Umuganura consistent with Rwanda’s liberation concept

Editor, RE: “Umuganura: Rwandans urged to uphold national identity” (The New Times, August 8). Another sign that the second phase of our liberation struggle is fully underway. After political liberation against colonial powers and neo-colonial agents, now it is time for liberation of our individual and collective mindsets. Along the line of recent other initiatives in restoring typical Rwandan institutions of Abunzi, Gacaca, Imihigo, Itorero/Ingando, Ubudehe and Umuganda, now Umuganura has been added. And many more such traditional institutions and practices are waiting to be recalled and re-instituted, and that goes without saying that the move must be conducted with thorough necessary adaptations to contemporary days and needs. All those re-established institutions are meant to decolonise us individually and collectively, to render us, at last, fully “developed”. I may be ill-informed, however, but I am under the impression that we now lack a high calibre socio-culture command, like the one the liberation army had in the struggle. And as I abhor improvisation in anything, perhaps it is time we pause and institute a socio-cultural command, an equivalent to the military High Command Council mandated to devise appropriate strategies and tactics leading us to systematically continuing both our individual and collective Rwandan mind liberation. Francois-Xavier Nziyonsenga

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Umuganura consistent with Rwanda’s liberation concept