Some members of the public said his were “trumped-up” charges, lamenting “That child is innocent”.
Kizito is still shy. Looking in his eyes, you realize that the life he has been living has left him a great lesson. He also emphasizes it in his own words that the four years spent in prison made him understand and live the message he always gave from his first day as a singer.
In his journey like a singer, Kizito liked singing about the forgiveness, sensitizing prisoners to live in harmony with the victims and apologize while he asked the survivors to forgive. “I got enough time to understand all this,” Kizito Mihigo says.
An outstanding singer and piano player, Kizito did not go far from his line of thoughts. He never changed his mind on the role of good songs to people. He still says that a good song brings the happiness to the listener when it has a good message not only the beat.
Kizito Mihigo, 37, has shared all that marked his life in prison in an exclusive interview with IGIHE.
On Friday, February 27, 2015, the High Court sentenced Kizito Mihigo a ten years imprisonment after finding him guilty of the crimes of formation of a criminal gang, conspiracy against the established government or the President of the Republic and conspiracy to murder.
Kizito says that a ‘disorganized’ life he lived in before being imprisoned made him fall in these crimes trap. From the first day he was arrested by the Police, he requested to write to the President of the Republic to apologize which was accepted to him.
He says that afterwards, he wrote six apology letters.
In the interview, Kizito explains how his first day in jail looked, the lessons he drew from jail, the future of his music career, his private life and so on and so forth.
Following is the full interview IGIHE had with Kizito Mihigo.
Few days after leaving the prison, how did you find life out of jail?
The City of Kigali which I first faced coming from prison has changed a lot. There are so many roads I had not left and houses I left in construction and they were completed. I left Kigali Convention Center covered with tents and Kigali Marriot was not yet completed.
In jail, I watched the news but you can’t see all the changes. I didn’t know the road from the Parliament Buildings to KBC. And at the airport, I saw two roads while I left only one there.
Another thing is the development in general starting on people’s lifestyles, the clothing and the ICT which has developed so much.
Have you tried to travel in different parts of Kigali and witnessed some changes?
Yes I have arrived at some places. Until now, I was still with my family. I felt priority was first to meet families and friends so that they could feel at ease again. When a problem like that comes to your life, you are not the only one in trouble but also your people really suffer. They need to feel your return and then share the life with them a little. As time goes on, I will travel.
Was it a ceremony in your family the day you got out of jail? How were you received?
The family did not wait for me to arrive at home because they came to receive me at the prison. We celebrated and praised God. On my behalf, I thank very much the President of the Republic. It was not the irresponsible celebrations. It was done in a respectful way.
When did you start writing to apologize?
I wrote an apology letter right after my arrest in April 2014. The first time, I requested to write apologizing to the President of the Republic. When I was in the detention, I wrote another apology letter. And when I was in prison, I wrote apologizing three times. That is what I had chosen to do until it happened.
When you apologized for the crimes you pleaded guilty in court, did you think you would later be forgiven?
It is worth for everybody to apologize but the forgiveness is given at its time. I felt I really deserved the forgiveness because I had admitted having wronged and I had a will to correct myself. It was the first for me to do such mistakes.
I had no promise to be forgiven but my heart always told me to apologize. When somebody falls in such situation, he hears and thinks a lot. What is worth is to listen to the voice of the heart.
In all the big decisions I take, I listen to my heart. And when things go badly, I don’t regret but instead, I say what I have done is what I thought was the right choice.
I thought a lot about it and realized that good for me was to apologize. In my life, I don’t like arguing because sometimes it results into conflicts. Arguing is like opposing to each other. I see it like the start of something which looks like a conflict or a situation of unease.
I said “It is the right way of not worsening the problem and lighting further fire. I don’t regret where I arrive now!”
It was announced on the evening of September 14, 2018 that you had been given pardon by President Kagame. How did you receive that?
I knew that at 11PM in the night like all others. The first ones heard that on Radio Rwanda. They came to awaken me but I did jump up to dance irresponsibly because so many rumors had been being said.
On April 1, 2017, people said I had been released and I was told that by the Prison’s Officer and I took them as deriders. I found out it was not true and it saddened my family so much.
This made me wait to prove it myself. I myself heard that on the radio in the following morning at 6:00AM.
I then realized that among the decisions we take, what we take from the heart are the most valuable. I found out the trust I had in the President of the Republic was not baseless because you can’t ask for something knowing that it is not there. Referring to how I know him, he is generous and he can forgive.
What would you tell the President of the Republic if you met him?
What comes first is to show gratitude and I wrote a letter thanking him. And I would tell him that I would like to go on with the partnership I had with the Government entities so that the « Artistic Role » should not end with my imprisonmemt.
The artist is inspired by different lessons he gets in life. In the confused mix of the light and darkness, the artist gets the inspiration for the messages he delivers.
As an artist, I will keep singing and I will focus on art so that I am able to meet my lovers again and sing for them. Then after, I will continue working with the foundation I started, Kizito Mihigo for Peace (KMP) in order to preserve peace in the country and the region sharing them the unity and reconciliation.
How did you receive news of those who doubted your role in committing the crimes?
People understood that in different ways but it is me who had to decide according to the way I acted. It was not impossible for me to go in court and argue but that is not what I did. If I chose to apologize as I had wronged, that humbleness is what they should follow.
Are not there people who rejected you saying you did the calamity?
Yes there are. But we don’t live on people. We are not made what we have to be by what they think about us. Like an artist who needs supporters, the way they go is the way they get back. There is no angel or perfect man in the world. Anyone can do wrong but he corrects himself by doing right. In prison, some people were not happy that I was released. When you think of doing things so that all people speak well about you, you can’t live in peace.
What did you think until you committed crimes which made the court sentence you 10 years in prison?
In criminal cases, there is what they call “What drove you to commit the crime”. There so many ways I explained it in courts but the crime and mistakes are caused by the fact that there is disorganization in the life of the one who commits them. In that time, my life was not organized.
What is the lesson you learnt in prison? What will you never forget during the time you spent there?
The lessons I learnt when I was in prison are those that I taught prisoners before I was imprisoned. I also lived them and felt they concerned me.
I gave forgiveness lessons and I taught values of solidarity. As a genocide survivor, I lived in harmony with those who committed the genocide. In prison, I did not get depressed or lost hope but instead I got the time to practice what I believe.
Among what I learnt is humbleness, generosity and apology which is only complete when somebody forgives and knows how to apologize.
Among the other things I learnt is to respect and follow the rules and laws because many people don’t know them. I read them [laws] and knew what somebody lest he collides with them. The prison is not only the punishment place but a rehabilitation house.
How was your day in prison?
In prison, people wake up early. I used to wake up between 7h:00’ to 7:30’AM and went to do sports until 9AM. I left sports to go for a shower before I went to train the choir “Choeur Mutagatifu Tereza w’Umwana Yezu” which had 150 members. After leaving the choir, I would go play chess. Then it was getting near lunch time when I had ordered for it in the canteen or waited for the general meal at 2pm or 3pm.
We used to have time to converse in foreign languages and teach each other French and English between 11am and 1pm.
In the afternoon, I was in the office as I was in charge of the Civic Education. We had made in the corner somewhere I kept the books I used in my teachings, where we prepared for the annual commemorations of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.
The evening programme was personal. Everybody used to be at his home (bed) but it could change according to the program the officers of the jail would plan.
After arriving in the jail, was not it difficult for you to adopt yourself and get used to others?
The first days are usually hard but I never lost hope. Since I arrived in Nyarugenge Prison, I did not delay to participate in activities to help people. I immediately met the Catholic Church Christians and I started playing music for them. It took me a long time because I wrote their songs in the musical notes so that when I would have to leave the prison, those who would remain could teach them those songs.
I approached the Prison’s leaders and I told them I could give my part in different programmes like unity and reconciliation. On celebrated days, I prepared a talk to all prisoners, reminding them about the day. We celebrated all the celebrated days.
I was visited by my family and a few friends and some of KMP foundation members but all those who visited me told me that I looked like somebody who has no problem.
In the four years and a half you spent in prison, how many songs did you write?
I had so much to do in prison. I did not take time to coin new artworks. I only brainstormed basic thoughts and when I have them, it is like all has finished. After getting well and calm, I will write those songs on a paper. I coined a song for the choir of which I was a member. The song is called after Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.
What are you preparing for the lovers of your artworks?
Before the year ends, I will have released a new song. I could release a gospel songs album. I want to do Lord praising concerts and be together with Christians who love my artworks. I have as plan also to release another usual life song. I hope people will get happy of the gospel songs I will release.
Which song came into your mind mostly while you were in prison?
When I played the piano in the mass before the priest came in, I liked to sing the song called ‘Ni wowe ndangamiye Nyagasani’. There are other songs which they used to request me most including ‘Nyina wa Jambo’, ‘Inuma’, ‘Arc en Ciel’ to name but a few.
After you were imprisoned, your songs were no longer heard, what do you plan to do about that?
I plan to approach the entities I worked with before I was imprisonned and reawake the partnership so that my songs can be played in times they are needed. That can’t make you happy but you take it as it is. The problem took place, but how can it be resolved?
I don’t want to show that I am an angel or that I am innocent because I have a link with what I was accused of. I chose to admit my mistake, I apologized and showed the will to correct myself.
What was the message in your song ‘Igisobanuro cy’urupfu’ [The Meaning of Death]?
I wanted to give a message of forgiveness and to have generosity, compassion in all, joining the vulnerable, faith, loving God and showing love with no limit, its chorus ensembles the meaning of the death.
The death is the worst thing of all but it becomes the way for us to the best thing of all. It is a thing that happens and the family troubles. We, believers, believe that it is something God has put for the people to be able to go and reach him. The death looks like something amazing.
You were imprisoned with a wedding project, at what stage is it now?
It is a very bad thing if a young man is given a life imprisonment sentence while he had no child. In the normal life, I believe that the life of a married man is organized and on the straight line. I have not yet got a wife but it is on my mind. No man looks for a woman but they instead meet. I agree with those who say that a [good] woman is given [to a man] by God. I have that will and I have faith that my prayer will be heard and then meet my woman.
What happened for the activities of your foundation to stop?
After being imprisoned, I asked the members to close the doors of the foundation because the situation in that time could not make it possible for the foundation to keep up its operations. That time, we had a problem with the government and our partners. I told them [members] that when the problem was resolved, we would reopen the foundation. We have not yet set a date to start operations again. We are still in preparations.
What advice do you give to artists as people who give messages that reach the masses?
In Rwanda, we care so much about the entertaining songs but songs with messages are reduced. It would be better if the speed the society goes with in the development and in technplogy went with the development of the art. The government has different programmes to develop arts but the songs should be more wit messages that help the society.
What message can you give to Rwandans in general?
I would give the youths a message to love the country and God. Everybody should feel in himself a duty to serve something good for the country. I was charged with opposing the state, when somebody wants to help the nation, it is not necessary to do that in the opposing way.
You can give your ideas and express your views but not bringing conflicts. I learnt that there is someone who gives ideas which cause chaos but there is the one who does it in a way that does not badly affect the nation. People should be trained all that. People should the walking and working style that does not deprive people of their freedoms.
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