(ThyBlackMan.com) INTRODUCTION.
When you first arrive in Kigali,
From the airport,
The first thing you will notice is the presence of the security forces at almost all corners.
It be policemen,
Soldiers or the neighborhood watch,
There is a heavy presence of security wings.
Furthermore as you start to mingle with ordinary people,
You will realize that generally,
Rwandans do not love to express themselves even when aggrieved,
Instead of arguing with their “aggressor“-they will just report him to the authorities who will then dispense justice and remedy the 
scourge as the law dictates.
Quite they are,
Reserved you can say and where politics is concerned-few seem interested and even those who are,
They cannot discuss the subject as a foreign ear would want,
But why is the aforesaid the status quo in Rwanda?
SECURITY-A NECESSITY THEN AND NOW.
Truth be told,
After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi Rwanda was a hostile place-where gangs of killers reigned.
Some *GENOCIDAIRES* were still in the country,
After pillaging,
They killed innocent civilians sporadically and blamed the massacres of the newly-formed government of unity.
During this time,
The RPF efforts to stabilize the country were always frustrated.
Fortified by hostile forces and enemies of Rwanda that had sought refuge in neighboring countries(DR CONGO especially),
Neutralizing these criminals become a matter of national concern.
A system had to be put in place where authorities needed to be in total control of the state and that is how a tight security system was born.
Incidentally,
The INTERAHAMWE and the defeated GENOCIDAL government that had being pushed out of Rwanda after exterminating over a million innocent souls were still attacking Rwanda and had infiltrators operating inside the country.
Ordinary Rwandans,
Fed up with this unwarranted insecurity called on the government to put an end to this calamity.
Mandated by the people,
The Rwandan government worked tirelessly and by 1998,
Rwanda had become secure.
In short,
Rwanda’s security was initiated by the Rwandan people and as beneficiaries of the aforesaid,
They cannot see anything strange with it.
Their properties are now safer than ever,
Their lives protected and above all-they now live in a stable and peaceful country.
Only an untrained eye can see a problem with this system that has proven to be proactive to the Rwandan common man’s interests.
That is the danger foreign journalists face once in Rwanda-they fail to appreciate Rwanda as a whole and in this short-sightedness,
They judged Rwanda for what it really isn’t.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSIONS AND ABUSE OF SPEECH.
Even before the RPF came into power,
Rwandans were known to be a reserved people who in most cases did not express their views freely even where it was incumbent upon them,
Actually-during HABYARIMANA’s regime-who was worshipped and considered to be a demi-god,
Ordinary Rwandans from the villages needed permission/passes to go to Kigali (Rwanda’s capital city) and move from one village to another.
The above was law-notwithstanding that these were citizens travelling in their own country.
How preposterous?
Visiting one’s siblings in the next village necessitated approval from the local authorities.
What a state-of-affairs insensitive to family ties?
Most Rwandans saw this practice to be normal as there was little they could do to remedy it and none of them thought of challenge its primitivity although behind closed-doors they were not happy with their leaders and could murmur about its arbitrariness.
What the RPF inherited was a broken people that needed a paradigm shift where change was concerned,
It takes years,
If not decades to handle such an oppressed populace.
Changing their attitudes required a lot of effort and as it is known by all and is now the practice in Rwanda,
The passes have being abolished and ordinary people/villagers can now move all over the country with no need for authorization from anyone in authority whatsoever.
Unlike his predecessors,
Rwandan President PAUL KAGAME ,not a demi-god or special being is an approachable leader who directly communicates to the common Rwandan man through his meetings with “ABATURAGE” in public stadiums (see infamous one to one interactions with the Rwandan President where questions are asked to him and he responds to them).
In 2003,
Rwanda held its first democratic elections and ever since the rule of law and democratic tenets have flourished.
Even more so,
Recently,
Green Party President DR. FRANK HABINEZA (Rwandan Opposition Leader) challenged the petition of the people that led to a referendum and a minor constitution revision-where the Rwandan people voted that PAUL KAGAME remain in office after 2017 given HIS ROLE IN STOPPING THE 1994 GENOCIDE AGAINST THE TUTSI AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS THEY HAVE BENEFITTED FROM UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP.
His petition was received and after the law was promptly applied,
It was deemed unfounded at law and not tenable for the people’s call was provided for by the Constitution,
Therefore-INTRA VIRES in all spirit.
The freedom of expression currently enjoyed in Rwanda should not be viewed in isolation-one must understand the cultural realities of Rwanda before criticizing its leaders.
CONCLUSION.
Claims have been made that Rwanda is a police state,
Isolated incidents have being singled-out in qualifying Rwanda’s political fabric but what Rwanda’s critics seem to ignore is the country’s history and societal realities thereof.
Is Rwanda a dictatorship?
When answering this pertinent question,
May be we should be asking the immediate beneficiary-A VILLAGER IN JENDA WHO ENJOYS RUNNING WATER,ELECTRICITY,A FREE COW FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND DOES NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT LOSING HIS BELONGINGS BECAUSE THE SECURITY WINGS ARE ALWAYS ON WATCH.
Staff Writer; Lionel Nishimwe
We are an ‘ ADVOCACY AGENCY’ that specialises in DISPUTE SETTLEMENT in liaison with relevant ‘LEGAL ADVOCATES’. Can visit our official “fanpage” over at Facebook; Lionel Nishimwe & Ngandu Consultancy.
May contact this brother at; lionelngayaboshya@gmail.com.
