UHURU BAND

Uhuru Brothers preaching love above diplomatic obstacles between France and Rwanda

BY GEORGE KAGAME&
CHARLOTTE KINGSMAN

The recently released Mucyo report which officially emphasized the role of France in helping the government of Juvenal Habyarimana in effectively carrying out the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda is the latest twist in a long running love to hate and hates to love relationship between the two countries beginning many years back.

This relationship between Rwanda and France can be likened to a teenage love affair, which in many cases does not have any clear starting point, for starters Rwanda was not one of the colonies of France in Africa, instead Rwanda was a Belgian colony and France's interest in Rwanda can be said to have been motivated by the French desire to have their language spoken here as part of what was once known throughout colonial Africa as the assimilation policy.

The two countries struck a cord on basically cultural interests, this interest was sustained for a very long time by strong personal and political connections among leaders of both countries, to an extent, the alliances worked out well for both politicians in the two countries and this kept the relations between Rwanda and France cordial till 1994.

Several academicians and opinion leaders have stated that France is to a certain extent responsible for the events leading to the genocide, while many have argued that if that is not the case, France was in a strong position to stop the genocide in Rwanda before it got to the level it did-almost a million innocent Rwandans killed by their neighbours and friends.

The latest and most enduring images of the relationship between Rwanda and France is when both countries decided to close any diplomatic contact with each other in late 2006 after a French judge accused officials of Rwanda's ruling RPF for instigating the Rwandan Genocide. Since then there has not been any formal contact between the former 'love birds' and 'enemies' could not be misplaced if used to describe the state of affairs between the two countries currently.

With such a background it comes as a surprise that as French and Rwandan politicians do not seem to be seeing each other 'eye to eye', the exact opposite is happening among youths of both countries as told in the story of Antoine Chavendelier a @@@ from France and a group of Rwandans that formed a band known as Uhuru Brothers.

Uhuru is swahili for 'freedom', according to Chavendlier the Uhuru Brothers are the brothers of freedom "because each of us comes with their own background and feeds the group with their own unique and original style."

But Chavendlier is not just a member of the Uhuru Brothers, he has a day job in one of Kigali upmarket suburbs as a full time official, he says his inspiration to help start Uhuru Brothers grew out of his friendship with Jovial@@@, a Rwandan musician residing in Kiyovu a Kigali downtown suburb: "I met Jovial and from our friendship grew the band, he used to invite many friends to play at his house in the Kiyovu. Some of them were very professional and inspired to do something for music even if i was not here for a musical career. I was willing to help them." Uhuru band plays rumba, East African raggaeton and salsa but Chavendlier says roots-rock-raggae is their specialty.

Chavendlier has been in Rwanda for over a year now, he says he loves the country and irrespective of the political situation between the two countries he loves Rwanda, "I like Rwanda, my motivation to stay here has also a lot to do with the Uhuru Brothers. It’s a project close to my heart. One day i hope to see the band succeed to great levels." \

As a Frenchman living in Rwanda currently Chavendlier says: "Rwanda is one of the few countries where it is hard to go when you are French! I was really saddened to see the Franco-Rwandan cultural centre closed but I know that if I’m here it means that Rwanda wanted me and accepted me."

Chavendlier is concerned by the less impressive standards of Rwanda's musical industry today, he says that most musicians in the country are heavily influenced by US hip hop and many rely on playback to perform their own songs he adds that in France the audience would pelt eggs and tomatoes to artists performing on playback, he says that Rwandans however love music but they do not fully appreciate it: "there are currently very few options because there are also fewer musical instruments in the country. It is one of the basic observations which makes me want to help develop live music in Rwanda."


He adds that the poor state of music in Rwanda explains why most high profile artists that perform in Rwanda are from abroad contrary to most countries. The undeveloped potential of Rwanda's music industry has been caused by a weaker private sector in the country and Chavendlier agrees, he says: "......the private sector can contribute to the success of local musicians so long as it promotes a modern but Rwandan music. In that way Congo, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia have managed to become key in the African musical world and export their music well beyond the continent’s borders. But to get there, Rwanda must protect and promote its artistic heritage, exploit it as a proof of national reconciliation so that the Rwandans themselves can promote it."

And from that background Chavndlier says that Rwanda's music now has a richer heritage because the country is at the crossroads of two cultures strongly influenced by ex-colonies: "from this fact emerges a varied musical culture in which artists can easily alternate rumba and reggae. What is more, I have met extremely talented singers and musicians despite the lack of musical training available at the level of the mass. I just regret that there is not more inspiration from traditional music. I hope that one day Rwandan musicians will make more use of Rwandan traditional music and create their own particular style."