Editor, RE: “Our culture is our identity” (The New Times, December 8). Before we sermonise sanctimoniously about the importance of so called Rwandan customs and culture, we should perhaps take a look at the way girls dressed in pre-colonial Rwanda. If we took Miss Colombe Akiwacu back in time, we would find she is actually overdressed for the “real Rwanda”. What we are doing here is displaying the symptoms of colonial brainwashing, by way of replacing historically Rwandan values with the pseudo-Judeo-Christian doctrine force-fed to us by our colonial masters. A Rwandan girl wearing a bikini has nothing to with the erosion of our culture. We are simply mixing up religious beliefs/doctrine with what we claim to be Rwandan culture. These are not the same. These religions we practice today are not Rwandan religions. If we are so eager to safeguard our precious Rwandan culture from the raging bikini-clad hordes, we should start from there. Where’s your outrage over all the churches and mosques up and down the streets of this country? Where’s your outrage over all the Rwandans with French and English names, dressed in euro-centric clothes, schooled through a euro-centric curriculum and aspiring daily to mimic euro-centric and Western pop culture? How is any of that in line with the Rwandan cultural identity you claim to defend? See, live your life the way you see fit, and leave others to live their lives as they see fit, too. This is not Afghanistan. We are not Taliban. What offends you may not offend others. This is a free country, and as long as Miss Akiwacu is not breaking any laws, there is no problem. Until we properly educate ourselves on the dress codes of pre-colonial Rwanda, its best we mind our business, keep our own house in order and stop trying to jam our twisted pseudo-religious doctrine down anybody’s throat. Thank you! Dayo Ntwari
