RWANDA: Cradle of all Rwandan peoples

Here below is my manifesto, my political program will follow.

 List of contents

 1. Introduction
2. The search for stability
3. The failure of liberation:
3.1 A deceptive power
3.2 A deluded international community
3.3 A hegemonic and dictatorial power
3.4 A power careless of its people
3.5 A false fight against poverty
3.6 An incoherent ‘patriotic’ policy
4. My convictions and previous political experiences
4.1 President of the MDR party and Prime Minister
4.2 Lessons drawn from my introspection and contacts
4.3 Do away with unfair immunity from legal punishment and
  re-establish confidence between Rwandans
5. My political convictions
5.1 Do not overshadow the Hutu and Tutsi issue
5.2 Fight for ideas
5.3 Govern another way
6. My political motivations
6.1 A change towards an inclusive leadership
6.2 An integrated political programme
6.3 The need for freedom of association and expression
6.4 Political change and the role of the international community
7. Proposals and routes to take to re-establish Rwanda
8. Conclusion
 

1. Introduction

Presidential and legislative elections will take place in Rwanda before the end of 2003. The official declarations of the Rwandan government and above all the declaration made by the Rwandan President to the newspaper ‘Le Soir’ during his working visit to Brussels from 7-10 December 2002, bring some clarifications. The elections will take place in July and will be preceded by a referendum on the draft constitution.

The stakes are historic. After the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the tragedies suffered, as much within the country as abroad, and after a transition of almost 10 years, these elections must not go unnoticed. I feel called by those who have known or who know my political battle in Rwanda and by all those who love democracy, liberty and who desire a change of politics and leadership. These are the reasons for which I am standing for these elections. It is a personal commitment, powered by a determination to fulfil my duty as a citizen and to serve the country, which I love.

After 7 years of political ‘training’ abroad, it is time to place myself on the playing field of national politics.

These elections will determine the destiny of our people who want to live in peace and security with their neighbours and peacefully enjoy their fundamental rights. Our Congolese, Burundian, Ugandan and Tanzanian neighbours and the international community in general, congratulate the regime for having decided to organise elections. Everyone wants them to take place peacefully and be fair and transparent.

In this document I introduce myself to my people and I try to share with them my ideal of unity amongst Rwandans. I invite them to support me so we can reconstruct our beautiful country. If elected I will undertake to restore a democratic regime in my country and re-establish a peaceful environment in the Great Lakes region. Also, based on my political expertise, I am well positioned to resolve the ethnic problems calmly and to tackle other general problems of our economy and national political life.

The civil and hegemonic wars, poverty, sickness, corruption, the absence of individual freedom, fear, the cult of personality and the restored oligarchic “akuzu” system, will all be confronted during my electoral campaign and, after my election, serious measures will be taken to eradicate them.

In this document I present myself as the candidate for a new start, the candidate for a change in mind set and for hope. To fight against unfair immunity from judicial punishment, to restore democracy in my country and to exert all my strength to ensure harmonious social and economic development in the strict respect of solid institutions which represent the Rwandan people: that is my objective.

2. The search for stability

Recently the Rwandan people have examined carefully their country’s socio-political, historic, economic and cultural situation. They have analysed the monarchies and republics which have followed one another. They examine still more carefully the situation for tomorrow’s Rwanda, especially since the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the many crimes against humanity, including genocide, committed against the Rwandan refugees and against the people of the DRC. The DRC which has also been despoiled of its riches following attempts by the current regime in Kigali to consolidate a hegemony in the region.

From all this thought comes acknowledgement of deception, uncertainty and mistrust of this warmongering regime. Faced with this situation the Rwandan people silently ask themselves questions that go unanswered. They seek leaders to guide them to better destinations and to give them the hope to live in lasting peace in their own country.

In the current conditions, the international community should accept the evidence, draw out the lessons of the recent tragedy and operate on the basis of a clear and fair choice between two alternatives: democracy or dictatorship.

Disempowered, the people believe that their claims deserve a solution with hope, which comes through democratic change and a new political orientation. Finally it is up to this people to act and to act wisely, not only in the interests of their country but also in the interests of its partners, together to find solutions adapted to the evolution of our politics, internally, regionally and globally.

This change is not easy whilst the current political climate shows only dark horizons over a free Rwanda, but it is necessary.

The often incoherent and contradictory discussions of those at present in charge of the Rwandan peoples’ destiny, aim to suppress their history. No references are permitted to act as signposts within our own country. In their eyes everything is ‘genocide’. All the republican leaders, except the current president Major General Paul Kagame, are unworthy and assassins. For them there is no history other than their own. This is obviously unacceptable. The discussions are often arrogant in respect of the collective memory of the Rwandan people and international opinion and try in vain to disguise the unbearable present and badly damaged future, undecided since the FPR came to power.

3. The failure of liberation

The liberation of Rwanda, so acclaimed by the ‘patriots’ of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, has only ever been a slogan which rings hollow when faced with reality. After this liberation, the Rwandans were massacred with impunity, died of hunger or fled the country. Amongst the exiles of these last years there are businessmen crushed by the intolerable burden of taxes and duties, who flee to countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and even Madagascar to seek happiness. This is ‘capital flight’. It is a fight for the life which their own country can no longer offer them. Such a shame! The great hope in the spirits of the Tutsis of the diaspora and of the interior, and of the moderate, democrat Hutus, was replaced at the moment of victory by deception, doubt and today’s silent revolt.

The process of democratisation began in 1990. Negotiations following the war centred on the division of power between the Rwandan government and the FPR, the fundamental law which resulted and all the fundamentals for a durable peace have today been swept away with the, oh so touching, excuse of having stopped the genocide.

As a refugee and victim of this crime, I cannot comprehend how this can always be the justification for all the crises, the lack of faith, the incompetence and the other flagrant weaknesses attributable to the FPR.

3.1 A deceptive Power

The Rwandan people were deceived by the FPR who promised them a democracy but which quickly turned to dictatorship.

The tradition of democracy that is the foundation of the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic, is attacked from within by incomprehensible regulations of a Stalinist nature, and eaten away by the destructive virus of base political, material and partisan interests.

From all the evidence, the feeling which currently dominates the vast, silent Rwandan majority, ground down by terror and the fear of disappearance, is that the process of democratisation, begun in 1990 and accepted by the Arusha Peace agreement in August 1993, has been emptied of all its content to be replaced by a one party system, the FPR. The FPR is disguised under the ‘Forum of Parties’ and the current Kigali regime wants to make this constitutional to prevent any form of organisation of political expression outside this.

It follows that the change, so longed for by the people since 1990, cannot be strangled by egotistical manoeuvrings without, yet again, dangerously mortgaging the future of the Rwandans. This communising system of the past, imposed at the price of crimes committed in silence, is heavy with consequences. One must measure the long-term damage to agree the need to democratise national political life. This route requires courage and sacrifices by the current power holders, but in reality it is the only remedy for the evils from which our country suffers.

The Rwandans want to get rid of an obscure system imposed by the regime that rose from the ashes of violence and not from a peaceful changeover of parties. They want freedom to express themselves, freedom to belong to a political party of their choice, freedom to act, move around and think. In other words, they want the basics of fundamental law, the adoption of democratic liberties and the definite rejection of a single party, however disguised or veiled.

The fundamental question today is not to know, yes or no, if there was a genocide in Rwanda, a civil war, interethnic massacres or a war between the FPR and the RDC under the pretext of fighting the genocidaires. The Rwandan people who suffer all these ills have the right to hope for better tomorrows, to await appropriate solutions to their multiple sufferings. The people want to shake themselves free of it rapidly and with dignity.

Now the fundamental question is to consolidate our basics of the democratic purpose and to know if the workings of the political system, the national institutions, the organisation and conduct of political, social and economic matters, obey the rules and fundamental principles of democratic management. Democratic management, so hoped for by the Rwandans in the respect of rights and duties of each citizen, is embodied by national and international instruments to protect the rights of the human being.

3.2 A deluded international community

I consider that everything which happened in Rwanda since 1994 could not have been done by the current regime without the suggestion of, or even covert interference by, the international community. The latter unfortunately had no thought of insisting, at an opportune moment, on either true democracy or service to the nation by the regime. The country is run as the personal property of the president of the Republic who appoints and dismisses ministers, MPs, governors and other senior state officials at a whim. This state of affairs is unacceptable. A change for democracy and in the method of government is absolutely essential.

One should not delude oneself. The lobbying by democratic countries of the international community even now makes use of regimes with military power but little popularity in this region to guarantee their interests in the Great Lakes region. The same countries close their eyes to the abuse of democracy, its use of intolerance, exclusion, of terror and of deliberate, repeated violations of Human Rights.

I am not the only one to note this indifference. The people of Rwanda, Congo and Burundi do not understand why certain democratic countries support these oligarchic and autocratic regimes. Democratic futures are always interrupted by the memories of bloody events (Rwanda 1990, Burundi 1993, RDC in 1996 and 1998) and by intimidation from the current regimes.

Today the democratic countries which support the Rwandan regime should take responsibility and lead the leaders into the path of respect for the democratic process, instead of encouraging them to follow their nefarious ‘single party’ policy and financing almost communist style elections. Without a clear position on their part with respect to the current situation, Rwandan citizens will stay under the yoke of a contented oligarchy, guaranteed to remain in power by putting itself at the service of the great powers to the detriment of the Rwandan people.

Pressure must be exerted to stop the current dangerous drift towards the imposition of a truncated version of democracy through a constitution tailored to the current power holders. Noone can remain unaware that the democratic and constitutional DIY which is taking place can lead us only to mounting frustration and to multiple consequences for the future.

3.3 A Hegemonic and dictatorial power

How can one understand the criticisms addressed previously to the MRND, the sole party before 1990, if one ignores the criticisms that should be levelled at the FPR, currently the sole party, because of its undemocratic force which it uses against the people in order to retain power.

Some will say plainly that the FPR’s regime is worse than that of the MRND. I too believe it and in saying this I only repeat out loud what many Rwandans whisper because I feel so disappointed. I often wonder if we all consented, without exception, to so many human sacrifices only to live other nightmares: intolerance, chaos, war, oligarchic power, dictatorship, injustice, hypocrisy, terror, treachery, exclusion and political cronyism.

Like many Rwandans, I note with consternation the emergence of a republican monarchy which is being built on the corpses of my countrymen, both Hutu and Tutsi, my friends, my brothers and neighbours. And this to satisfy the interests of an oligarchy with no plan other than to destroy all those who contest their power.

To want to install a strong hegemonic power, to want to impose one’s erroneous, if not dictatorial, politics on the sole pretext of having stopped the genocide (and how!), to want above all to do it in the current climate where we all aspire to a change in the Stalinist policies stuck onto democratic politics, is totally unacceptable. Obviously if power takes an illegal route it must one day be stopped by public rejection.

3.4 A power careless of its people

Poverty, misery, illness, worry, fear, the fear of disappearing, general under development are not due to a defect nor a fatality nor a curse of our people. The experience of the 70’s and 80’s, the glorious years of our prosperity, prove adequately how ingenious and hard working the Rwandan people are and how they could again stand up if peace and security could be guaranteed. Of course our country does not have the same resources as our neighbours, but its primary resource is the genius and hard work of its people. Can we pacify this people, reconcile it forever and protect it against the predators who fight for the “seats” and who always finish their combat in a blood bath?

Yes I can see only one solution: give back justice and power to its “owners”, that is the Rwandan people.

3.5 A false fight against poverty

The other solution rests also in the struggle which has to be led against poverty. The statistics will always show, and often in an exaggerated fashion, the progress achieved by the current regime. High rates of growth, often above 8%! These fantasy statistics are one thing and reality quite another. To combat poverty, we need to develop the rural environment. The construction of beautiful villas is in no way the best measure of our development. I would like to have in my country more stalls, small markets, more shops and small craft production units than villas and beautiful cars.

How can we pretend that we have indigenous development if the public debt, which was 0.8% of GDP in 1990, is today more than 1.6% (i.e. A doubling of the public debt in 10 years). Whilst the misery of the Rwandan population has got worse (see the world report of the UNDP on human development 2001), the vacuum caused by the war of 1990-94 and the dismantling of the state by the two belligerents (the FPR and the FAR) is not enough to justify this development. The waste of public funds for the war effort in the Congo and the corruption are in part responsible for the excessive growth of our country’s debt.

This evolution is even more worrying because no coherent program of economic regrowth has ever been established. Fraud, which is virtually recommended by the regime, economic crimes against the Congo, the abandoning of farms and state enterprises into the hands of foreigners (often without compensation unless for derisory prices), inflation, corruption, these are all signs which cannot be misunderstood. More than ever in the civil service the criteria of competence, efficiency and merit are replaced by a marked preference for political cronyism, synonym for opportunism and mediocrity which demotes, to the level of myth and pious hope, the cult of excellence so vaunted by the current Rwandan authority.

3.6 An incoherent “patriotic” policy

If the balance of politics of the preceding regime used to favour regionalism above all else whilst scandalously excluding the Tutsis from public office, the patriotic policy of the current FPR regime plunges the country into an unprecedented gulf of exclusion. We have simply returned to the colonial era and absolute monarchy. We are all victims of it: those in exile as much as those remaining at home who are reduced to silence in their own country.

In the name of transparency the new governors, making the most of a record transition period of nine years, have not stopped deluging the Rwandans and the international community with chatter and confused and incoherent reports which merely result in rendering opaque discriminatory practices and revealing to the public eye serious insufficiencies in the management of public affairs. We are Rwandan, but we do not all enjoy the same chances.

So what to do? A change of policy seems to be necessary. It cannot be otherwise. It makes itself obligatory.

In similar conditions the repeated calls to solidarity and national cohesion can have no mobilising effect, given the huge frustration of the numerous victims of exclusion and marginalisation. Rwandans from all levels of the administration wish to take part in the management of their country, but not at all costs and above all they do not want to be pawns, “yes men”, or instruments of power.

Confronted with all these difficulties it is time to move to political action, to enthuse the Rwandan people with a new hope. We must re-establish in full their legitimacy, their primacy and their sovereignty.

4. My convictions and my previous political experience

On the first of September 1990 I became politically engaged by signing a letter, with 32 other Rwandans, addressed to the president of the Rwandan republic to ask him to put into practice the idea behind his speech of the 5th of July 1990 on multi party politics, by authorising us to establish political parties. This letter, to which we attached a declaration on multi-party politics in Rwanda, never received a reply. I therefore took the initiative, no one can contradict me on this, to first of all create a association and then a party which was to become the MDR party (republican democratic movement).

It was from within this party that I was able to put forward my ideas and clarify the values that I still defend today. I was challenging the power of one single man, a dictatorship in other words, Cronyism, the systematic exclusion of Tutsis from power, regionalism in the army, in education and in the public service in a very general manner, the ascendancy of the “akazu” in institutions and, lastly, corruption. After 17 years of dictatorial power, through a national conference (Rukokona), in fashion at that time in black Africa especially in West Africa, the people could express themselves, bury their differences and thus prepare themselves for a new democratic culture. The Rwandan patriotic front attacked our country on the first of October 1990 and thus ruined the project of a national conference despite having been invited to be part of it. This conference was to be formally replaced by the negotiations of the Arusha peace treaty.

4.1 President of the MDR party and prime minister 1994-95

In the role of the president of the MDR from 31st August 1992 I was presented as the candidate for the role of prime minister by my supporters and by the other political parties including the MRND. As such I was to direct the transition government from the broad base of the FPR (GTBE) I was also recognised by the FPR. Following the victory of the latter, pushed forward by the international community and wishing to be useful to my country at that time, I left Belgium where I had taken refuge since May 1994 to go to Kigali to direct the government of national unity in accordance with the spirit (and not the letter!) of the Arusha peace accord. As nominal prime minister I made a speech on the 19th of July 1994 but power remained in the hands of a single “strong man” and the army. Following my declarations, which were judged annoying by some and appropriated by others, following also my permanent disagreement with the FPR on many points, I resigned on 28th August 1995 after 13 months of increasing frustration.

I returned to Belgium where I had spent 7 years observing. I tried everything during this period to get my compatriots in Rwanda and abroad to understand each other. I often ran up against incomprehension and extremism from some of them.  

4.2 Lessons drawn from my introspection and from my contacts:

the fight against exclusion

 If I have chosen since June 2001 to hold myself out of the limelight of national political news, if I chose a form of silence, it was mainly because I felt deceived. I also wanted to be face to face with myself and to give myself the time and the detachment necessary for serene and responsible reflection.

Since 2001 I have increased my contacts with foreign politicians including MPs, ministers and heads of state. I received visits from many Rwandans from different walks of life in Rwanda, both Hutus and Tutsis, who have no political background, have not appeared in the press and never speak on the radio. This does not prevent them from having an opinion on the current regime. They want a change in Rwanda because the country, wounded by the massacres and the crimes against humanity like genocide, is directed by an oligarchy whose arrogance and violence at home and abroad, handicaps both political and economic progress. This affects Rwanda but also the region of the Great Lakes.

I drew on my contacts with Rwandans and other Africans, Europeans and Americans and learnt a lot about our values and about universal values. I will defend everywhere and always, justice, liberty, tolerance, consensus, solidarity between peoples, equal opportunities, work as a basis for the autonomy of the individual, education as a base for knowledge and any kind of progress and, lastly, the love of neighbour and of nation. I will always fight against exclusion and racism in all its forms. So that these values can be effectively defended, I have to live in a New Rwanda where peace and security are guaranteed by a State of law and by institutions of a real democracy rather than by an individual or an oligarchy. I will respect solid institutions which are to my people’s liking rather than individuals who intimidate me, harass me and threaten me with death or imprisonment.

4.3 To do away with unfair immunity from legal punishment and re-establish confidence between Rwandans

Whilst I was still prime minister I chose to continue to tell the truth, despite only having the power that the fundamental law gave me. This law was negotiated at Arusha and signed in 1993 as an Accord, which was then mutilated by the declarations of the current military regime. I entered the so-called Government of ‘National Unity’ because I aspired to govern as correctly as possible, to reconcile and console the Rwandan people, but above all to tell the truth.

Despite the genocide, I wanted to dedicate myself to the construction of the State, to the restoration of its authority, security and social peace. My preoccupation was to conceive and to put into effect, without constraints or violence, acts and forms of organisation capable of bringing together and engaging all the sons and daughters of Rwanda in the work of reconstructing the country, re-establishing confidence and eradicating unfair immunity from legal punishment.

My idea remains noble and I still believe in it but the lack of political means and the hostile environment have cruelly prevented me from realising it. My aim to combat unfair immunity to punishment under law remains the same – all criminals are the same and deserve the same punishment.

I remain opposed to all inhuman and degrading torture by ‘kiboko’ or whip and particularly by ‘ingoyi’ or ‘kandoya’ (a method of torture where the upper limbs are tied in an appalling manner behind the back of the victim).

5. My political convictions

My deepest conviction, my sincerest truth, is that the Rwandans must live together.

One can no longer talk about Hutus and Tutsis as one did during colonial times and before, that is the societal Hutus and Tutsis, making reference to the origins of their social class or clan. Today there are political Hutus and Tutsis, 2 national groups, often of the same appearance, who want to use their morphology, their respective identities and not their political and patriotic ideas to justify their claims.

We should not use what we are to become what otherwise we would not be able to become. We should instead become that which we want to become, through our own efforts, through work and merit and all this despite the obstacles, which will encounter.

5.1 Do not overshadow the Hutu and Tutsi issue

If, before the social revolution of 1959-62, it was easy to define Huts and Tutsis by precise parameters and by clear and well-recognised indicators, today it is difficult to define them other than by clichés of historic majority and minority. This is often unfortunately confused with political majority and minority.

One must admit that if Hutus and Tutsis have the same constructive political ideas, nothing stops them from coexisting peacefully in our country. In these conditions I cannot see that they differ, and this seems to be the current situation. Let us help them emancipate themselves.

The Hutu-Tutsi phenomenon stems from racism pure and simple, racism without basis for a people who have everything in common (language, religious rites, customs, culture). My truth is to fight this racism because, literally, there is neither tribe nor ethnicity in Rwanda; there are only different groups of population making up one single Rwandan people.

There are Rwandans who hold onto this differentiation and who believe themselves to be privileged by this outdated identification as Hutu and Tutsi. I respect their opinion without sharing it. They have to be faithful to themselves in support of the idea of a racial majority and majority, as in South Africa.

It can be no other way if we are to be guided by these clichés, supported by ghosts, by, above all, colonial history, nostalgia, pride, ignorance and often hatred. One must be precise when discussing this topic to avoid any confusion or political amalgams.

5.2 Fight for ideas and not for ethnicity

I wonder whether after this revolution, after this historic change in institutions from 1959-1062, the situation of the Hutus has really changed. If for some this revolution seems not to have achieved the objectives as they would have wished, it is perhaps that they have not understood. No other revolution of this kind could take place because the political environment is no longer the same and will never be the same. The political fight is definitely no longer the same; we need a change in method. We need another political vision.

Also it must be recognised that, despite its errors, this revolution took place and that it was far from being a ‘genocide’ but was a true fight for the liberation of the Hutus from humiliation and slavery. This revolution leaves us with an appreciable achievement: the Rwandan republic. It is time to fight the sickness which only sees the negative side and recognise that the tragedy is now of our past. Is it necessary, once again, for the Hutus to get rid of the ‘Tutsi’ power by anther revolution? Must the Tutsis fight the Hutus so that they cannot regain power? It is a nonsense for conservative Tutsis to believe that the Hutus are always misguided in their claims or for hard core Hutus to believe that the Tutsis have no just demands to make of Rwanda, their own country. This mind set has to change and the change is long overdue.

I will fight for the ideas and not to defend a national group just because it is Hutu or Tutsi. I will fight for equal opportunities, so that the best man wins. I will fight for a cause; that is against injustice and humiliation of one man by another.

In my opinion, only a will to bring together can overcome the risk of useless divisions and eventual explosion which builds up whilst the current regime imposes itself through the force of its army, that is through violence, in order to rebuild an oligarchic power from one national group of Tutsis drawn from the former diaspora. I will fight the exclusion of other Rwandans by those in power, whatever their national or social group.

5.3 Govern another way

Rwandans want to be governed differently. They want to be governed without fearing those in power. They want to be governed by women and men who believe in their mission and who are resolved to restore the State of law, to give back hope and confidence to take on the difficulties that they must face. The Rwandans want to feel a real political will for reconciliation at the head of the State, strict morals at all levels of public life, competence and capability throughout the spectrum of national activity.

We should value competence, honesty, integrity, patriotism and the respect of others before thinking of political cronyism, clans, ‘ethnicities’ and regions. One must be mentally and politically advance to govern the Rwandans who simply aspire to unity, peace and a prosperous nation.

6. My political motivations

6.1 A change for an inclusive leadership.

The Rwandans, more than ever, have a deep need for change. Only the political parties that guarantee healthy political competition can effect this change. The Rwandans are sufficiently mature to know how to distinguish good from evil, the wheat from the chaff.

The leaders of the political parties should not look to create confusion on ‘Rwandan-ness’ of some, of the ‘Hutu-ness’ or the ‘Tutsi-ness’ of others when they speak to the Rwandan people. The Rwandans need a programme for change, a precise programme with clear objectives and the means to achieve them. The leaders should not disguise historic realities. They must be recognised, shouldered, exposed and not used as a political means of exclusion or as a lethal weapon for the eternal confiscation of power.

The past of the Hutus and the Tutsis is a real fact of our history. We take this on. But this past should not be considered as a way of intimidating the citizens so as to take control of the power in Rwanda. On the contrary the people themselves must be given the chance decide calmly who they wish to govern them.

Today the problem is not that a Hutu or a Tutsi has power. We know the value of each and the role which both have played in the horrors that have scarred our country. What counts is to work so that father, mother and children all have enough to eat today and tomorrow, that their health and well-being and the education of their children be guaranteed.

All this must be carried out in surroundings of peace and security where good relations exist between all citizens.

6.2 An integrated political programme

Today, even more than in the past, we must insist on a coherent economic programme, directed towards the rural population. We must avoid the budget deficits caused by useless programmes whose debts will become heavy burdens on our children. Must we continue to fight in the DRC? No. I am in favour of complete withdrawal of the Rwandan military forces and the withdrawal of all support for Congolese rebels.

I support the Pretoria agreement signed at the end of July 2002 between Rwanda and the DRC. War pays for itself and such an aim, even disguised, is useless. We must negotiate with our Congolese brothers to resolve our differences peacefully, if there are indeed differences to resolve.

We must distinguish between the Rwandan fighters and the real refugees who live in DRC. The latter deserve to be protected by the international community if they do not wish to return to their country of origin. It is their choice and it must be respected. On the other hand, for those who opt to return to their country, this should not be guaranteed only to the refugees in DRC but also to all the other Rwandan refugees in other African countries (Congo, Brazzaville, Central African Republic, East and South Africa) in Europe and in North America.

Many qualified young people live abroad but their dearest wish is to return to their country and contribute to its social and economic development. A coherent economic programme requires a coherent policy and follow up for their return. We must create normal security conditions based on principles of liberty, democratic principles, so that not only the young people but the adults, wherever they may be, can return to their country and can compete with the other young people who stayed in Rwanda. Such constructive competition is not to be suppressed but should be encouraged for the good of our country.

We must promote credit arrangements for small businesses, whilst re-examining the customs regulations and taxes and levies. All economic policies which create victims and not beneficiaries should be resisted because they do not serve the interests of the majority of the population but merely a small fraction of the population.

The final goal of an economic programme should be the development of each citizen. The wage earners, the students from poor and rural backgrounds, the young people from town and country, the crop growers and those who raise animals, the civil servants, the craftsmen, all need to be reassured of an assured future, which insists upon income, housing, health, education, transport, drinking water, culture, sport, leisure and, above all, security for everyone. This is fundamental for the progress of our economy.

Our current rulers have improved the situation of some weaker social groups like orphans, widows, survivors of all sorts but have neglected the rural people who are today virtually abandoned.

The situation in Rwanda requires an overall economic plan that goes beyond the vague desires of the president of the republic, the fiddling of figures by the Minister of Finance and Economy and the official declarations of the Rwandan government. This plan should require the application of all those who make up Rwandan society. Reforms are necessary and must be discussed in a very broad framework in order to involve a large number of Rwandans in the taking of decisions on these reforms. This framework will allow us to bring together our best economists, sociologists, managers, agronomists, education specialists as well as national NGOs, representatives of economic operators from many levels and businessmen. All this with the aim of making an inventory of national resources, proceeding from there to the definition of requirements and the identification of ways to reach the objectives which have been set.

6.3 Need for freedom of association and expression

Within the political plan, I firmly believe that it is a natural right of all Rwandans to belong to and to join a party of their choice. It is time for the Rwandans to free themselves from the single party imposed on them to serve the interests of the oligarchs and the members of the “akuzu”.

The FPR cannot take the example of the MRND as a single party whilst disguising itself under cover of the FORUM OF PARTIES and leaving us in the same situation. Rwandans, without exception, have all been victims during the genocide, of the diabolic acts of those who profited from the rule of a single party, the MRND. We cannot accept that another single party exist, knowing as we do the disastrous consequences that this represents, in the long term, for the future of our country.

To accept a repeat of the same experience because we have a fear of dying would be a betrayal of those who have died for their political opinions. The fight remains the same and must continue until democratic victory is achieved. One must confront the fear.

How can we in all calmness carry on our policy whilst we know that the former president of the Rwandan republic, from the FPR, his close collaborator, from the PSD party and the secretary general of the MDR party, are imprisoned in Kigali for their opinions on political reform in the country. The FPR regime has to release them unconditionally so that they can continue their political activities without having to kneel to anyone. All political parties, including the FPR, should conform with the CODE OF POLITICAL ETHICS defined by the Arusha Peace Accord, a code which an integral part of the Fundamental law.

6.4 Political change and the role of the international community

The draft constitution, at present being examined before being submitted to a referendum, should be frozen until it can be the subject for a wide discussion in a framework similar to that for a national and sovereign council (Rukokoma). As for the elections, they cannot take place except if the political parties are allowed to function freely and without risk of repercussions. On the other hand, if they must take place in the conditions and environment prepared by the regime, this would be an indirect way of prolonging the transition for another 5 years.

The role of the international community, which is financing the elections in Rwanda, is of great importance. The elections, which will take place after a series of tragedies and a transition period of 9 years, must be transparent. The international community must assure itself that the Kigali regime fulfils all conditions and guarantees the security of each citizen so that these elections, which will determine the destiny of our people, do not become another tragedy in either the short or long term.

It is absolutely essential that the situation be changed. And it will not change positively whilst the strong forces of the country and the diaspora are not engaged on useful projects necessary for the correct functioning of their society. My conviction is that Rwanda is ripe to be delivered from political evil and to become a State of law. This state of law must be put in place. There is no alternative. We must accept a change in government and reject violence and manipulation by falsehoods, methods favoured by the current regime to keep itself in power. Almost ten years of transition from an absolute power, that is enough.

7. Proposals and routes to take to re-establish Rwanda

If we really want to construct a new Rwanda and prepare the future of the present and future generations, we must work to maintain the consensus of Arusha which aimed at splitting power for a transition period, which will have lasted 9 years, and the State of law where liberty, justice and democracy are the foundations of solid institutions. It is true that the Rwandan genocide, its forerunners and its many consequences ripped apart the social fabric and destroyed our families. In return, nothing is stranger than to use this to bury forever all symbols of the Republic and the positive achievements of the negotiations of Arusha contained in the fundamental law. Without a state of law there will be neither liberty nor justice and far less progress in the economic and political development of our country.

A realistic, coherent and viable policy for development must be put into action. This will require, in the framework of the process of economic reform, and whilst democracy, patriotism and political will put down roots, courage, application and tenacity, to successfully tackle the challenges of hidden youth unemployment in rural and urban situations, unemployment amongst qualified youngsters, the struggle of merchants, both small and large, today reduced to poverty by arbitrary actions, the erosion of the purchasing power of workers, the improvement and application of morals to public life. We must give back hope to the farming class and encourage cooperatives in all districts of our country.

To achieve a lasting peace in Rwanda and noticeable improvements in the life of its inhabitants, it is vital to conceive and implement well thought out actions, centred especially on the following priority objectives:

1. Change the prevailing mentalities by fighting racism as the basis of all power in Rwanda, and ensure the primacy of the legality of institutions and respect of the constitution.

2. Promote, at all levels, a new dynamic of education for the citizens, oriented round respect for human dignity, with effectively free primary education, and a considerable expansion in the number of teachers at secondary level and above.

3. Encourage the culture of political and democratic compromise in the pacific resolution of conflicts between national groups.

4. Promote popular participation in direct democracy and leave the right of initiative in the hands of civil society

5. Place man at the centre of the economy of our country and create jobs by all possible means.

6. Make the public administration into a national institutions and not the heritage of a few privileged members of the regime.

7. Concern oneself with public health and, more specifically, that directed towards the most vulnerable.

8. Guarantee justice, security for all and fight against unfair immunity to legal punishment.

9. Put an end to the recruitment of minors into the army and act to make the army truly national and not the property of an oligarchy.

10. Uphold the press in its role of instructing and informing the population in an objective manner.

11. Fight regionalism, nepotism, corruption, exclusion, treachery and cronyism.

12. Imbue the population with unifying values such as solidarity, mutual respect, fraternity and equality amongst citizens.

13. Fight all forms of worship of whoever holds power, instead re-establish the cult of personality in Rwanda.

14. Define diplomacy without arrogance, respect conventions, treaties and international accords, promote regional integration by politics of good neighbourliness, free circulation of goods and services and free movement of people.

15. Respect and honour the memory of our previous heads of State and other national heroes and suggest conditions under which the former king of Rwanda could return.

 In my program I will certainly have time to set out the details of each of the above proposals. I can confirm, however, that the accomplishment of all these tasks will require efforts from each and every one of us. These efforts are necessary if we no longer wish to live in a country marked by permanent bloody conflicts but in one where the divisions and the losses of human life are relegated to history. 

8. Conclusion

We, the Rwandans, need to sign a new social contract. This contract of mutual confidence between all those who make up the Rwandan nation will serve us as a new base for the reconstruction of a country of hope for future generations. We must put an end to fear and mistrust between Rwandans who all hope for the same destiny. We must put an end to the artificial ‘ethnicism’ in Rwanda, end the dictatorship and restore democratic principles, fight against unfair evasion of punishment and guarantee the fundamental liberties in a State of law.

The FPR regime, in power since 1994, has been tried out over almost 10 years. It has had all the time needed to correct the security situation both domestically and at its frontiers. It has also had enough time to convince foreign and national investors. This length of time is also more than enough for the FPR regime to have reflected upon our political, social and economic problems and to have put into effect some important projects in a variety of sectors of national life. If they have been able to accomplish nothing in many sectors, such as agriculture and the development of the cooperative movement in rural communities, it is due to an inability to manage rather than to a structural situation or the current economic climate. It is time to be rid of this problem. It is time for a change of power. But it is time to advance towards this changeover without violence.

The international community must give its assistance to the people of Rwanda so that they can perform their duty of bringing about democratic change in peace and serenity. It is time for the community of democratic nations to put an end to their complacency and put an end to the dictatorships of Rwanda and of Africa. Its contribution to the success of the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections in Rwanda, as seen most strikingly in Kenya recently, will be a sign of hope for the other countries of the African continent.

“I will defend everywhere and always, justice, liberty, tolerance, consensus, solidarity between peoples, equality of chances, work as the foundation of an individual’s autonomy, education as the basis for knowledge and for all progress and, lastly, the love of one’s neighbour and the love of one’s country. I will always fight exclusion and racism in all its forms. In order to properly defend these values, I must live in a new Rwanda where peace and security are guaranteed by the State of law, by institutions emanating from a real democracy and are not guaranteed by a person or by an oligarchy. I will respect solid institutions of which my people approve, rather than respecting individuals who intimidate me, harass me and threaten me with death or imprisonment.” 

Faustin TWAGIRAMUNGU