It would be cruel for those who have visited Rwanda to forget the beautiful landscape with all the different species of birds and gorillas that once were a tourist attraction just because of the 1994 genocide. That war certainly was a "mistake", because i
All this may change again- and for the better I might add. On April 4 Rwanda began a week of commemoration of the 1994 genocide that brought so much shame and pain to the people of this beautiful country of nearly eight million. According to the latest figures released by Rwanda's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports, about 937,000 people died in the civil war between the Tutsis and the Hutus.
The people of Rwanda must feel satisfied that their country is united once again and must do everything possible to preserve the social cohesion they are enjoying now, no matter how fragile it may seem at times.
Rwanda, like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and a few others made Africa really look unmanageable disorientated and a lost cause. Senseless killings, genocide and massacres contributed to make Rwanda a no-go country for holidays, let alone an investment destination for business. Things are different today and all attempts must be made by the government to restore confidence in the country again, especially confidence in the economy. "When genocide takes place, the international community should not shy away from its responsibility, it should take strong and immediate action including military action if need be," President Kagame said when he opened an international conference in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on genocide prevention, to mark the weeklong activities.
In as much as one sees sense in what Kagame said, the onus however lies on the government and indeed the people of Rwanda to prove to the international community that they do respect each other and value life. They must show that they are ready for business and that the country is safe.
What happened in 1994 in Rwanda was not new to the country. In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, at a time when a united front was expected, there was civil war. The majority Hutus overthrew the ruling Tutsi King and over the next several years hundreds of Tutsis were killed and some 150,000 driven into exile. The play back, under different circumstances in 1994 was worse and that is why it is crucial that unity is preserved at all costs. The aphorism that a divided house shall not be able to stand is true. For Rwanda, it translates into certain tough economic truths: reduced or no investment from abroad, no economic development or growth if the people find themselves engaged in another civil war. Today more than any other time in the country's history, they need investment and economic assistance.
The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. Even though the country has made substantial progress in stabilising and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels, a lot more needs to be done. GDP has rebounded and inflation has been curbed but the poverty level is still rising, one of the lingering after effects of the war.
More than 90 per cent of the population are subsistence farmers. Being densely populated and land locked, attempts to diversify the economy have proven difficult since the infrastructure is just not there, with the little that was there destroyed during the war. And Kagame admitted this to the delegates, "The genocidaires, not only murdered a million people, they also destroyed our physical and social economic infrastructure, government, legal system, businesses and the whole economy." "They destroyed everything that supported human life." Proof there is more pain than gain in any war. Rwanda must put its recent dark past behind and move forward in solidarity.
