{Corporal Innocent Maniragena is a former rebel fighter with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) whose aim of joining the rebel movement was to oust the Rwandan president Paul Kagame.}
This earlier idea according to Corporal Innocent Maniragena, a resident of Kabatwa sector, in Ngando village, Nyabihu district has changed.
Just like many former rebels fighters who have returned from Congo, the former anti-Kagame fighter now says that he wants Kagame to stay in power because of the peace he has enjoyed in Rwanda since his repatriation.
“I used to be a rebel with the FDLR and you know how times have changed since then in the former Gisenyi and Ruhengeri provinces where we came in fighting him (Kagame) and had camps in areas of Nyamutera among others” Maniragena said.
Maniragena also confessed that in the war of bullets with Rwandan government soldiers, his group was defeated, and at some time they had to retreat back to the bushes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), though the aim was to remove Kagame from power.
“We came fighting this government and we used to call them cockroaches (inyenzi)” a common derogatory word we used several times” he said
Today, Maniragena agrees that the rebels failed to attain their goal because of the peace that exists in Rwanda and states that it is very reason why he is grateful for president Kagame who had mercy for people like him.
With an emotional tone in his voice the former rebel fight explains that during his arrest, just like others, they though that they would killed or imprisoned, but instead they were put under an integration and a six months skills development program.
After his graduation, the former rebel says he is grateful that he is now employed as a reserve force, and runs his milling business which grinds about 10 tons of grains a day and with this he says that this has made him a successful person in the Kabatwa community since he owns a house.
For this reason, just like many demobilized and repatriated rebels, Corporal Maniragena says the constitution should be amended to give Kagame more years in power since he has given peace which is a pillar of Rwanda’s development.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda in its French Acronym) is the primary remnant Rwandan Hutu rebel group which committed genocide against the Tutsi and has been fighting the Rwandan government from the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2000.
{{Source}}:{{Rwanda Eye}}
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