Prof Shyaka affirmed this during an Press Conference with journalists this Tuesday. He was explaining about the reasons why Rwanda celebrates Liberation Day rather than Independence.
His statements come up as Rwanda prepares itself for Liberation Day to take place this Thursday.
The aim of the Press Conference was to explain to Journalists about the core issues to discuss about during Press conference scheduled for Wednesday. According to Prof Shyaka,that Press Conference will discuss on strategies and means that Africans have set up to develop themselves and what still needs to be done in the aim of achieving a full independence both Rwandans and Africans.
The celebration comes in as African countries are celebrating their 50th anniversaries of independence. For Shyaka ,Rwanda has got more positive answers to its problems through its liberation more than it had through the independence.
Professor Shyaka finds that both independence and liberation link together because ‘Liberation fighters intended to assure more independence to Rwandans’
“The so-called independence was symbolic while the liberation fulfilled the meaning and intentions of the independence. It is the culmination of the independence as an event”. said Prof Shyaka.
‘After independence not all Rwandans were treated alike so the independence was not a means to bring all Rwandans under the same citizenship thus liberation’ concluded Prof Shyaka.
Rwanda has been ‘colonized’ by Germans and Belgians. After 1962 different ethnic and regional based governments have set up all powerful and discriminative governments that were fought against by the RPA since 1990 up to 1995. RPA won the war and brought the nation to stability and common citizenship that is Rwandan.
Vénuste Kamanzi
UM– USEKE
