In this powerful documentary-style podcast, we trace Rwanda’s unthinkable journey from genocide to reconciliation.
Through archival audio and expert analysis, the episode opens in the 1930s, when Belgian colonizers imposed ethnic identity cards—seeding divisions that would erupt in 1994 with the slaughter of over 800,000 Tutsis in just 100 days.
But Rwanda’s story didn’t end there. The nation embarked on a radical experiment: outlawing ethnic labels, trying 120,000 perpetrators in grassroots Gacaca courts, and mandating survivors and killers to live side by side in reconciliation villages. What can the world learn from this fraught pursuit of unity?
Scholar and pracademic Cynthia Chigwenya guides us through the psychological minefield of post-genocide Rwanda. We examine the successes—like the 67% confession rate in Gacaca trials—and the unresolved tensions lurking beneath enforced cohesion.
Most provocatively, we confront perpetrator trauma: how many killers, themselves manipulated by propaganda, now carry invisible wounds. With immersive soundscapes and firsthand accounts, this episode asks whether true reconciliation is possible when the past remains an open wound.
To hear the full version, check out the entire episode of the AfroVerdict podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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