The 7th of April 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide when about one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militants. These two ethnic groups actually speak the same language, called Kinyarwanda. 

However, despite that, a grounds-well of ethnic tensions that had been accumulating over the years reached its boiling point in 1994.

When I was studying in the former Yugoslavia, which later also fell apart because of ethnic tensions, I asked a friend from Burundi about the simmering ethnic tensions in both Rwanda and Burundi (the two countries have the same ethnic composition). 

My friend’s reaction was typical African denialism. He told me, “No, no, we are the same people, and there is no problem at all!” About five years later, the Rwanda Genocide took place, and it also had a spill-over effect in neighbouring Burundi. 

Rwanda has bounced back in style after that tragedy – and today, that country is a rising star in more ways than one, and it has become the envy of many on the African continent and beyond. 

President Paul Kagame’s speech on 7 April 2024 at the 30th anniversary of the genocide is worth quoting – at least in part. He, inter alia, said, “Our journey has been long and tough. Rwanda was completely humbled by the magnitude of our loss, and the lessons we learned are engraved in blood”.

In 1999, the government of Rwanda set up the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, whose mandate was to focus on the organisation of national public
debates, aimed at promoting reconciliation, fostering tolerance and a culture of peace and human rights, and denouncing any ideas aimed at disunity.

In 2021, the commission was replaced by a new ministry, called the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement, which runs different programmes to promote national unity. 

One good example is that in Rwanda, national unity is embedded in the school curriculum. I am not implying that the Rwandese have solved all ethnic-related problems; what I am saying is that there are policies and programmes in place to promote national unity.

What are the lessons to be learned from the Rwanda tragedy? In the first place, there are not many African countries that can claim “immunity” to ethnic tensions. 

For many years, Kenya was  regarded as a beacon of stability in East Africa until 2007 ethnic conflicts broke out, mainly pitting the Kikuyus against the Luo. Close to us, the Angolan civil war that started in 1975 and continued, with interludes, until 2002, had a strong ethnic undertone to it. 

Between 500 000 and 800 000 people are believed to have died in the Angolan civil war. Hundreds of thousands of people were
maimed, and close to four-million people were displaced from their homes.

What are some of the causes of ethnic conflicts in Africa? The causes are many, but those that immediately spring to mind are as follows:

The consequences of the 1884 Berlin Conference divided Africa into spheres of colonial influence without considering cultural and/or linguistic ties (the founders of the Organisation of African Unity were practical enough to respect colonial borders, although that has come at a cost).

As a result of the above, the typical African state is a geographical expression, but that does not necessarily translate into a homogenous nation-state.

Imperial powers stoke ethnic conflicts to promote and/or protect their strategic interests.

Ethnic chauvinism or populism tends to push the agenda of ‘us as the good cultural insiders’ against ‘them as the bad cultural outsiders’.

When some groups feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are marginalised by the state.

The denial of ethnic tensions once these start to show their ugly heads.

Lack of political commitment, at all levels, to nip ethnic tensions in the bud by advancing an inclusive political agenda.

When meritocracy in the public service is sacrificed at the altar of ethnicity, friendship, family ties, etc.

Since assuming office on that fateful day, 4 February 2024, President Nangolo Mbumba has demonstrated great statesmanship as far as nation-building is concerned, and he needs our support.

He always speaks as the President of the Republic and not on behalf of a political party. For example, during his maiden State of the Nation address, he appealed to all the political parties to run peaceful election campaigns. Under his watch, the independence celebrations were, for the first time, held in the Zambezi region. 

During his speech there, he mentioned some of the heroes from that great region by name – people like Brendan Simbwaye and Greenwell Matongo.

After the 1999 secessionist attempt in the Caprivi region, the holding of this year’s celebrations in that region resonated well across the entire country, and specifically more so in that region.

Of late, the president has been engaging traditional leaders in the country in an attempt to seek inclusivity. These are all important steps towards nation-building. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”.

*Gerson Tjihenuna serves as a commissioner of elections. The views expressed in his articles are his own.