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Rwanda: Searching for a Language to Identify With (Not French)

The New Times (Kigali)

OPINION

December 12, 2006

Posted to the web December 12, 2006

By George Kagame Kigali

So you hate the French, their culture, arrogance and above all their attempt to arrest our president and then conceal their involvement in the malaise of this country right from their arrival in Africa? I don't blame you.It is very hard to like the French especially if you are Rwandan.

You see, it is hard to learn French in the first place. Even when it was laced with incentives like becoming French upon speaking the French language well, and getting representation in the French parliament in Paris it still remained hard. Anybody remember the assimilation policy? Now that there is Bruguiere in the picture, it can only get worse.

But what are the alternatives seeing that you need some European language to identify with? English would be the next best option. A friend of mine thinks the Britons are better managers than the French but I disagree. The English have also been equally brutal and barbaric as the French. Remember Mau Mau in Kenya, Maji Maji in TZ or Kabalega in Uganda? In fact, any race that colonised another is bad and should not be praised. But when you are faced with two devils you choose the lesser, in which case the tilt goes towards English. It must be encouraged in schools not because I hate the French.

French, as noted above, is a very hard language to learn because it is much more than just speaking it, it is a culture and more. Wherever the French have been the language has not trickled down to the masses. Instead, its dynamics have remained in the hands of the elite who helped them administer the masses who were excluded from the management of state affairs in all former French colonies. Little surprise therefore that these countries today represent most of the bloody conflicts today from Haiti, to the African continent.

It is mainly in these countries where politics and money slept together; the former as an entry into business, contracts and more business. And you wish this business was for the general good but alas, it is about protection of the self. If you doubt this, research about the families of African presidents from former French colonies; from their residencies to businesses. A few leads would come in handy; the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, former Mobutu's Zaire now DRC or even Rwanda's Habyarimana.

Bottom line, the French language wherever it has been used during or long after colonialism has alienated its speakers, the elite from the masses, thus creating longstanding problems that divide countries in record time. Rwanda, Cote d'voire or even Zaire are case examples.

The reverse holds true for English, although not in absolute terms. While is has not been a better enforcer of unity among people, the language does not promote the English culture. It comes off as quite easy to learn. You do not need to learn the French kiss or French wine to speak or go dining with the English.

Apart from the difficulty of learning French, there is more reason why Rwandans should be encouraged to learn English. The country has recently joined the East African Community fold and seeing that other members in the community largely use it as the official language it only makes sense for Rwanda, and its people, to align themselves with others. It is a much easier option to take from those which are available.

Some people are thinking of Kiswahili, because two countries, Kenya and Tanzania, fair better in it. However, the truth is that they are instructed in English and since this is so, it will ease other countries' troubles of training all over again in Kiswahili. Of course ultra Pan Africans are going to hit back about this neo-colonialist promoting an imperialist. But they will do it in English or no one will know about their arguments.

Finally, a few remarks about the arrogance and selfishness of the French manifesting in the warrants and their targets. In philosophy, an action is not an end in itself unless the motivation of the actor is considered along with the cause.

Who do we blame; The cause of the problem or the effect? Genocide is the end result of a bad propaganda campaign that takes a long time to be inherent in a people's character and actions and even a longer time to become policy. If it is hard enough to convince citizens to use mosquito nets and drinking boiled water, imagine how hard it is to convince them to kill each other? The world does not need the French and their crazy language to distort historical facts.