In Rwanda, as elsewhere, every political party aims to convince this electorate, seeking to speak to them in a language they appreciate and understand. Social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter (X) are utilized, replacing the campaign flyers our parents were familiar with. Vibrant graphics and language elements are employed, and young activists are put forward to persuade their peers.
However, I must share this powerful certainty with you after having spent several months on the ground and participated in some campaign events. Rwandan youthâ”the post-ethnicism and post-genocide generationâ”do not need all these artifices to turn out on July 15 and cast the right vote.
Having been born and mostly bred on the continent, in Europe, my voting experiences have always been marked by renunciation and choosing the “lesser evil”:
Renunciation of any truly egalitarian and supportive project, as these societies mostly lack the basic empathy to end the mistreatment of their elders abandoned in gloomy nursing homes, to end the difficulties of the sick who have to travel miles to find a primary care facility that will only receive them after hours of waitingâ”even in emergenciesâ”or to end the precariousness of students who line up at soup kitchens, the last step before begging, between two university classes. This context pertains to rich countries.
Renunciation of any plan for social transformation and revolution, as the common good is never the goal of political regimes behind capitalist and ultra-liberal projects that rely on exploiting large sections of the population for the benefit of a few, based on a social contract that is inherently racial and racist.
This system underlies the simmering anger manifesting in massive strikes, giving European citizens a sense of demonstrating popular power while politicians respond only with disdain.
Renunciation of any unity program, as racism is the cement of the capitalist promise; the average European or Anglo-Saxon citizen must always be assured of remaining in a position of dominance over many populations of the Global South to accept not being among the richest 1%.
Racism also serves as an escape when these same “native” citizens realize, occasionally, that the equation does not work and that their leaders mock them as much as they do the wretched of the earth, both national and international.
Yet, these same European, Western countries claim to be the judges of human rights worldwide (in non-white regions), while perpetuating its continuous destabilization through war, plunder, and narrative distortions for eternal repetitions.
Certainly, Rwanda hit rock bottom thirty years ago when the same colonial ideology managed to divide the people based on racial criteria to break all social ties and landmarks: from neighbours to friends, to family.
During the Genocide against the Tutsi and the preceding decades of violent anti-Tutsi discrimination, this poison destroyed heartsâ” all hearts. And some bodies and minds of those designated as Tutsi.
Today, three short decades after the crime of crimes, children play, learn, pray, and argue together without even thinking of these dark practices of the past. Far from any display policies presented by Western media, which often see the current Rwanda only as a massive African startup functioning solely for profit and authoritarianism. The entire society is geared towards the well-being of its children, its youth, and, more broadly, its most vulnerable members.
The principle that a society’s functioning can be judged by the degree of inclusion of its margins is strikingly real here, in a country where, despite poverty, no one is abandoned by the wayside.
But since we are talking about the youth, it is essential to understand that they are aware of their historical and regional context and relish the privilege of peace, security, and the pathâ”paved by their eldersâ”toward all possibilities. All young people, without distinction of class or race, live this way: we are the wildest dream of our ancestors.
If our pragmatic goal is to achieve satisfactory economic progress, it is also to regain our maltreated humanity and then magnify it. To be able to look at our ownâ”with kindness and the feeling of walking together, in the same direction for the same objective.
The political project of the liberators from the genocide against the Tutsi is one of the struggles for dignity for all. There is no deeper or more exhilarating campaign argument than this truth, both proclaimed and palpable. This is why young people will turn out in large numbers to support the political project of the RPF and the unwavering consistency of its leader, President Paul Kagame.
In Rwanda, as elsewhere, every political party aims to convince youthful electorate, seeking to speak to them in a language they appreciate and understand.
