mchambawima1
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 16, 2014
- 2,487
- 738
The debate on constitutional reform is Rwanda's hottest topic, passionate and lively, touching every level of society, thanks to the media.
Judging from the stack of petitions piling up at the parliament every day, citizens through their co-operatives, political parties and civil society organisations want the lifting of term limits so President Paul Kagame can stand for re-election as urgently as yesterday.
Will the advocates of the "universal model" of democracy chose to ignore the agency of electors?
Probably, but it will be a hard sell, especially in Rwanda. Even his sternest critics recognise Kagame's effectiveness and his transformational leadership. He leads an effective public service, and the country boasts clean streets and overall security.
His supporters applaud the way he engages citizens - especially young people - and potential investors continue to flock into Rwanda with full confidence because they see a solid track record and a conducive environment regardless of the 2017 debate.
In fact, Kagame's leadership goes beyond borders, with some Africans jokingly saying that Rwanda should lend them Kagame for a limited time to put their house in order.
But the usual pundits have written off the whole discussion around constitutional reform as biased, coerced or manipulated. They forget that social media has already passed a positive real time referendum, going by Kagame's growing following on social media.
It is interesting to see the arguments floating around - some wish to see Kagame retired in some honorary meaningless role, on Mo Ibrahim's payroll. Others wish to see him in a global role, forgetting that he is able to speak up for Africans precisely because of his position as president of Rwanda. Those who did not wish to see him as president in the first place are now running his grandiose retirement campaign.
Rwandans, from what I can see, are not deterred or trapped into intellectual conformism. Is this not precisely democracy at work? After all, Rwandans are better informed today than they were in 2002 thanks to government investment in access to information, ICT technologies and education.
At its Independence, Rwanda had only a handful of educated leaders who ruled without resources, a national army or a functioning endogenous administration, purposely obliterated by the colonial power ahead of the handover.
Arbitrary ethnic pogroms became the norm of an obscurantist society. In the 1990s, the Genocide against the Tutsi was planned and carried out openly, actually glorified by the local media as a national duty while the world looked the other way.
So bold were the genocidaires that after they were defeated, they demanded immediate elections, ironically backed by some international NGOs and foreign powers that lecture Rwandans on democracy today. You can understand why we hardly trust this model.
What of Rwandans today? They want to be reassured psychologically and politically. They want continued stability to achieve inclusive economic growth and national unity as they look to the future with optimism and confidence. Ordinary people do not want to live through a situation like the one we are seeing in Burundi, a slow descent into deadly instability.
The "one size fits all" model has failed to take note of contextual complexities or to gauge the participation of the people themselves, the voice that actually matters. The same eternal naysayers have a similar attitude when assessing Rwanda's successful homegrown solutions - such as traditional Gacaca justice system.
Its overall positive impact is lost to familiar critics who focus on flaws in procedures but miss the big picture: The right to justice for victims and survivors and the restorative process for perpetrators.
In fine, constitutional reform should go beyond the restrictive aspect of the presidential term, which is not a condition necessary or sufficient to resolve the complex issues of development and democratisation. Rwandans have the legitimate and inalienable right to choose how they wish to be governed and by whom.
The vast majority of Rwandans trust Kagame to lead them to middle-income country status, sooner rather than later. He has been the captain at the wheel of a bumpy journey started two decades ago and that has achieved the rebirth of a nation despite tremendous challenges, rear-guard conspiracies, scepticism and very limited resources.
In Kagame, Rwandans have found a pan-African pragmatist who is above partisan bickering and uncompromising about individual and institutional accountability.
He has expanded Rwanda's geopolitical space through ambitious regional integration projects that will propel East Africa to the next level of prosperity and stability; he has also built global partnerships that benefit all Rwandans.
With all the above in mind, Rwanda's constitutional reform should be considered a democratic right and strategic imperative!
Roger Munyampenda is an engineer and management consultant. He is the former CEO of Rwanda's Private Sector Federation. Twitter: @rmunya
Judging from the stack of petitions piling up at the parliament every day, citizens through their co-operatives, political parties and civil society organisations want the lifting of term limits so President Paul Kagame can stand for re-election as urgently as yesterday.
Will the advocates of the "universal model" of democracy chose to ignore the agency of electors?
Probably, but it will be a hard sell, especially in Rwanda. Even his sternest critics recognise Kagame's effectiveness and his transformational leadership. He leads an effective public service, and the country boasts clean streets and overall security.
His supporters applaud the way he engages citizens - especially young people - and potential investors continue to flock into Rwanda with full confidence because they see a solid track record and a conducive environment regardless of the 2017 debate.
In fact, Kagame's leadership goes beyond borders, with some Africans jokingly saying that Rwanda should lend them Kagame for a limited time to put their house in order.
But the usual pundits have written off the whole discussion around constitutional reform as biased, coerced or manipulated. They forget that social media has already passed a positive real time referendum, going by Kagame's growing following on social media.
It is interesting to see the arguments floating around - some wish to see Kagame retired in some honorary meaningless role, on Mo Ibrahim's payroll. Others wish to see him in a global role, forgetting that he is able to speak up for Africans precisely because of his position as president of Rwanda. Those who did not wish to see him as president in the first place are now running his grandiose retirement campaign.
Rwandans, from what I can see, are not deterred or trapped into intellectual conformism. Is this not precisely democracy at work? After all, Rwandans are better informed today than they were in 2002 thanks to government investment in access to information, ICT technologies and education.
At its Independence, Rwanda had only a handful of educated leaders who ruled without resources, a national army or a functioning endogenous administration, purposely obliterated by the colonial power ahead of the handover.
Arbitrary ethnic pogroms became the norm of an obscurantist society. In the 1990s, the Genocide against the Tutsi was planned and carried out openly, actually glorified by the local media as a national duty while the world looked the other way.
So bold were the genocidaires that after they were defeated, they demanded immediate elections, ironically backed by some international NGOs and foreign powers that lecture Rwandans on democracy today. You can understand why we hardly trust this model.
What of Rwandans today? They want to be reassured psychologically and politically. They want continued stability to achieve inclusive economic growth and national unity as they look to the future with optimism and confidence. Ordinary people do not want to live through a situation like the one we are seeing in Burundi, a slow descent into deadly instability.
The "one size fits all" model has failed to take note of contextual complexities or to gauge the participation of the people themselves, the voice that actually matters. The same eternal naysayers have a similar attitude when assessing Rwanda's successful homegrown solutions - such as traditional Gacaca justice system.
Its overall positive impact is lost to familiar critics who focus on flaws in procedures but miss the big picture: The right to justice for victims and survivors and the restorative process for perpetrators.
In fine, constitutional reform should go beyond the restrictive aspect of the presidential term, which is not a condition necessary or sufficient to resolve the complex issues of development and democratisation. Rwandans have the legitimate and inalienable right to choose how they wish to be governed and by whom.
The vast majority of Rwandans trust Kagame to lead them to middle-income country status, sooner rather than later. He has been the captain at the wheel of a bumpy journey started two decades ago and that has achieved the rebirth of a nation despite tremendous challenges, rear-guard conspiracies, scepticism and very limited resources.
In Kagame, Rwandans have found a pan-African pragmatist who is above partisan bickering and uncompromising about individual and institutional accountability.
He has expanded Rwanda's geopolitical space through ambitious regional integration projects that will propel East Africa to the next level of prosperity and stability; he has also built global partnerships that benefit all Rwandans.
With all the above in mind, Rwanda's constitutional reform should be considered a democratic right and strategic imperative!
Roger Munyampenda is an engineer and management consultant. He is the former CEO of Rwanda's Private Sector Federation. Twitter: @rmunya
