Security organs are governance system backbone – Prof. Shyaka

The Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), Prof. Anastase Shyaka has said security organs play a vital role in the success or failure of any governance system.Shyaka said this yesterday while giving a lecture on the role of security organs in the country’s development and the role played by previous security institutions in supporting, organising and executing the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed over a million Rwandans in a period of 100 days.The lecture, organised by Rwanda National Police (RNP) at its headquarters in Kacyiru, was attended by police officers, in line with the ongoing activities to mark the 19th anniversary of the Genocide.Disseminating propaganda “Previous security organs tilted from their mandate and they didn’t value the people they were mandated to protect and serve. They valued the general public differently depending on their tribe and the public viewed them as their enemies too, and all this destroyed the governance system,” Prof. Shyaka stated.Security organs in previous regimes, he said, disseminated bad propaganda among Rwandans, bred hatred and actively took part in planning and executing Genocide.“There was no difference between politics and security organs at the time as the latter was supportive of all bad policies of the former, and the genocide was inevitable,” he added.He commended RNP for living up to its mission and breeding the culture of love, unity and reconciliation among Rwandans through cooperation and outreach which he said has won them the trust of the community.“Nowadays people feel safe and secure, even at night which wasn’t the case before,” he noted.Jean de Dieu Mucyo, Executive Secretary of National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), outlined classification, symbols and dehumanisation as some of the strategies used to organise and execute the Genocide.“We have to remember to honour to the departed, including those who died trying to stop the Genocide. Remembering helps to understand more what exactly happened and who did what, which further helps to prove wrong Genocide denials,” Mr. Mucyo said.“Remembering is a universal responsibility of every Rwandan so that we transmit this story to generations,” he added.He also lauded Rwanda National Police for ensuring security, especially in this commemoration period.