A major step has been taken in amending the Rwandan constitution by a commission to review the constitution. As it was widely witnessed, the above step was preceded by massive requests from the people of Rwanda to amend the constitution.
We all know that love or admiration to a person is not without cause. In fact you will admire someone for something that brings to you happiness or pleasure or both. What you admire someone for, in the first place pleases you. The admired individual becomes an object to make you happy and pleased and is at the service of your satisfaction.
An elderly woman in Musanze kneels down as she requests the Members of Parliament to amend the Constitution to allow the President another term in office.
Change is a fact of life, yes, but continuity of safe journey with able and reliable guide is a fundamental choice. Fourteen years ago, I heard and saw on screen interviews with President Paul Kagame and there was always this Question: “Will you leave power when your term of office comes to an end?”
Asking the end at the beginning always brought to me something outrageous and suspicious by some fellows in our unfair home called the world. The major and pertinent questions would have been what he intended to accomplish all along the way to the end of the mandate.
The fact of the matter is, twenty years ago, prediction of what Rwanda and Rwandans would look like could not be exact due to the tragedy the country and its people registered in its history. Recall that?
To numerous distant observers, Rwanda was to be a failed state, and another doom was anticipated. But what has transpired in the country is quite opposite. But why has it been so?
From Despair To Hope
Shortly after Genocide, when everyone was in state of shock and uncertainty, the minimum Rwandans needed most was hope for possibility of a future of a people and nation. Removing people from a shock of tragedy to hope for not only survival, but living and prospering is not a gift of everybody.
Twenty years down the road, things in Rwanda have changed in their numbers. The population has grown, the maturity of the people has risen, the well-being has improved, and the country has crafted its shape that offers hope and confidence in its people.
The launch pad for these significant milestones rests on the fact that people took responsibility of their own affairs, but above all, were guided by a responsible and devoted leader.
Personally, I have never been close to President Kagame, neither can I affirm all what is said about him, however, a friend of mine and analyst told me that transforming situations from dark days to shining situations is his real art.
I was given an example of Rwanda Patriotic Front/ Army in the early stages of its armed struggle. The period when the force had incurred severe defeat by then Rwanda Government forces, at the same time he availed himself to lead a force that had completely lost morale and power to fight the war in a month or two.
He further informed me that RPF and RPA were a gone case, frustrations’, filled the party and support was ruined; an indication of loss hope of the people in a project they genuinely and highly needed – Liberating their country.
This is not a gift and art of everybody. To this end, Rwandans have seen closely and have lived this reality. Most importantly however, is the fact that, they are not prepared to lose the volume of hope attained, in their view, attributed to the leadership of President Paul Kagame, still able to push the country to further heights.
In essence, the people of Rwanda see into President Paul Kagame a fundamental value that has transformed their lives of which they still have thirsty for.
As said above, Rwandans have owned their fate in the recent past, took responsibility of their own affairs for their future, resisted to be held hostage of their unfortunate history by inventing their own home grown solutions to overcome the enormous challenges.
What they now need is their leader to continue helping them to build on the past achievements. Furthermore, with him at the fore front, Rwandans wish to use their decision, at all costs, to pave a way for a more prosperous future for them and for the next generations.