Regional
What’s in the name?
Some
questions are timeless. That a Rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet,
is undoubtable – and so, many people do not think about names. In Rwanda
however, names and naming ceremonies are important – culturally, socially, and
yes, politically.
Unity
Club Intwararumuri has come far. Very far, between yesterday and today! Established
in 1996, this beautiful organization made of Rwandan cabinets members and
their, founded and led by Her Excellency the First Lady Jeannette Kagame, has
over the years, been at the forefront of promoting National Unity,
Reconciliation and shared development.
Born
in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, composed of
spouses of political figures trying to rebuild a shattered divided nation, the
club became the beacon of hope, at the forefront of the redefinition of the
foundational beliefs of the new post genocide Rwandan polity.
Spearheading a new kind of State that would replace the defeated divisive, discriminative, genocidal post-colonial administration. In many ways, post genocide Rwanda was a tabula rasa. An empty slate on which Rwandans would write the script for a new beginning. Among the many chapters the Unity club has contributed to writing, perhaps none is more important than Ndi Umunyarwanda!
Some
questions are timeless. That a rose by any other name would smell as sweet is
undoubtedly true. In Rwanda however, Names and Naming ceremonies are important.
Culturally, socially, and yes…. Politically.
And
so today, when Unity Club in Rwanda celebrates 25 years, we also celebrate 25
years of a new old name, NDI Umunyarwanda, an important characteristic of the
new Rwanda. This birthday is also a renaming. A return to the roots of nationhood,
to a future rooted in nationhood.
It
was not predestined to be this way. It was not inevitable. In fact, that it has
happened at all, is counter intuitive, given our country’s recent history,
Rwanda’s first post-independence leader President Gregoire Kayibanda in 1959,
to be precise in 1959, compared the Hutu and Tutsi communities in Rwanda to -
two nations in a single state.
Two
nations between whom there was no intercourse and no sympathy, who are as
ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings as if they were
dwellers of different zones, or inhabitants of different planets - and he went
ahead to make a Republic that championed all the sectarianism his fertile
imagination could conjure.
to
the parmehutu ideologues, diversity was a disease was a to be eradicated, unity
was anathema and Rwanda paid the price – in the millions killed, and the
destruction of its socio-economic fabric during the 1994genocide against the
Tutsi. This ideology was based on hate. It was also foreign to Rwandan shared
experiences across centuries.
One
of the foremost ideologues of pan-hutuism – Simon Bikindi could summarize this
aberrant political ideology in a notorious musical ode to hatred: Njyewe nanga
abahutu ….” And so, matters may well have been, but for the Unity club
Intwararumuri and their Chairperson, First Lady Jeannette Kagame, who,
responding to a pressing call from Rwanda’s post genocide youth, and working
closely with the Unity and Reconciliation Commission looked into Rwanda’s
history and found, a cure to the germs of toxic sectarianism and divisionism
propagated by Kayibanda, Bikindi, et al. This was the birth of Ndi
Umunyarwanda.
Ndi
– I am. That almost sacred affirmation of being. I refuse to not be, to
disappear – This is my heritage, my essence, the timeless me. This is my past,
my present, and my future. Ndi – I am, irrespective of where I maybe
geographically located, irrespective of my socio-economic conditions. Ndi – I
am, Umunyarwanda.
Umunyarwanda is a rich concept. It may mean, I am a member of the geographical space called Rwanda – of or that irrespective geography, the essential me is Rwandan. That is the identity I have chosen, among the many layered identities of family, social being – I we share this reality, this determination to be Rwandan above all else.
Ndi
Umunyarwanda. I constantly expand my horizons, my thinking), my socio-economic
wellbeing – Ndaanda. I expand Ndi Umunyarwanda in a panacea to constricted
constipated contraction of the Rwandan spirit, of the Rwandan polity.
It
is the politics of expansion, of accommodation. It is a self-defining
philosophy which looks beyond origins, actual or putative – it is the bedrock
of a new egalitarian society and a renewed Nation. Ndi Umunyarwanda, reflects
the shared historical experience of a people – brought together by history,
constrained by geography, making lives and livelihoods beyond geography. A
resilient people, buffered by winds of colonialism, of division, of poverty,
immense losses. A people who chose to stop digging and against all odds,
reached for the skies!
In
the past when a Rwandan monarch acceded to the throne, he was given a new name.
One that symbolized the Unity of his people. That is how Rudahigwa became
Mutara. An enthronement was a naming, a renaming and affirmation of the unity
of all Rwandans working for a common future. This is the deeper meaning of the
Cyilima, Kigeli, Mibambwe, Mutara, Yuhi –the names we gave to our kings, as
symbols of our unity.
So, this year, as we celebrate 25 years of renewed commitment to national unity spearheaded by the Unity Club Intwararumuri – we need to recommit and celebrate this recommitment to – Rwandanness. A renaming to – Ndi Umunyarwanda. Beyond my history, my geography, my present circumstances –. I am a Rwandan. It is a celebration. Let’s turn it into an enthronement of Rwandan Values, anchored on our Unity.