Terraced hillsides pass by the car window as we bump along the small dirt roads of the Rwandan countryside. Displays of work lay out in the sun on mats and tarps: freshly picked bananas, mud bricks, and brown grains. The sun is flooding the landscape with a blinding heat, and the windows are open to the stares of the children who wave at us as we pass by, leaving clouds of dust in our wake. Upon seeing Rwanda today, one could not imagine a more peaceful and dramatically beautiful place.
African pop music blasts from the car speakers, and the woman next to me taps her hand on her leg in time. Rose Kabuye cannot remember her life in Rwanda before fleeing to a Ugandan refugee camp. She moved in 1962 when she was only one year old, with four of her siblings. Three of her oldest siblings, aged 11-15, stayed in Rwanda despite the fighting. Her father was able to bring the family's cows with them, which was fortunate, she says, because they had fresh milk. By that time, many Rwandans had begun to move away from the refugee camps and integrate into Ugandan society. Many had built their own houses. Kabuye spent most of her childhood in a thatched hut, tending to the cows, and attending school.
“When you are very young,” she says, “You cannot make sense of your situation . You are just where you are and you don’t think much of it. The children just tried to help out in any way they could, with the cooking, cleaning, fetching water…”
Many Ugandans found the Rwandan refugee population to be a threat, especially the oppressive Ugandan leaders Apolo Obote, and Idi Amin. Obote instigated the Control of Alien Refugees Act, which declared Rwandans a special class subject to random arrest. There was a lot of discrimination against Rwandans, which made it hard to be accepted to universities and start businesses. Luckily, the refugee population was not well documented in the camps. Kabuye enrolled in university as Ugandan, and graduated in 1985.
After university, Kabuye traveled to Nairobi, Kenya in search of a job. During that time, she began to hear about the RPF, the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The PRF was formerly known as RANU, the Rwandan Alliance for National Unity, which had joined with the Ugandan NRA to overthrow Obote during the Ugandan Bush War. She heard the RPF was planning to enter Rwanda by force, so she went back to Uganda to seek them out. Kabuye had a hard time finding the RPF, because it was quite secretive, and no one knew much about them. People told her that even if she found them, she could not join anyway because she was a women. But she didn't give up. She eventually found a man (need to expand) who told her what to do. She underwent intense training, and when the RPF became a political party in 1987, she became an assistant ADC (? need to spell out) for the military. During this time, she met her husband David, and a few years later had her first child.
In 1990, ninety RPF soldiers from her unit departed for an incursion into Rwanda. Rose Kabuye was not informed of the plan. By the time Rose received the news, the unit was seven hours away in Kampala. She had a tough decision to make that night: would she go to fight with the rest of the soldiers, or would she stay and raise her child?
"I knew in my heart that I must go, " she says, "Even though I knew I might never see my baby again."
Kabuye and other RPF soldiers began their journey to catch up with the other soldiers who were camped at the border. They told stories to get themselves through the roadblocks, but many people were suspicious and had guessed they were the RPF, so the soldiers pressed on anxiously. When they reached the border, rumors were passing through the ranks that their leader, Fred Rwigema, had been killed. But he was at the front lines, and there was no way of knowing if this information was true. They had no choice but to press on into Rwanda. They fought boldly, gaining a lot of ground, until it came out that Rwigema was in fact, dead.
"It came as a great shock to me," she explains, pressing her hand over her heart, "Despite the fact that I think I knew it already. Then a day later, two lieutenants were killed and we lost all our ground. The morale of our troops had dropped significantly, and we were weak."
Back at the border, she met up with her husband, who had stayed behind to take care of their child. He had come to join the ranks. He explained that their son was now being cared for by her niece. Their reunion did not last long however, as she was asked to report to a sick bay set up on the border in Tanzania for wounded RPF soldiers. She would receive supplies shortly. When she arrived, she was met with a horrendous situation. There were 100 wounded soldiers, with no food, water, or medical supplies. It was November, and it was getting colder in the forest. She had no medical training. She spent the next two days waiting, and talking to the men. Then a man from a nearby village arrived at the camp, and explained there were people there who supported the RPF cause. They had supplies. She walked with him for two days to reach the village, gather the supplies, and make the arduous two day journey back to the camp. A couple of days later, what was left of the original ranks arrived. Her husband David and some of her other colleagues were among them.
"They looked like ghosts! They had lost so much weight, and were very weak."
They were attacked then, by government troops, and they had to flee back to Rwanda across the river. Many died, because they could not swim or were too wounded to do so. They fled for two days, moving to the mountains, where they knew they could not be followed, and then walked for four more. It was cold, but they still had some supplies. But by then it was late December, and the climate was becoming harsher all the time. People began to suffer from gangrene, loosing limbs. There was not enough food to go around, and the soldiers were becoming too weak to go on. The troops decided to regroup in Uganda, pick up more supplies and troops, and seek medical attention for the wounded. They spent a year there recruiting and training the soldiers according to a special diet, to help them adjust to less food. Kabuye visited her child, now two years old, but he did not recognize her.
The RPF reentered Rwanda in 1992, much stronger than they had been the first time. They were armed with knowledge and experience. They gained ground quickly. At that time, Rose Kabuye was ranked 2nd Lieutenant Colonel, the highest ranking woman in the RPF army. In 1993, the Arusha Peace Agreements were signed, to end the three-year Rwandan civil war, concluding in a ceasefire. Rose and other RPF soldiers returned to Kigali. It was a good time. Many of the soldiers had not been to Kigali, or even Rwanda before. Rose became a Member of Parliament for the peace agreements.
"This was exactly what we'd been fighting for."
This victory was to be short lived. On April 6th, 1994, the plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and the Hutu president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down. In the ensuing struggle for power, the government army assassinated Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, ten UN officers, and many moderates who agreed with the Arusha Accords. The Rwandan genocide had begun.
In the ensuing chaos, Rose Kabuye became the Director of Welfare and Production for the RPF. She was placed in charge of the sick and wounded victims of the war. Most people were malnourished or suffering from severe wounds.
Just after the war, in July of 1994, she was appointed Mayor of Kigali. During her term, she was extremely dedicated to the reconstruction of the city. She oversaw the construction of temporary shelters for the survivors of the genocide while water and electricity was restored, businesses were created, homes built, and schools repaired and refunded. By the end of her term in 1998, she had created a budget of 2.5 billion Francs per year, compared to a budget of zero at the beginning of her term.
From 1998 to 2001, she went back to being a Member of Parliament as the Chairperson of the Defense and Security Committee, and was a member of the Women Parliamentary forum for the mobilization, rights, and training of women leaders. She participated in the drafting of the New Constitution. She wrote reports on education that resulted in the resignations of the Minister of Education and former Prime Minister Rwigema P.C. due to corruption.
She left the Parliament in 2001 and became Director of Supplies and Stores for Army Headquarters for two years. She oversaw the purchase, inspection, and distribution of arms to the battalions. She planned for emergencies and monitored the needs of the battalions.
From 2003 to 2008, Rose Kabuye was Chief of State Protocol under President Paul Kagame. She was the top adviser on matters of national and international protocol. She arranged the itinerary of visiting dignitaries to Rwanda, as well as accompanied the president on all trips. She planned ceremonial events for visiting Heads of State and Heads of Government, as well as ceremonies for signing, swearing in, and State arrival and departure.
On November 9th, 2008, Rose Kabuye went to Germany on private business. She was arrested by German police for allegedly being involved in the attack on Habyarimana. She spent ten days in prison there, before being extradited to France for trial. She was released, on terms that she did not leave the country. It was an entire year later when she finally stood trial. The case was ultimately thrown out because there was no evidence of wrong doing.
Since 2010, Kabuye has created two companies and serves as CEO of both: Virunga Logistics Ltd., and Startech Ltd. Virunga Logistics deals in shipping and courier and event management. Startech Ltd. mainly works in the importation, distribution, installation, and maintenance of 2-way radio communications, telephone systems, and solar energy equipment. Compared to her extraordinary life in the RPF, these positions may appear somewhat mundane. But it is that very point that shows how far Rwanda has come since the genocide.
As I drive through the Rwandan countryside, continuing my discussion with Rose, I can't help but feel her pride in her country. With every bump and turn of the road, I also see the pride and stoicism in the hundreds of faces that pass by the car window. Rwanda has pulled itself out of the fear, pain, and suffering that consumed the country during the genocide. Rwanda has given itself new life through the hard work of its people and the dedication to a peaceful, secure, and just future. Rwanda will only continue to grow and improve upon itself. Rose Kabuye exemplifies this sense of Rwandan freedom and self-determination like no other. Her inspirational role in the transformation of the country motivates me greatly. It is my hope that her story will motivate others to live a just and productive life.
