The role of the activist within Rwanda is extremely fraught as it involves balancing the desire and need to express oneself in order to build a better future for the country, while entering increasingly dangerous territory for even attempting to do so. Diane Rwigara’s bravery is a call to other activists within Rwandan to begin to assert themselves peacefully on their government, reminding it that they want to be heard, reminding it that they too are part of its developmental project. By BRANDON FINN.
Rwanda was recently in the news because of the arrest of Violette Uwamahoro in February 2017. Uwamahoro, the wife of a Rwandan opposition activist, was returning to Rwanda from England in order to attend a funeral when she was arrested. She was detained without charge for two weeks, had her phone messages checked and was interrogated about the actions of her husband, Faustin Rukundo. Uwamahoro was released in March by a Rwandan court following substantial international media attention and pressure on the Rwandan government to do so. Her arrest is by no means an unusual occurrence within the Rwandan context. Her release, in no doubt linked to her British citizenship, is not characteristic of the current status quo.
As things stand, the Rwandan Patriotic Front has become known for its despotic rule and the restrictive political and civic life it enforces. Unlike the former vice-president of the Democratic Green Party Andre Kagwa Rwisereka who was found beheaded in 2010 and unlike the former spy chief Patrick Karegeya who had fallen out of favour with the Rwandan President and was found dead in a South African hotel room in 2014, Uwamahoro can count herself lucky, and an exception to the rule. FULL STORY
