to her close relationship with the government.

"All I know is that those people out there want to have the platform to themselves so that they can go unchallenged in whatever they say, and I do not allow that to happen,” Ingabire says, speaking about her internet battles with self-proclaimed exiled politicians.

"They hate it when someone confronts them with facts or brings another version of events, different from theirs,” she says, adding that in recent months, she has been quiet because she was undergoing treatment, but now she is back.

Gender promoter vs feminist

Ingabire has been at the forefront of criticizing some behaviors of young people, often finding herself at the receiving end of young feminists, who say the likes of her belong to the ‘Umuco gang’.

Umuco gang is a term used on social media to refer to a group of people who uphold cultural values, which many of the young feminists believe are patriarchal in nature.

Hence, those who stand by or defend culture are considered to be against true emancipation.

It is a tag Ingabire is not bothered to wear because, to her, the rights young feminists, who are mostly radical, are claiming, are different from what she and others who genuinely want to see women's lives change, are pushing for.

"I am a gender promoter, not a feminist. Let me share some advice for these children, and I love them, I know many of them, and they know me. They should know how to distinguish between positive feminism and radical feminism,” she says.

Ingabire says that today’s approach to feminism is flawed in the sense that feminists try to show that women and girls are forever victims or they cannot commit a mistake, and at the same time, men are to blame for all the wrongs in the world.

"They want to demonize men, portray them as evil, and blame them for everything,” Ingabire said, citing an example of a case last year, which involved a young woman who passed away while visiting a house of two young men.

Ingabire says that while the death devastated everyone, including herself, young feminists attempted to push the prosecutors to charge and the court to make a conviction, with no proof that the young woman was murdered.

Ingabire says that the entire judiciary was pressed to act despite a lack of incriminating evidence or culpability by the two young men who were friends with the young woman who visited them in a consensual and friendly manner.

Ingabire said that what infuriated her most is when feminists started saying that there is femicide going on in Rwanda.

"People went to a point of using the word ‘femicide’? Do they even know what it means? It’s like saying that there is a plan to kill every woman in this country. Can you imagine?” she says.

Ingabire adds that while it is crucial for the law to take its course, it is unheard of for citizens to exert pressure on institutions to make decisions based on emotions, adding that it is important that the judiciary withstood the pressure.

Degenerating morals

In the wake of concerns about degenerating morals among young people, driven by social media, Ingabire says this is an issue she has been talking about, including in her interview a day before President Paul Kagame raised it during the National Prayer Breakfast on January 19.

"I did an interview on One Nation Radio on Saturday, and the President raised it on Sunday. In fact, people were calling me, asking if I talked to him about the issue, but I hadn’t,”

"It is something I see, nudism and all that. Every time I see these things, I feel like my heart is bursting with pain. It eats me up inside. You are a young, beautiful woman, who we all saw growing up and feel proud of, and then you decide to degrade yourself by ‘posting’ your naked pictures?” she observes.

Ingabire says that what is more perturbing is the fact that young people look at nudity as a way of making money, as it is in western countries—something she said does not fit in the Rwandan society.

Ingabire warns that those practices borrowed from western countries, fueled by social media, are a recipe for disaster, and young people need to shun them before it is too late.

She partly blames parents and guardians for seeing it happen and not acting, either because they are not in the lives of their children or simply because they don’t feel the urge to act on it, in the name of the rights of children.

"As parents and guardians, we need to be proactive and deal with our children; where necessary, use the rod because some children only listen when they are slightly punished,” Ingabire says, adding that children’s rights do not replace responsible parenting.

Ingabire is of the view that the government should give parents or guardians leeway to discipline their children as a way of keeping them in line and focused.

The Transparency International chair says government institutions too, have a role to play, pointing out that there was a time she called law enforcement to a house party, where young people were getting spoiled, getting drunk, and doing all sorts of things. When they came, she was told that they checked, and none was underage.

"Does being underage mean that you can kill yourself? Does it mean we can tolerate all sorts of evil?” she wondered, pointing out that the government too has to come up with strict measures to keep young misbehaving people in check before it is too late.

On whether young people caught in such situations should be jailed or taken to rehab, Ingabire says that it is not the business of the government to take people to rehab but rather allow the law to take its course.

She argues that laxity and leniency on the side of both the parents and the government have created a loophole that young people exploit to do whatever they want to do.

"My message to the youth is that you are the future of this country. We want to leave it in your hands when we go, and you are lucky you have inherited a different country from the one we took over,”

"Do not waste your life away because of cultures and behaviors that don’t belong here. To you, parents, be present in your children’s lives. They are your biggest gift, not the money and wealth you spend the day looking for,” Ingabire argues.