Politics that allowed genocide to happen despite their influence , decided to throw their weight behind this denialist movement . In the United Nations they took a position supporting the dubious claim that the terminology “ Genocide against the Tutsi ” was not inclusive enough to include “ others ” who were also victims of genocide in 1994 , which essentially supports the double genocide theory of the Arusha convicts . This position by the two governments was perceived by the denialist movement as a diplomatic coup . Consequently , a small group made of offspring of the convicts of genocide took this as a signal that the world ’ s powerful countries are behind them and refashioned themselves to “ human rights activists ” and critics of the Rwandan government . Ironically , the Americans and the Brits , the latter still refusing to arrest and try or extradite genocide suspects on its soil , argued that their position was aimed at furthering unity , even as , in effect , it created a coalition with those who have conceived unity as a threat to their political , and genocidal , ambitions . However , if the two governments were , in fact , genuinely interested in unity , they would support those who had dedicated that unity would be the raison d ’ être of the state . It also became apparent that these governments saw the unity of Rwandans as an obstacle to their ambition to exert political control over Rwanda , an ambition they share with the denialist movement : in this unholy and repugnant alliance , a divided society is good for both , although the imperatives for control differ . Simply put , the US and the UK were after something else despite their public pronouncements .
And so , the objective has been to derail the unity of Rwandans . The anti-unity movement has been pouncing the Unity Club ever since it introduced the Ndi Umunyarwanda ( I am a Rwandan ) initiative whose aim was to urge Rwandans to embrace their shared Rwandan identity – Hutus , Tutsis , and Twa , speak the same language , culture , and live in the same geographic milieu , meaning that together they fit the definition of an ethnic group – rather than their ethnicity . They claimed that the initiative was a nefarious scheme whose disguised aim was to deny the existence of ethnic groups and that the platform aimed to ascribe vice on the Hutu and virtue on the Tutsi . For starters , the two are contradictory claims . Secondly , it is not illegal to be Hutu or Tutsi . Third , Ndi Umunyarwanda was premised on the idea that the unity of Rwandans was in their shared identity and that genocide was possible because this identity had lost prominence ; elevating it was the solution for unity . In other words , for as long as unity is the goal of the government , its enemies are equally committed to derail it , and to seek the support of those who wish to control and dictate to the authorities in Kigali the direction that Rwandan society should take .
Chicken and egg
As the denialist movement was picking up steam , and its unlikely friends distorting genocide and promoting ambiguity , it occurred to me that perhaps the efforts that had been put in building unity should have been placed in teaching about genocide . Genocide is the single most catastrophic event that contemporary Rwandan society has faced and there ’ s no going around it ; is a subject to reckon with . The elephant in the room . It represents the greatest failure of our society and the sooner we recognise this and take collective ownership of this failure the better . Significantly , collective ownership means collective consciousness , itself being the surest and irreversible path to unity and genuine reconciliation . In other words , the goal should always have been to nurture a critical mass of Rwandans , especially the youth , who recognise this monumental failure of society and who , as a result , develop the appropriate sensibilities , mutual solidarity , and commitment to a shared future in which the recurrence of genocide is impossible . This collective consciousness is the value system around which unity is substantiated – why are we uniting and what are we uniting to do ? It is also the basis for genuine reconciliation that isn ’ t subject to reversal . It is also the greatest weapon against those for whom the unity of Rwandans poses a threat . Precisely , the mission of each generation of Rwandans ought to be to grow the critical mass as a means of driving these elements to the fringe of society where they belong .
If the collective failure of society was genocide , the collective consciousness around it is society ’ s collective redemption . There ’ s no better way to build unity and reconciliation . It therefore ap-
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