Celebrating the 35th anniversary of RPF automatically draws my attention to our history and considering our past as the driving labor behind its birth in 1987. I was contemplating what this actually means to an ordinary Rwandan whether as a member of RPF or not.
A movement not only born to address the immediate challenges of a repressive government, persecuting its own people but also formed to resolve the long-standing issues originating from the so-called independence.
The refugee crisis also had a heavy toll on Rwandan refugees scattered everywhere for three decades, with challenges of deep poverty, increased economic vulnerability, deprived basic human rights not to mention the hostility and deadly tensions among Rwandan refugees and the host communities that at any point in time cost a Rwandan life without remorse.
RPF came to indefinitely stamp out the issues of ethnicity that had devastated Rwandans; a state that evolved into the outburst of violence and later hastened the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Listening to testimonies of a pre-RPF era, learning that ethnicity was the door for Rwandans to access education and job opportunities, medical facilities, security and protection, precisely the door to basic human rights can be a revolting fact that undoubtedly dared RPF’s to move.
However, one would wish to know; what actually was the greatest enabler of RPF in achieving its mission; a movement that didn’t have neither equipment nor capital and human resources and not even any form of support from the international community.
All it had was an RPF Spirit. A spirit of knowing who they were and what they deserved to be. A spirit of fairness, justice and unity. The zealous, determined, ambitious and self-worth spirit that on the other side came along with a heavy burden of responsibility to RPF members during and after the liberation struggle.
A spirit that knew no young or old, men or women, weak or strong, rich or poor, a spirit that was decisive at any cost, and any sacrifice to create a liberated Rwanda that we have today, a place we are proud to call home.
Its irrefutable to celebrate the RPF’s achievement without paying a huge tribute to those who participated in the liberation struggle. Many of them losing their young lives, others living with permanent wounds and pains of all kinds. In times like this, in the celebration of such anniversaries, we remember and pay them utmost respect.
Often spoken, RPF made three choices; Thinking Big, Staying Together and Being Accountable.
What does "Thinking Big” mean to us? It means parting ways with mediocrity & challenging the stereotype. It means having a mindset bigger than just the size of our Country (26,798 km²).
It means looking beyond Rwanda as a land locked country while developing her as a MICE, tourism and a sports hub on the continent. It means visualizing Rwanda as a future point of radius connecting Africa to the rest of the world and to itself through Bugesera International Airport.
It means seeing beyond the present COVID19 challenges but envisioning the facilities of BioNtech, APEX Biotech & Cooper-pharma Africa to mention but a few.
What does "Staying Together” mean to us? It means staying united as a people/Rwandans regardless of where we come from, our ethnicity, gender and religions. It means Nd’Umunyarwanda, whether young or old, rich or poor, man or woman, strong or weak, and yes it means adopting a citizen-centered governance.
Finally, what does "Being Accountable” mean to us? It means fighting the sense of entitlement, adhering to meritocracy, having no grounds for complacency, carrying the burden of responsibility, and yes it means enduring the cost of bearing an RPF Flag.
Therefore, what duty does a generation as old as the RPF or even younger, hold to the party today? Whenever Chairman of the RPF, H.E Paul Kagame starts his statement with "Uru Rwanda mubona” you immediately know he is drawing his strength from the history and core fundamentals of RPF. You sense he is strongly and emotionally attached to what he is yet to say. This gets me think; does this young generation go back to the central part of RPF whenever they are faced with a challenge or a decision to make? Do these two generations fetch their morality from the same RPF value system? Are these two generations accountable at the same standard measure or there are half measures for the latter?
I’m glad RPF embraced the intergenerational mix in the governance/leadership and the hybrid is doing us a perfect magic.
Yes, every generation has its own mission. The liberators’ mission with great honor, was to give us a liberated Rwanda that we have today through their sweat and their blood, and went ahead to set it on a move.
Today’s generation is focusing on digital technology, climate change, Artificial Intelligence, energy-water-food security, urbanization, migration crisis, manufacturing, etc. It’s good that this generation is approaching their challenges by benchmarking from how Apple, Amazon, Meta Platforms, etc approached theirs because this world has become just a village. But hey, when should we have to be consulting the RPF fundamentals’ checklist?
How do we stay loyal and consultative to the RPF value system and sustain its legacy just like Chinese do to the ideology of Chairman Mao Zedong or that of Lee Kuan Yew for Singaporeans!
How do we make the best of our times without outgrowing the RPF core fundamentals? How do we embrace this evolution without losing track of RPF moral campus?
How do we preserve the RPF’s legacy and pass it onto the next generations that will not hear President Kagame talk about his "failing to fit in the suits” soldiers trading off their salaries for the security equipment, or RPF, running the Government with zero balance both at the treasury and at the central bank.
A high bar is set, for the next generation to appropriately carry the RPF banner, protect what has been accomplished, and keep or double the momentum without any sense of entitlement nor complacency and yes, to do it within the RPF spirit; a spirit beyond self.