The PANAFRICAN Review
pears that unity was a solution for a problem that was presumed self-evident and warranting no further articulation . However , the lesson from the resurgent denialist movement , ambiguity around genocide is a key weapon for reversing the gains of unity in Rwandan society . In other words , having unity and understanding the value of unity are not the same thing : the pursuit of unity does not necessarily nurture a critical mass that is informed about the greatest modern tragedy that Rwandan society has faced and therefore to imagine that a critical mass with the appropriate sensibilities around it would emerge to forge genuine reconciliation on its own is presumptuous . On the contrary , to nurture a critical mass with clarity around genocide is to develop the appropriate sensibilities for reconciliation and unity . One is the prerequisite of the other .
Accordingly , nurturing clarity of genocide within the Rwandan society is the greatest fear of the enemies of unity and , as a result , they are ready to accommodate any other efforts geared at promoting unity as long as these efforts don ’ t build collective consciousness around the genocide . This is precisely why the clarity around genocide should be the main preoccupation for those who seek lasting unity and reconciliation in Rwanda .
The pursuit of unity in a vacuum has sent the wrong message and emboldened the enemies of unity and their shameless allies . But they mistakenly thought that soul searching was a moment rather than a lifestyle .
The new ministry will have to prove that it ’ s worth its salt . And fast . Because the denialist movement is ready to eat its lunch before it ’ s even served .
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The African ‘ Expert ’ and Academic Gatekeeper
Moses Khisa
In a series of incisive Tweets on 14 April , the indefatigable Dr Godwin Murunga dissected what he summarised as ‘ Perils of Afrophilia in African Studies .’ Godwin promised to write a paper on this topic , so my thoughts here should not prejudice what he will put across .
For context , Godwin is Executive Secretary of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa , CODESRIA . For close to half a century , CODESRIA has continuously and consistently flown the flag of continental Pan-African scholarship . It has imbibed an unabashed commitment to a radical intellectual genre and has provided an invaluable platform for successive generations of African citizen intellectuals willing to boldly push back against Western imperialism manifest in structures of power and domination but also in the practices of the media and academia .
Making a serious and sound argument on Twitter requires extraordinary finesse and clarity of thought given that this platform is notorious for its severely limiting number of characters one can enter for each post . But in the few short Tweets he made , Godwin was able to strip bare an intellectual epidemic , one that has afflicted Africa for as long as there has been debate over the continent and its people .
Successive generations of African scholars have had to deal with the endless struggle to have voice in the face of legions of Africanist scholars who consider themselves or are held up as the real experts on a continent seen as always available for objectification and the conferring ( often self-done ) of the status of expertise .
The African ‘ expert ’ often finds it self-fulfilling and an ostensible source of moral high ground to express love for Africa and display
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