To overcome the challenges of unity and reconciliation, home-grown solutions and mechanisms for delivering justice had to be established. Traditional community mechanisms, such as Gacaca courts, were introduced alongside formal legal processes to promote accountability, truth-telling and justice within communities. The "I am Rwandan” programme sought to promote a shared national identity that transcended the ethnic classifications of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.

To advance reconciliation and consolidate national unity, the government identified several tasks.

The Rwandan population had to be informed about the causes of the division and hatred that had marked the country’s recent history.

Those suspected of committing genocide, massacres, looting and destruction of property were to be prevented from occupying positions of responsibility at any level.

A national commission responsible for unity and reconciliation also had to be established. The broader effort sought to ensure that no one benefited from criminal acts in which they had participated. Perpetrators of crimes, particularly those committed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, were to be held accountable and legally barred from benefiting socially, financially or politically from their unlawful actions.

The programme’s principal guidelines focused on long-term outcomes. The losses were enormous, and addressing their consequences would take considerable time. Several questions therefore required clarification, particularly whether the Rwandan people had ever constituted a nation-state. If so, why and how had it emerged, and who had contributed to its formation?

There was also a need to establish when this unity had broken down. This would help explain why and how national unity should be rebuilt, as well as the factors that could support or hinder that process.

The 1990 proposal for a national political charter is clear on this point. It states that the Rwandan people had constituted a nation-state for more than a millennium. It explains that lineages of agriculturalists and herders recognised a common heritage rooted in history, language, culture and the economy. This complex and precious heritage was transmitted from one generation to the next. Every Rwandan participated in the social and economic management of their lineage.

Gradually, some lineages formed alliances, while others disputed questions of precedence. These relationships and rivalries help explain how kingdoms emerged.

The discussions held at Urugwiro Village in 1998–1999 revisited this position, drawing on reconciliation policy and the existence of Rwandan unity before colonisation.

This unity was undermined during the struggle for power in the 1950s and the establishment of the Hutu republic in 1962. History was manipulated to entrench ethnic politics. These politics help explain the treatment of the Tutsi and of Hutu labelled as traitors during the First and Second Republics.

Those who transcended ethnic boundaries were terrorised by supporters of a distorted notion of solidarity. Hutu were called upon to stand with members of their ethnic group, even when crimes were being committed. Tutsi who continued to believe in peaceful coexistence among Rwandans, particularly across ethnic divides, were considered naïve.

Under Presidents Kayibanda and Habyarimana, the executive concentrated all power in its hands. It would be unjust and inaccurate to hold all Hutu responsible for the crimes and acts of violence committed in their name. It is difficult to determine what proportion actively supported the ideology promoted by elites to maintain their hold on power.

Local communities were often powerless in the face of those who governed them. They did not always condone the injustices committed against the Tutsi.

Throughout the persecution of the Tutsi and of Hutu who opposed genocide, some Hutu risked their lives to protect others. They sheltered Tutsi who were fleeing persecution, and some lost their lives in doing so.

The stories of these often unnamed heroes deserve recognition. They provide a strong foundation on which the rebirth of the Rwandan nation can be built.

The writer is a historian based in Kigali.