Knowledge sharing through Pan African Cooperation
This Fourth of July , Rwanda celebrates its Liberation Day for the 27th year . Liberation Day marks both the celebration of RPF ’ s decisive military victory over genocidal forces in a four year-long liberation struggle and the end of a three-month long genocidal campaign directed against the Tutsi since April 1994 . But Liberation Day to Rwandans is also , very concretely , the beginning of a new page in our country ’ s history ; a sort of renaissance , if you will . A journey of re-discovery of self and of transformation that has seen Rwanda decisively emerge from the ashes to become the thriving and hopeful nation that it is today .
Twenty-seven years on , this journey has given us valuable insights that , in the spirit of Pan-Africanism and solidarity , we are eager to share with our fellow Africans as we work towards our common development .
We know what is best for us
Barely a year after the genocide , as Rwandans were grappling with burying their loved ones and rebuilding a shattered nation from the ground up , some western “ experts ” proposed that the only solution to lasting peace in Rwanda was to divide the country into two separate new entities : a Hutuland and a Tutsiland .
That attitude taught us Rwandans , a crucial lesson then ; only we could devise lasting solutions to our problems . Time and again in our history , it had been a lack of discernment , power over our own affairs , and a blind abidance with other people ’ s choices , intentionally harmful or well-meaning but grossly misguided that had led to catastrophe .
As a result , We Rwandans , made three choices that were to become the pillars upon which our nation would be rebuilt . “ We chose to be united , to be accountable to ourselves , and to think big ”. In this process of introspection , the first step was to deliberately look back to our traditions and culture for the inspiration grounded in our values , conceptions and ideas / beliefs systems . From these we remodelled , innovated and adopted home-grown initiatives that bring the three choices above to life .
Twenty-seven years later , social protection programs such as Ubudehe ( collective action against poverty ), Girinka ( one cow per poor family ), and Umuganda ( community work ) have helped lift over a million Rwandans out of extreme poverty . The annual Umushyikirano ( National Dialogue Council ), bringing together Rwandans from all walks of life to collectively review the past years achievements and to debate the country ’ s direction , is a shining example of citizen participation in their governance .
Further , the Imihigo performance contracts have , on one hand , enhanced citizens ’ participation in governance and ownership of development processes while , on the other hand , ensuring greater accountability and transparency from leaders at local and central levels , especially in regard to planning , monitoring and evaluation of government programs for citizens ’ benefit .
Gacaca Courts stand out as perhaps the most successful and impactful of these home-grown initiatives . A hybrid of classic retributive justice and a form of restorative community justice practiced in pre-colonial Rwanda , the Gacaca courts were able to try , in the space of ten years , cases that would have taken the classic justice system over a century to dispose of , according to scholarly and expert estimates . Crucially , Gacaca ’ s focus on rehabilitation allowed for the truth about how the genocide was organized and implemented to come to light .
Adapt and adopt
Although choosing to forge our own path through home-grown initiatives has greatly propelled us forward , we also realized that in a fast-developing modern world , our traditions and values could help ground us but would
Rwanda Cooperation Address : 18 , KG 7 Avenue , Kigali , info @ cooperation . rw , www . cooperation . rw