Today all Rwandans, wherever they are celebrate Liberation Day 24, our triumph over evil, resolve over desperation, patriotism over sectarian politics and a genocidal ideology.
Celebrating along with us is the United States which marks 241 years of independence, today.
Rwandans of goodwill remember with emotion how we came to complete our journey. Even those who choose to live in denial cannot, however hard they try change facts on the ground.
Rwanda has risen and is shinning again.
Rwanda is better off today than it has ever been. And Rwandans live together with more peace and harmony than ever before in our sad and tortured history.
NDI UMUNYARWANDA has become our mantra, replacing those shameful identity cards that defined us along ethnic lines, and in the end were our death certificates. How can the New Rwanda then not be every Munyarwanda’s passion and pride?
The fall of Kigali on July 4 twenty four years ago symbolized a classic military victory. We were outnumbered, outgunned,but not outwitted. More importantly the fall of Kigali proved that good will always triumph over evil. You cannot win a war without just cause, and history is replete with this impeccable simple truth.
Our men and women did not run, did not waver. They looked the enemy squarely in the face. And like our ancestors of old fought a good fight until the battle was won. Because of them today we walk with our heads held high.
Never again shall we resolve our political differences by shading the blood of innocents. Never again will Rwanda be soaked in the precious blood of Rwandans. And our Motherland will never again be turned into killing fields.
We shall live free, or perish as a free people.
As we mark this day it behooves us to, each in their special way remember those who needlessly perished, and especially those who paid the ultimate price with their lives. We are free today because they gave of themselves.
We must collectively remember whence we came if we we are to chart a clear course of where we are headed, and where we deserve to be. Much has been accomplished, but the journey ahead is not assured. We must remain vigilant because the architects and planners of the Genocide against Tutsi have not put their mental machetes down. You cannot even call it a tactical retreat. It is a coward’s way of exiting the theatre.
We must guard against the arrogance of success, and turn our suffering into a moral reminder that when one of us suffers, so do we all.
HAPPY LIBERATION DAY, y’all.
