18/06/2014
Let me dissect for you the
chronology of 'Rwanda in the
making'... When the first canon
is fired, you will celebrate and
bay for 'their' blood. Reports will
start trickling in that some enemies have been killed in
Coast, Rift Valley and the
shanties in Nairobi, this will
turn your celebration into... a
frenzy. 4 days later, the mood
will change, no longer getting the basic provisions such as
food, your celebration will be
cut short to attend to more
urgent matters, that is, fending
for yourself. 2 weeks down the
line, when your energy levels have ebbed to the lowest,
reports will reach you that your
enemy has regrouped and is
coming for your neck and that
of your loved ones. You will now
abandon the quest for food to that of saving your own life.
International news media will
show you, and your kin, carrying
mattresses heading to a safe
haven, most likely a church. You
will reach the church and much to your horror, find thousands of
people, many from your
perceived enemy tribe also
camped there, fighting for the
little provisions donated by the
UN. That night it will rain heavily and exposed, hungry,
scared and nursing a deep
machete wound on your most
loved one's forehead, the slow
realities of 'Rwanda in the
making' will start sinking in. If you are still surviving one month
down the line, 30kgs down from
your usual weight, you will start
wondering who is fighting who,
since the camp is cosmopolitan
and you are all fighting for basic survival not caring who comes
from which tribe. But that's just
the beginning. The next day,
your camp will be raided, 5 of
your loved ones will be
slaughtered and you will be lucky to escape with a bullet
wound on your right leg. UN will
now heap you into lorries and
transfer you to another camp. In
excruciating pain and feverish
from your infected leg, the second reality of war will hit
you: what the hell is the fight all
about? You will die 3 days later,
from neglect really since people
around you are so used to
seeing others die to bother about your feeble groans from
your leaking tent. 4 months
later, corpses, including yours,
will be buried in a mass grave
as the lieutenants that started
the war sit at a table in some hotel in Kampala to craft
another 'power-sharing' deal.
There will be relative calm as
the vultures enjoy the spoils of
war, the politicians will be back
to their cosy offices... My point is, when the drums of war are
sounded, everyone is a
theoretical winner but the
reality is so different a few
months later. What's more, war
does not guarantee equality, it dehumanizes and traumatizes
people. Every little thing you've
worked for goes... I will leave
you with this, tribe is not your
enemy, people that sit in ivory
towers from all political divide and subdue you are. Change will
come when you start
demanding accountability right
from your county upwards. Have
a blessed and peaceful day."
Let's join hands and use social media to preace peace
