Former President Juvénal Habyarimana named himself “Ikinani cyananiye abagome n’abagambanyi” — “The unshakable one who defeated the wicked and traitors” — to label Tutsis and the RPF-Inkotanyi as “wicked,” and Hutus who opposed the genocide ideology in the early 1990s as “traitors,” Minister Jean Damascène Bizimana revealed on April 13.
Speaking at the #Kwibuka31 commemoration at the Rebero Genocide Memorial, a resting place for politicians killed opposing the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Dr. Bizimana underscored the role and complicity of former President Habyarimana in orchestrating the genocide.
In April 1992, the MRND (National Revolutionary Movement for Development), the ruling party at the time, held a meeting to appoint new leaders and called for urgent action against what they referred to as “enemies of the state.”
President Juvénal Habyarimana was reappointed as Chairman of the MRND during this 1992 party congress. In his address, he recited a self-praise poem, declaring himself “Ndi Ikinani cyananiye abagome n’abagambanyi”—”I am the unshakable one who defeated the wicked and traitors”—a poem line that later became synonymous with him, earning him the nickname Kinani.
“When Habyarimana referred to the ‘wicked,’ he was talking about the Tutsis and the RPF-Inkotanyi, while ‘traitors’ referred to Hutus who opposed the genocide ideology and discrimination—including those we honor today,” said Minister Jean Damascene Bizimana.
Polarization of the ‘Wicked’ and ‘Traitors’
“The plan to exterminate the Tutsis began in October 1990 by the Habyarimana regime, during the liberation war, as Rwandan refugees sought to return to their homeland but were denied.” Minister Bizimana mentioned,
From 1990-1994, Intense hatred against Tutsis began. They were labeled as Ugandans and enemies of Rwanda.
This narrative was pushed through national agendas, party publications, and speeches, all aimed at mobilizing Hutus to rise up against the Tutsis.
President Habyarimana refused to engage in direct talks with the RPF-Inkotanyi in the Arusha Peace negotiations.
In August 1992, He agreed to the Arusha Peace negotiations.
However in the same year on September 21, delivering his speech to Rwandans on the 31st anniversary of the 1961 referendum.
Habyarimana reminded the Tutsis and RPF-Inkotanyi that they had no right to share in the power, citing that “the 1961 referendum reaffirmed the 1959 Hutu Revolution, which took power from the hands of the King and the minority Tutsi and gave it to the Hutu masses.”
“He also praised the Parmehutu leaders, calling them heroes for granting the Hutu masses freedom even though they had initiated and supervised the acts of burning Tutsi homes and killing Tutsis.” Minister Bizimana commented,
Habyarimana mentioned that RPF-Inkotanyi had crossed the line, as their cause was against the democracy established by the Hutu masses.
Minister Bizimana highlighted that, “This divisive politics of so-called democracy marginalized the Tutsis.”
He further pointed out that in this speech, Habyarimana referred to the RPF-Inkotanyi as people who had fled the 1961 election. However, they were fleeing violence instigated by the Parmehutu leaders.
”He continued to claim that Rwanda was the gift of the referendum, though he failed to understand that the years of the referendum, from 1959-1962, which he praised, were the ones that initiated anti-Tutsi violence,” Minister Bizimana stated.
“Habyarimana’s rhetoric fueled the Hutu mobilization against the so-called “enemy” – the Tutsis – and moderate Hutus who were viewed as collaborators, leading to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ”
Minister Bizimana also strongly condemned those who deny Habyarimana’s complicity in the genocide against the Tutsi, including his son, Leon Habyarimana, and others who claim the genocide was not planned.
He criticized the belief that it was triggered solely by the shooting down of President Habyarimana’s plane or by the 1993 coalition of political parties attempting to form Hutu Power, ignoring the key role played by President Habyarimana.
Levy Gasana/ The Kaminuza Star