Dr RUDASINGWA:WHAT IS IN COMMITMENT? SEVEN DEMONS THAT KEEP KAGAME IN POWER

Dr Theogene Rudasingwa

I recommend my friends to take a total of one and half hours this week to listen to T D Jakes talk about commitment. Do not worry that he is Christian preacher. You do not have to be a believer. Commitment is key to success in every life endeavor. For Rwandans today, commitment to change is a great stakes endeavor.

For almost all of us Rwandans, we know how much suffering we are undergoing. We are a fearful nation. On every hill we live in fear, anger, suspicion, and uncertain of the future. We are in jails in Rwanda. We are in jails in Arusha, and even when are free, we cannot go back home as free people. We are banished as refugees in every corner of the world. We are silent for fear of persecution if we speak. We are targets of assassination in every corner of the world. We are in the jungles of Congo, fighting endless wars that consume lives of young Rwandans and Congolese so that a dictator may survive longer. We are poor, and yet being forced to give money to the so-called Agaciro Development Fund, to a dictator who plunders and kills Rwandans. We clap for the dictator, and while he is away, or secretly in our hearts, we wish him dead. We are a humiliated lot, living as second class citizens in the country that belongs to all of us.

The revolution is ripe, since there is enough injustice and human suffering among us Rwandans. The harvest is plentiful. However, the harvesters are few. Nothing important in life is ever cheap. It takes nine months of pregnancy, painful labor and a whole lifetime to get and raise a useful human being. Revolutions are even more costly. The number one asset for a revolution is commitment. It cost commitment on the part of Rwandan kings to run the show for several centuries. Even the Belgian colonial enterprise was committed to run Rwanda for decades. It cost commitment to bear and deliver the 1959 MDR revolution. It cost commitment on the part of the coup-plotters to deliver the 1973 MRND regime that lasted until 1994. It cost commitment and sacrifice for RPF to wage and win the 1994 war.

How much commitment do Rwandans have to win the current revolution whose core mission is to unite and heal all Rwandans? If you ask Rwandans, they will tell you they want change immediately. A quick and cheap solution, they will tell you. We spend enormous time on the internet and social media trading words among us and with the dangerous regime in Kigali. We are scattered in organizations that are weak enough to be manipulated, intimidated or bought by the regime. Many of us are neither hot or cold. They have one foot in the revolution and another in the regime that hunts them down. The Hutu are a marginalized lot, but they dream that one day, as if by magic, numbers will do the miracle. The Tutsi, hostages falsely believing that Kagame represents them, are in denial, thinking that monopoly of the army, intelligence, government and money will save the regime for ever.

Kagame’s regime is at its weakest since 1994, with little legitimacy among Rwandans and increasingly isolated abroad. This is the time to mobilise and organize, and shorten the agony and suffering of the Rwandan people. We must face and kill these seven demons that consume our commitment to move quickly to peacefully end Kagame’s brutal regime:

1. FEAR: Fear is the most powerful weapon in the hands of Kagame and his clique. The moment Rwandans overcome fear will be the moment the regime crumbles.

2. PROCRASTINATION: Rwandans know what to do and how to do it but they are still trapped in believing that it will be done tomorrow. Yet a day spent procrastinating is another day spent in misery. Laziness has never been an asset. You reap results in direct relationship to how much time and effort you have invested in something.

3. MINDS TRAPPED IN DENIAL AND DECEPTION: There still among us who believe we can restore the Rwandan kingdom, regimes of the past (MDR-PARMEHUTU, and MRND) or prolong RPF for ever. The past is gone, and gone for ever ever. The best we can do is to learn lessons to help us change the present and re-invent, or re-imagine, the future in which we leave behind the shared bad past, and build on the shared positives in our history.

4. SELFISHNESS & GREED: The selfish Rwandans. especially most of us the elite, tend to think that the world revolves around us and our immediate family. We have become victims of instant gratification, without thinking about the future of our children and grandchildren. Yes, we still have to service the car, the mortgage, summer holiday, and a lifestyle commensurate with our status. We still have to reserve some of our resources to invest in our common future. Or, sadly, we are “bought” for a plate of jobs and money. We are enticed to “come and see” the new “Rwanda flowing with milk and honey”. In our own country, we are asked to come and see, like visitors or strangers. Especially among the Hutu, we have become the generation of “come and see”. To come and see your property, and that if you fall on your knees they will give back to you what belongs to you? What are we teaching our children? That they must bow in submission if you can only give them a job or food? Is that agaciro, our value?

5. “THEY WILL DO IT FOR US” MENTALITY: There is a false belief among us that somebody will do it for us. The Belgians and the French did it for the Hutu, some say. Others say Americans and the British did it for the Tutsi. The truth of the matter is that Belgians, French, Americans and the British look out and fight for their interests. Rwandans must look out for and fight for their interests first and foremost. Nobody else will. To get friends who support your cause, you must show that you deserve their help, you merit it and you will put it to good use. But you must show that you are in the driver’s seat. and that no matter what, with or without their help, you will win anyway.

6. THE “US vs THEM” MENTALITY: Rwanda is so precious that very often we want to have it alone without the other. The other is the enemy. The other is the problem. The other is “inyangarwanda”, the unpatriotic guys who hate Rwanda. The other killed my people. Who is holy among us to cast the first stone? The kings? MDR-PARMEHUTU? MRND? RPF? Hutu? Tutsi? We cannot re-invent Rwanda’s past. It is shared, the good and bad. We can, however, choose to write our future together. We must be bold and courageous to look at each other from each other’s standpoint, and see areas where we can stand and build together, brick by brick, one day at a time. We must begin where we live and work. We must reach out to the other. I am in the other. The other is in me.

7. GUILT AND SHAME. We have wronged each other for too long that the demons of guilt and shame have robbed us of self esteem. We speak in whispers so that we are not denounced as genocidaires, interahamwe, revisionists, those who deny genocide, terrorists, etc. On the internet we write anonymously so that nobody discovers who we really are. I personally know exceptionally intelligent Rwandans who cannot speak out for fear of retribution from Kagame. One told me he could not be on Radio Itahuka because they ( kagame et al) would connect his organization with FDLR. Incredible! Somebody with a PHD!! We go to places we shouldn’t be to buy identity and acceptance. Now there people in Rwanda who say they have “Tutsi blood” to gain a foothold withing the mafia that rules Rwanda. There are Tutsi who, I was told, used to claim they are Hutu during past regimes. We are what we are. Period. We should be very proud of what we are. We did not bargain with God to be what He made of us. We are the proud sons and daughters of the living God. We have all sinned but WE REFUSE to be held in guilt and shame.

When Kagame taunts us with his death squads armed with cannons and bayonets, we should stand squarely in his face, and like teenage boy David to giant Goliath, say: “who is this philistine who defies the armies of the living God?” . We are building a powerful army of free Rwandans, armed with peace, truth and unity. The giant shall soon fall.

So, Rwandans summon the courage to slay the demons of guilt and shame, ” us vs them” mentality, selfishness and greed, “they will do it for us” mentality, fear, procrastination, denial and deception.

Nurture your commitment. Get off your b–ts and go to work. Or else you will die in humiliation and misery, and condemn future generations to a legacy of servitude.

We shall win!

Theogene Rudasingwa

16 COMMENTS

  1. We are so much tired to hear about Kagome.
    We need only one person who can organise and we are ready to push or pull him like a door.

  2. Only Jesus will heal this world man. No human can make the difference from others because power corrupts.Once in power, you can do the same. Better give peace and not wage war. Have a good night.

  3. Icyakora iyo wize uba warize kabisa! uyu mugabo azi ubwenge …. analytical skills afite ntabwo Kigali yabona anumuntu umwe to be close

  4. Thank you Dr Rudasingwa, your efforts are much appreciated amongst us Rwandans. Your contribution above is well structured and so straightforward that whoever pretends not to understand its content are either blind or hard-core Kagame supporters. I thoroughly went through the 7 demons you mention, and I could pinpoint at least one in myself and in some of my friends close to me.

    As you put it, we are a nation gripped with fear, anger, suspicion and uncertainty for the future, and it’s obvious that many Rwandans long for change. But for dacades, Rwandans lived in fear, anger and suspicion, the only difference being its source, depending on factors such as ethnicity, geography, social background … Today it’s Kagame, yesterday it was Habyarimana, the day before Kayibanda, and the Kings before that. That fear has been part of our lives for so long that it has got to a point it defines us as a people, and whether we like it or not dictators don’t need an invitation to use it against us.

    I agree with you that we need to overcome it if we want a better future for our children. But how? The 7 demons you detail are genuine in the minds of many of us, but these are like illnesses but we also need a cure. Awareness of one’s illness doesn’t necessarily mean the person has a remedy, however willing they are to get rid of it.
    I will give you an example:
    Fear: I can assure you we are all dead scared. But do we all have the same fear? Although Kagame is the one currently terrorising us, but for some he is not the main source of their distress. For many Hutus, he epitomises the Tutsi rule that oppressed them before, which absolves the genocide they committed against Tutsis in 1994, and would justify them if they decided to commit another one tomorrow. He is thus an instrument of a more dredful system they would rather get rid of once for all. For many Tutsis who lived in Rwanda before 1994, Kagame is less evil than those who took up machetes to chop off their loved ones’ heads. Although they are terrified of him, they still prefer him to a Hutu rule they would find hard to trust again. For many Tutsis who came from exile in 1994, they dread Kagame because they know him better than anyone else, for his atrocities they witnessed first hand, or because they don’t know anything or anyone else more despicable than him.

    For all these sorts of fears, one cannot apply the same remedy, because although symptoms are similar, causes are far from being the same. I’m afraid we might be focusing just on Kagame and forgetting that we have deeper issues that will resurface straight after his fall, and might hurt us even more than Kagame himself. I truly believe that if we can manage to focus on overcoming our own fears against one another, those that have plagued us for decades, especially between Hutus against Tutsis, Kagame will be history in a matter of months. If we can channel all our efforts in convincing ourselves and our communities that Kagame, like other presidents before him, is just a vampire, whose power lies on the perpetratuation of our existing differences in order to cash on them, we will win the battle of fear of ourselves, and the fear of Kagame will win itself.

    • Just for correction, I meant “… we will win the battle of fear of ourselves, and the battle of fear for Kagame will win itself.” Regards

  5. surely what is this ? the whole doctor the demons must be with in you not some body else.ngo mbere yuko utokora ijisho ryamugenzi wawe banze utokore iryawe. the saying goes.rudasingwa we you should get saved so that you can get rid of those demons.

  6. Dear Brother Rudasingwa ,

    Iyi nyandiko yawe nayisomye inshuro eshatu ….iriya nyandiko yawe iguye nindi nanditse mu kinyamakuru yitwaga ese IMPINDUKA MU RWANDA IRASHOBOKA ariko ho na focusingaga kuli Kagame nyirubwite …Warakoze kabisa komeza utere abanyarwanda ingabo mu bitugu ariko umenye ko umuti ni political education kuko niyo i crea political adhesion iyo abantu bakoreye hamwe political strategy bikaba aribyo bibyara political success Courage Brother

  7. Dr. Rudasingwa,
    Thank you for you shared ideas wh are 100% true.
    I wake up and ready to contribute. One request: To translate this article so that. a big portion of Rwandans read it in Kinyarwanda and put it on other websites.

    Lets look forward!

    Be blessed!

  8. Dear Rudasingwa,

    Ku bwanjye umfashije wajya uvuga mu izina ryawe n’abandi muhuje ibitekerezo ariko don’t marginalise ngo rwandans are suffering,…we are a fearful nation??? Icyo ni ikinyoma….!!. Why should I beleive in what you are saying anywhere??? Please give some good reasons as to why I should beleive in your analysis …Why do you want to appear as a messiah to Rwanda??? I hope one day you will come back to your senses.

    • Muvandimwe Jay,
      Igitekerezo cyawe kirashushanya neza u Rwanda rwa Kagame: predictability, lack of depth, intellectual laziness, arrogance, taking Rwandans for granted … Icyo Dr Rudasingwa yakoze ni ugukora ubushakashatsi hanyuma aduha results zabuvuyemo. Ntiyigeze avuga ko ari messiah, ariko kandi n’iyo yabivuga nta tegeko rigusaba kubyemera. Icyo nshaka kugarukaho hano cyane ni uko buri muntu afite uburenganzira busesuye bwo gutanga ibitekerezo bye uko abyumva, abandi nabo bakagira uburenganzira bwo kubyemera cyangwa kubyanga. Ikibi gusa ni uyu muco mubi wadutse wo kurwanya igitekerezo kubera uwo giturutseho, ugisenya atanatanga ingingo aheraho. Dr Rudasingwa yashyizemo efforts ngo asesengure ikibazo kiri mu Banyarwanda, niba utabyemera gerageza nawe utekereze ku byo yavuze no ku gisubizo cyo kumuha, ingingo ku yindi werekane impamvu utemera ibyo yagezeho yiyushye akuya. Naho bene iyi mvugo yo gupinga gusa for the sake of it, yerekana a certain intellectual laziness ubutegetsi bwa Kagame bwapakiye mu bantu, bubumvisha ko ntawemerewe gutekereza uretse we wenyine. If you want your opinion to count, please make it look like an opinion, not this cheap double-talk meant to divert attention from important matters. Your predictability is getting annoyingly boring!

  9. Rudasingwa, kindly do the following for me. Make a reliable research on the following topics and come up with true and unbiased results as a man.
    1. How many Americans do wish to see Obama fall? put the results/findings in form of percentage
    2. How many British do wish to see Cameron fall?
    3. How many French do wish to see Hollande fall?
    4. How many Germans do wish to see Angela Merkel fall?

    That is Europe and US. Let’s go to Asia.

    1. How many Russians do wish to see to see Putin fall?
    2. How many Chanise wish to see Jintao fall?
    3. How many North Koreans do wish to see Jong-il fall?
    4. How many South Koreans do wish to see Lee Myung-Bak fall?

    Let’s skipe Latin America and Australia and straight away come to Africa.
    1. How many S.Africans do wish to see Zuma fall?
    2. How many Ugandans do wish to see M7 fall?
    3. How many Kenyans do wish to see Kibaki fall?
    4. How many Tanzanians do wish Kikwete fall? the list can go on but………!

    Rudasingwa, you will be shocked to find out that a big number of people that you never imagined in the above mentioned states wish their regimes changed/fall’ but why? Go ahead and find out. Now, let’s come to Rwanda. No wonder there are some people who do wish regime change insluding yourself who even encourages some Rwandans to revolt. I am so much concerned with my motherland, being the reason why i kindly beg you to spare some time and make unbiased comparison between Rwanda’s 1st,2nd and the current regimes in the context of Rwanda’s dev’t and people’s welfare. Kindly do this for me without favoritism and your personal sentiments on either issue. As Iam waiting for your professional findings, i wish to tell you that I myself do believe that Kagame somewhere some how commits errors simply becoz he is a human being thus, he is not immune to mistakes. As Rwanda is not a perfect state, so does other countries! Yes, i strongly believe that the degree varies but, when it comes to Rwanda, the degree tend to be exaggerated! Get me right, Iam not Kagame’s spokes person he even doesn’t know that i do exist on this universe but…….! Mr, do you know that even Mandela and Nyerere, who many people regard as true statesmen had people who wished them to fall/die by the time they were still presidents? Mr, let’s say that your wishes of regime fall/change come true, and luckly enough, you become a president, do you think you will lead as a saint? do you think you will have no Rudasingwas in and outside Rwanda? never! uribeshya kabisa. Muri make mwabantumwe, ntabutegetsi kuri nabumwe butarwanywa! N’ubutegetsi bwa Yesu bwararwanijwe ,nkanswe! Nsoza,mugihe ngitegere results zawe Mr. Rudasingwa, ko nemeye ko mu Rwanda atari shyashya, aho kugirango duhirike ubutegetsi buriho, wenda bibe byanatuviramo kumena amaraso yabamwe, ntakundi kuntu twahindura ibintu tudahiritse ubutegetsi? Mugire amohoro y’Imana!

  10. Ariko se nibarize Rudasingwa ,
    1.Wa mugabo we rwose wagiye wivugira mu izina ryawe n’umuryango wawe ,n’inshuti zawe (Kayumba,Karegeya na Gahima)ukareka kuvuga mw’izina ry’abanyarwanda .
    2.Waba uzi the power of association ? Hari imbaraga iyo ugize guhitamo neza uwo mukoranye association but harimo n’umuvumo iyo uhisemo nabi uwo mukorana association ,wich means kwishirahamwe kwawe na Kayumba,Karegeya,Gahima yewe n’umwana muto ashobora kuguhanurira iherezo ryanyu .
    3.Imana iguhe umugisha usigaye wumva ubutumwa bwiza (the good news of the kingdom )ahari aho wahinduka ugakizwa ukava mu buriganya .Kuko ubu wowe ni nshuti zawe nzavuze haruguru mugereranywa na Tobia na Sani barati muli bible igihe Nehemiya yarwanaga ashaka kubaka inkike z’i Yerusalemu bo nta kindi bakoraga usibye gusebanya,kuvuza induru ,conspiracy n’ibindi ,…..
    4.Ndibaza ko ufite ibyo ugomba kubanza ugasobanurira u Rda n’abanya Rda kuko ubwawe you are not in good position yo kuba watunga undi uwo ariwe wese agatoki .
    Ndangiza muvandimye Rudasingwa ko wumva uri intwari kandi ukaba wifuza impinduka ukaba uri umugabo utagira ubwoba watashe ugasubira mu rwa kubyaye ugahagarara ku maguru yawe abiri ukamagana ibitagenda neza ukareka kurara wihishe wikinga ijoro ,ukoresha ama radio na news paper ko icyo gihe tuzakujya inyuma maze tukakuyoboka .
    Thks

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