Seventy-seven tonnes of guns, mortars and other rubbish is lying in Durbs harbour — ready to be shipped to Zim. From China, with love. It makes me sick; it makes me want to vomit, cry, shout, kick, and scream. It really wants to make me hurt someone. Really bad. And for a non-aggressive person, that is quite something.
This entire “arms in Durbs” saga is taking me back in time — 14 years, to be exact — when Rwanda was ripped apart by one of the bloodiest episodes of human history: the genocide of 1994. We had moved back to Holland a couple of years before that, simply because my dad’s employer had decided that our time as expats had come to an end.
Anyway, quite a bit before Hutu militias started hacking Tutsi civilians into pieces — including quite a few of my former classmates and friends/colleagues of my folks — a short article appeared in the newspaper. I remember it very well, as back in the days Rwanda never made the news whatsoever. Barely a soul outside of Africa knew about this country’s existence or location.
The story — which I still have — stated that there were rumours about a shipment of thousands of machetes that was on its way to Rwanda. From China, with love. “To clear the land,” a spokesperson was quoted. The world didn’t blink. Not only once.
Until April 7 1994, that is.
While the world realised that there was actually a country called Rwanda, I learned what was really meant with “to clear the land”.
A prince with dignity and determination
Prince Ngarambe’s goals are to become Rwanda’s first transgender model and to uplift the country’s youth
The EFF’s principles are unshakeable
Unlike the ANC, the core values of the freedom fighters do not change with each leader it elects
