Ignore the hype, Rwandans know what’s best for them

OF late, Rwanda has been in the news for all the wrong, and should I add, incomprehensible reasons. The wave of negative publicity would not have merited a mention within these pages if it had emanated from the usual suspects’ camp; that loose alliance of has-been politicians who want to rekindle their five minutes of fame, Genocide apologists and the usual sprinkling of the so-called “experts” and rights groups. However, it becomes different when people and organisations that would be expected to think in a rational manner, suddenly become contaminated by a viral condition of coming to hasty conclusions instead of making educated guesses. It is always fascinating to watch from the sidelines, as wave after wave of even the most obscure groups and individuals, jump on the band wagon of finger-pointers and prophets of doom. The tempo, this time around, has increased with the approach of the presidential elections. There is a lot of over-dramatisation by these forces and blowing of situations out of proportion, so as to give credence to their dug-in extremist positions. The kinds of statements being dished out there — and blindly picked and packaged by some sections of the international media — are so embarrassingly shallow. Unconnected events are interwoven and married to give some semblance of logic to their arguments. A fellow journalist is gunned down and those forces are quick to cry wolf! and pin it on the establishment, despite the authors of the ignoble act coming forward, confessing and giving reasons that propelled them to commit the crime. But the usual critics conveniently overlook this fact, and just like a faulty CD, continuously drum up their infantine allegations for reasons best known to themselves. A hitherto unknown politician is propelled to prominence by his untimely death, which conveniently again, is blamed on the government by the super sleuths who are adept at reading the crystal ball. Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, the owner of a night spot in Butare town, Sombrero, is found grisly murdered after disappearing in the wee hours of the morning. But because he was the vice president of some nascent wannabe political party, his death was shamelessly exploited by the same groups who have made an art out of recycling conspiracy theories. They, again, intentionally overlook to mention that the police have in their custody a suspect, Thomas Ntivuguruzwa, who was the last person to be seen in the company of the victim. The police have also announced that a second suspect, known as Kamana, is on the run. According to the police, both suspects had the motive and opportunity to make them prime suspects. Ntivuguruzwa allegedly had loan sharking conflicts with the victim while Kamana was embroiled in a legal tussle with Rwisereka for losses in a business venture they shared, “La Nouvelle Piscine” nightclub. So far that is what the police have come up with, a far different picture than what is peddled in the media and internet rumour mills. For the gullible types out there, reading and listening to all the hyperbole being published and broadcast left right and centre, it would seem that this country has purchased a one-way ticket to the abyss. For every crime committed in this country, the prophets of doom gleefully pounce with the intention of milking it for political capital. They, as we said earlier, conveniently disregard the fact that we are among the safest countries, and one of the most trusted by its citizens. One only has to read the outcomes of the World Values Survey (www.worldvaluessurvey.org) that represents a sample of the attitudes of 6.7 billion people. The results are very telling if the doubting Thomases would bother finding out. Rwanda is the third country in the world where citizens value and have trust in state institutions, are fourth most patriotic with over, 90% willing to fight for it, and are very cagey, possibly due to their fresh memory of how the international community abandoned them in the hour of need. Every country has its own problems and approaches of how to solve them, and has no obligation to listen to every Tom, Dick and Harry. If anything, Rwandans have decided to be the architects of their own destiny. Ends