By David Himbara
General Juvenal Habyarimana introduced Umuganda
General Paul Kagame government and his New Times are serial liars. For example, the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) explains the origins of Umuganda as follows:
”In 1998, with the efforts to rebuild Rwandan society and nurture a shared national identity, the Government of Rwanda reintroduced Umuganda as one of the Rwanda’s Home grown solutions to reinforce socio-economic development and to promote the use of cultural resources in mitigating effects of scarce resources as envisioned in vision 2020.”
In its modern form, Umuganda was introduced by General Juvenal Habyarimana. But Umuganda has deeper roots. The ritual of communal labor was practiced in pre-colonial kingdoms.
Umuganda appears to have originated as the exchange of cattle for feudal protection. Habyarimana made it mandatory labor being utilized for political and economic development. Kagame retained this form of Umuganda.