Rwanda’s revolution - for that is what it is – has largely been about mindset change as much as about the actual transformation of the country. In fact, it can be said that transformation has been possible because of the change in mindset. For a little over a generation now, Rwandans have made notable positive changes in a number of ways: in how they regard themselves and how they look at others; in the way they work and how they do things generally. All that is reflected in what they have achieved in that time. Among many such achievements, they have built infrastructure to rival any and extended it to all corners of the country. They have created a responsive, citizen-centred and consensus-based governance system, drawn from tradition and informed by the country’s history and transformation imperatives. They have built an enviable healthcare structure and an improving education system. Away from home, they have compelled the rest of the world to re-evaluate how they relate to Rwandans and as a result enhanced their international standing. Anyone who knew Rwanda thirty years ago will agree that this has been a shift and feat of great magnitude, unimaginable at that time. In that time Rwandans have found a new confidence, regained their dignity and built a reputation as high achievers and dependable partners in the region and globally. To get here, however, they have always needed reminders about the necessity for a mindset shift. You want to get somewhere better, faster? Change your attitude, thought patterns, and methods of work. You cannot get there by conventional means alone. Sometimes you have to do things in a different, unique or even unorthodox way. If the beaten path won’t get you where you want to go and at the pace you wish, then fashion another, innovate. The advice was taken and the reminders heeded. It worked and the results can be seen. And so Rwandans prided themselves on their uniqueness, getting results through unconventional means, being innovative, or resorting to uniquely Rwandan methods. However, despite the many times it has been done, one reminder seems to have remained unheeded, especially by leaders at different levels and in diverse sectors. Why? Perhaps leadership status has some attractions that some cannot forgo or do not want to give up so quickly or easily. Or they have acquired certain habits and got so used to them that they find it difficult to unlearn them. Whatever the reason, the virtues of modesty and humility have continued to elude some leaders, or more correctly it is they who have evaded those virtues. And so fresh reminders are needed. On Sunday, February 27, President PaulKagame did just that at the National Prayer Breakfast. There has not been a moment in the last twenty-eight years when he has not made that reminder. Many may recall the times when he has urged leaders to desist from some types of conduct unbecoming of their position. Don’t make yourself so big, so important, and place yourself so high above ordinary people that you become inaccessible and think you are superior. Old habits die hard, they say. Some actually refuse to die. One such is the big man syndrome usually associated with official position at whatever level. A big (wo)man cannot be ordinary. They must set themselves above and apart from the rest. Their words drip with wisdom. Their pronouncements are law. Their actions cannot be questioned. This sort of behaviour has been taken as normal in some places. If you are a politician or government official and do not behave like this, they will say something is wrong with you. In Rwanda this attitude is, of course, frowned upon, but we still get some instances of it. It is not, however, limited to people in politics or government service. It extends to others, including religious leaders. That is worrying. Religious leaders are supposed to help us keep on the “straight and narrow” path, to correct those who err and bring back those who go astray. They are expected to help us keep our moral compass pointing the right way, not to disable it so that we lose direction. They preach modesty, humility and honesty, which are at the centre of the values the respective faiths teach. But if religious leaders are the first to disregard them and are guilty of the things they teach us not to do, who will do it? They too seem to have fallen into the big man syndrome trap. Trappings of power and authority have become so attractive they have eclipsed their moral and spiritual responsibilities. Humility and modesty are some of the missing parts for Rwanda’s revolution to move faster and achieve greater things. They seem to be difficult virtues to hold. And so reminders will still come, even to those who should be doing the reminding. Until their necessity sinks in, or people become weary and comply.
