As is tradition now, Rwanda celebrated its Heroes on February 1. The event was fêted at the lowest administrative unit, Umudugudu.

As part of the celebrations, glowing speeches are given extolling the selflessness of individual heroes. With this, the nation then re-commits to live and defend the causes for which heroes lived or died for.

It is in this spirit that youth under Ingenzi Foundation invited me last week to speak to them about The Role of Youths in Sustaining Heroic Projects. Not being a hero myself, I wrestled with accepting the invitation!

Since the idea of serving others, even at the possibility of death and without expecting personal benefit fascinates me, I accepted the invitation.

I searched for material relating to the actual activities the country’s heroes were involved in especially as they relate to recent history. Tellingly, there are no first-hand account of this history!

For example, neither members of the Rwandese Patriotic Army (now RDF) that liberated the country nor members of its political wing (RPF) have written about their contribution or encounter with the liberation and the ultimate price some paid to establish the current socio-political dispensation.

Let me first share a story of 27 years ago, one that I shared with the aforementioned youth. I believe this story changed the country forever.

September 1990. I was in high school, living with my elder brother who was a soldier in the National Resistance Army (NRA) now UPDF. We lived in Rubiri Barracks in the middle of Kampala, at the time housing NRA’s 1st Battalion and 301 Brigade. My brother was in charge of training.

Returning from school in the evening of September 30, I met an NRA soldier of Rwandan origin at the gate escorting some of his family members out of the barracks.

The sight of the soldier (who died in the struggle) with his family leaving the barracks with mattresses at a late hour alerted me to the possibility that this might be the D-Day to launch the liberation war that those in the know at the time had for some time been preparing.

My brother was on leave and when I got home, I proceed to the house of a Rwandan officer (now a general) to distil what was happening. When I got there, I found the house teeming with people speaking in hushed voices.

I stayed at the house until around 2am when the team departed to launch the liberation war. In the morning, neighbours woke up to BBC news that Rwandans in NRA had deserted with arms to launch a military return to their country.

This event could easily be the greatest ever mass military desertion and escape in military history; yet it’s undocumented despite its lessons.

The escape together with prior preparations, were only possible because RPA/F’s objective remained a secret known to only like-minded comrades.

The discipline with which the escape was carried out, beside subordinating material possessions and individual positions to the idea of regaining citizenship exhibited by many who participated in the struggle is instructive.

Yet despite its value to the nation, this story remains untold as many other heroic actions that informed the RPA struggle — from who fired the first bullet at Kagitumba, thus launching the attack, to how RPA was rescued from the claws of defeat in early 1990s to the heroic battles of Kitona and Pweto in the DRC.

Documenting these actions would not only serve to preserve the memory of those who paid the ultimate price but would also inspire current and future generations.

So, why doesn’t former RPA and senior RPF write this history? It’s difficult to know. It may be due to the origins of the RPF — born in hostile environments, it was forced to operate in secrecy and therefore, it’s possible it hasn’t shade-off this tradition.

It could also be due to RPF’s culture of discouraging attributing achievement to individuals. Or, it could be that since taking over in 1994, senior members have been involved in nation-building to think or worry about writing the struggle.

Whatever the reasons, documenting the struggle, specifying periods of trial and how individuals and the organization managed to triumph would be a great service to the nation and posterity.

Christopher Kayumba, PhD. Senior Lecturer, School of Journalism and Communication, UR; Lead consultant, MGC Consult International Ltd. E-mail: [email protected]; twitter account: @Ckayumba Website:www.mgcconsult.com