Exactly seven years ago, today. President Paul Kagame happened to be in the parliamentary chambers to swear in the then newly appointed government officials. In a strange twist, his speech gravitated towards Rwanda”s independent press, especially Umuseso (of which I was the editor).
Watching him live on TV castigating us with a satiated fury, in the comfort of my sitting room, I knew something was cooking, in view of the then prevailing socio/political climate in the country. Shortly before, an army General had escaped, another opposition politician had been killed, opposition parties were fighting legal battles to be registered, the political tempo was all time high.
Fast forward, same afternoon, the then Media High Council organized an impromptu meeting in which it decided to suspend Umuseso and Umuvugizi for six months. Charges were insulting the person of the president and inciting the army and the public into insubordination and mutiny. Illegal as it was, Umuseso sought legal redress, challenging the suspension.
To date, this case is still SHELVED in Nyarugenge court of first instance drawers. Two weeks later, the Criminal Investigations Department and the National Prosecution Authority preferred charges of inciting the army and the public into insubordination, insulting the head of state and encouraging mutiny, against yours truly and a fellow editor Charles Kabonero.
The rest, as they say, is history. Down the memory lane, i am happy to say that Umuseso tried within the realm of human imperfections to stand for the ideals of liberty and free speech. Not at once, not I know of, did we ever sacrifice the ideals of free speech at the altar of state terror and intimidation. We held so dearly, fought for, and cherished the public right to know, despite the coercive instruments of the state and, of course, our shortcomings. The struggle goes on in different forms.
By Didas Gasana