It is often said that a liberation struggle does not end with the silencing of guns. What follows a war, or in Rwanda’s case, a genocide of a devastating magnitude, involves liberating minds and hearts as well as socioeconomic liberation of the masses.
As such, a liberation struggle like the one the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) undertook, does not end with the quiet and calm that follows the end of the war, but rather it can even mark the beginning of the actual liberation.
When the RPF Inkotanyi took up arms to fight the government of Rwanda at the time to forcefully return refugees, many women and girls joined the liberation struggle- many of them against the approval of their parents or guardians.
It was a big number, they even had their own unit, known as the Yankee Mobile Unite, which was commanded by Maj (Rtd) Nuriat Kaka. Many of them went on to retire from service and ventured into other areas such as business and entrepreneurship.
As Rwanda continues to mark 30 years of liberation, many of the women and girls who participated in the liberation struggle remain active under their organisation ‘Ndabaga’, which brings together women and girls who actively participated in the war and efforts to stop the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
#kwibohora30
7 июл 2024
