{In 2017, RPF will be 30 years old. Thirty years for any political organization is too short a time. When RPF marks 30 years in 2017, it will also be faced with an important decision that will define its next years as a powerful political organization.}
To put in proper context the decision that RPF faces come 2017, its important to look back at its history, analyze the storms it has withered over these years and the character that has shaped its mondus operandi.
From its history, you will see that come 2017, RPF will be faced with the simplest of challenges it has faced before.
I have decided to look at RPF’s transformation in four important cycles and compared the magnitude of challenges it faced throughout its 28 years of existence to demonstrate how the decision for 2017 should be as simple as a walk in the park.
RPF’s first lifecycle starts with its birth in December 1987 in Kampala Uganda. Like any newly born child, the chances of celebrating your first birthday are usually minimal especially in Africa and especially at that period of time. When RPF was formed, it faced numerous hurdles just like any new political organization but the biggest of which was operating in a foreign refugee land. It had to carry out clandestine political work amidst strong fears of severe repercussions if any leakages happened.
However, despite the unpredictable environment it operated in, RPF stealthily navigated through these turbulent waters and managed to live past its third birthday, when for the first time, it set foot on the soils of its motherland in 1990.
The second stage of RPF’s lifecycle was the launch of its armed struggle and the victory it secured. I can’t recall of any liberation movement in modern history that was as swift as the RPF—able to liberate its homeland within a period of three years and nine months–from Oct 1990 to July 1994.
The fact that this political organization alongside its armed wing were able to survive the liberation struggle, bearing in mind the enemy it faced especially the powerful European masters of the previous regime, is a miracle in the true sense of the word. But most important, it single-handily stopped Genocide against Tutsi.
The third stage of RPF’s evolution was winning the liberation struggle and taking on the huge mantle of running a Nation in ruins—a nation virtually written off by everyone—a country worth no name and a society completely shattered. Again, I do not know of any country in modern history that inherited a mess like the one RPF took on.
Despite this mess inherited, it composed itself, invited all players at the alter of governance and took on the bumpy journey of reconstructing this country amidst open hostility from both within and out.
The fourth stage came around 2003. It was the stage of legitimizing its democratic credentials and setting in place the political roadmap that Rwanda would follow. A new constitution was promulgated setting ground for the first democratic elections in the history of this country.
The constitution itself was a genius of political thinking. It set in place 3 strong pillars—power sharing, consensus building on what constitutes Rwanda’s common good and embracing our diversity as an asset for our unity.
Like many pundits and scholars have mentioned, this formulae is largely the reason Rwanda enjoys the peace and tranquility we see today. And like they have suggested, this formulae could form the solution for Africa’s endless political issues.
These are the four crucial stages or periods that have shaped RPF’s history.
The next stage and the fifth for that matter, is yet to come. It’s the decision for 2017.
Fortunately, when one analyses the magnitude of challenges that RPF faced throughout its history, the decision for 2017 should be the simplest of all—if at all, it even qualifies to be called a challenge.
{{This is why. }}
First RPF has proved its worth. It has not only won the confidence and admiration of Rwandans but the world at large. It has proven that focused leadership running along the whims of discipline can transform even the most failed states into strong Nations.
Second, the common denominator for its success and overcoming the challenges it faced throughout, was leadership. All the four stages described above had a leader that took strategic and daring decisions to steer the ship through these turbulent storms. This leader is still here and still energetic.
Finally, the decision for 2017 is not an RPF business alone; it’s a business for all Rwandans. Rwandans will say what they want and all RPF will do is to endorse their wish.
That is why, compared to the other stages of its transformation, the next stage should be as simple as mere walk in the park.
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