Today, I conclude the weekly series to answer questions regarding National Democratic Congress (NDC). Before I close the series, I promised to answer a question about what happened to the blood brothers (see my first weekly note, here: Why National Democratic Congress: the Story of Two Blood Brothers).
Relevant answers may be found in our approach to Consensual Democracy. The foundation of Consensual Democracy is described in the article at following link: NDC: Consensual Democracy Transformation.
I will not also conclude without replying to those who asked about the National Army (AN – Imbonezagutabara)
RUD-Urunana and RPR-Inkeragutabara leaders are often asked the following questions: do you have an army? What the army does? Why your military people are not politically active?
Our answers are as simple as follows:
- Do RUD-Ururana and RPR-Inkeragutabara have an army?
Yes
- What is the name of the army?
National Army, AN – Imbonezagutabara
- What is the mission of the army?
To protect refugees outside Rwanda and defend civilians inside Rwanda.
- Where did the name Imbonezagutabara come from?
Imbonezagutabara is a combination of two names: Imboneza, the original name of RUD-Urunana’s National Army and Inkeragutabara, the original name of RPR’s army. After the CND was created, the two armies merged into National Army- Imbonezagutabara.
- Why don’t the soldiers and commanders of AN-Imbonezagutabara lead the political wing?
NDC political leaders do not get involved in the management and direction of army matters. As a cororally, military leaders do not also get involved in the management and direction of political matters. What is important is whether National Army (AN- Imbonezagutabara) is able to protect refugees and has the political ideology, the will, and the capacity to participate in the democratic transformation of Rwanda and unite all Rwandans, regardless of who they are, where they come from, and what their natural or ideological differences are.
To give you an idea and put faces on National Army- AN Imbonezagutaba, I am attaching two pictures of some members of AN-Imboneza.
The first, taken this October 2014, is that of AN-Imbonezagutabara troops who recently participated in the protection of Rwandan refugees against the murderous campaign of Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) special forces allied with Cheka’s forces.These brave young men and women, between the age of 18 and 30 year, were, just a few days before the picture was taken, able to defeat RDF special forces and Cheka’s troops who had launched coordinated attacks aimed at massacring Rwandan refugees.
The second is the picture of an RPR commander chatting with refugees, local congolese authorities, journalists, and MONUSCO officials, somewhere in North-Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Now, you know, let us say almost, as much as NDC leaders know about National Army - AN Imbonezagutabara, the Rwandan people’s army, the army of reconciled Rwandan blood brothers and why Rwandans from all backgrounds need to participate in a democratic transformation of Rwanda, by building strong institutions rooted into consensual democracy.
And this, my friends, concludes the series of answers on National Democratic Congress.
For more, visit National Democratic Congress (NDC) at:
http://www.nationaldemocraticcongress.org
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http://www.facebook.com/NDCRwanda
or follow me on Twitter @fkanyami.
Felicien Kanyamibwa, PhD
President, National Democratic Congress
