Rwanda ‘ s Liberation
" The Ideology that Brings us Closer to the People is the Secret to Our Liberation "
The annual national symposium of the Rwanda Defence Command and Staff College took place 12 – 14 May 2021 . Major Gen . Mugambage was one of the panellists on the subject of “ National Inter-agency Collaboration and Coordination Mechanisms for Sustainable Peace , Security and Development .” Pan African Review ( PAR ) captured some of the main issues he raised in relation to security and liberation . PAR later met up with him to clarify and elaborate on some of the views he had raised on the panel .
On the meaning of liberation
RPF ’ s Liberation is about the liberation of Rwandans from poor leadership to a dignified life . Gen . Mugambage summarised President Kagame ’ s speech on the 20th Genocide Commemoration , which emphasised that Rwanda ’ s modest success can be attributed to three factors : the unity of the people ; transparency and accountability , and getting out of the box in order to ‘ think big ’ as we seek solutions to the challenges our people face .
We asked ourselves , ‘ Yes , we are engaged in this , but what do we want to achieve ?’ We had to envision what we could achieve during our time and what we would leave behind when we are no longer there ; it ’ s not just about looking at the ‘ now .’ It ’ s about looking far and beyond .
It is by remaining focused on this vision that explains how Rwanda got out of the status of a failed state to the point that others begin to look up to Rwanda as a model or even get inspired by us .
But it is about an ideology that brings us closer to the people : being able to partner with them in delivering a sustainable and secure environment for socioeconomic transformation is the secret to our liberation .
On the link between security , welfare , dignity
One of the seven original major objectives of the RPF was to provide security for all Rwandans . Another is to restore dignity and welfare to all Rwandans . The two are related because combining
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