Today
The PANAFRICAN Review
A Meaningful Liberation
Mushaija Godfrey
"
’ s struggle for liberation is about sending our children to school , feeding ourselves and building our country . We do not need to be shown the meaning of dignity , we know it because we fought and died for it ." – President Paul Kagame
Often the question is asked about what differentiates the Rwanda Liberation from the rest . There are many things that have been done exceptionally well and , naturally , some shortcomings . However , the most decisive factor has been the ability of the leadership to remain focused on ensuring that the liberation is meaningfully felt in the lives of the ordinary Rwandan . It has rejected the idea that pervades elsewhere that liberation is about that single say day when soldiers march at stadia , elite feast on slaughtered cows , goats , and chickens , and drink themselves silly . On the contrary , Rwanda ’ s liberation has been about underscoring the sense of urgency needed to improve the lives of Rwandans – to transform society in wellbeing and mindset .
To contextualize the meaning of liberation , one has to take a look at Rwanda ’ s past . Pre-genocide Rwanda was dogged with leadership that used ethnicity and regionalism to shirk from the responsibility of establishing a state that is undergirded by the principles of accountability . Given that the majority of leaders in pre-genocide Rwanda were from the north , they deceived the ordinary people from that region into believing that they ( i . e ., the leaders and ordinary people alike ) were in power . However , this was a ruse to give a psychological boost and blindfold the latter into helping the elites to retain power . The elites did this manipulation at the expense of improving the lives of the people on whose behalf they claimed to rule .
Consequently , when the new government came to power in 1994 the entire country - including the northern region that was deceived that it was in power - was economically impoverished and psychologically devastated . Uplifting people from conditions that robbed them of dignity became a key component of the liberation .
Since that time , a holistic programme addressing people ’ s basic needs in the areas of health , education , water , electricity , and other essential needs has been implemented , in the northern province and elsewhere in the country , as a means of substantiating the liberation struggle , so that it is felt in people ’ s lives .
For instance , Integrated Model Villages ( IMVs ) have been built in this very spirit and are often symbolically unveiled each year during the celebrations . IMVs have become home to hundreds of families . In 2016 this programme catered for the housing needs of 104 families in Rweru , Bugesera district . The year after , 108 families in Shyira Nyabihu district were beneficiaries ; 100 families in Horezo , Muhanga district in 2018 ; 240 families in Karama , Nyarugege district in 2019 ; 64 families in Kaborogota , Nyagatare district in 2020 ; and 144 families in Kinigi , Musanze district this year .
The model village is a “ model ” in the sense that it offers an insight into Rwanda ’ s dreamed , ideal , future society in which all
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