Image Repair Strategies of Rwandan Government in the Post-genocide Era: A Historical and Critical Analysis

ABSTRACT: This study employed Crisis-Communication theoretical framework to examine the responses of the government of Rwanda to the 1994 genocide which arguably posed the most serious challenge to the country’s image since independence from Belgium in 1962. It also evaluated the effectiveness of the image-restoration and repair strategies- using a model proposed by image restoration scholars, Benoit & Pang, (2008). The investigation and analysis were done using a combination of historical and critical methods, covering a 13-year period from 2000 – 2013. While the historical method helped chronicle the historical events of Rwanda from the genocide period till 2013, the critical method was used to analyze and evaluate the image repair measures taken to reverse Rwanda’s negative image from years 2000-2013. Findings showed that the new government of post-genocide Rwanda acknowledged the problems associated with the negatıve image that the 1994 genocide had brought upon the country and embarked on corrective steps to redeem the lost image both locally and internationally. This mirrors ‘Mortification’ in the Benoit & Pang image repair model, and implies the Rwandan government accepted responsibility- on behalf of the past administrations- for the genocide “….which led to the loss of close to one million lives, loss of values and culture…”(Kagame, 2010). Other measure employed by Rwandan government included what Benoit & Pang (2008) labeled as reducing offensiveness of a crisis’s fallout or impact. This was achieved by obtaining justice for the genocide survivors through the traditional courts (the Gacaca courts) in Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. The twin measures led to the conviction and imprisonment of many of the genocide perpetrators and their accomplices. Empathy was further employed by the government of Rwanda to redeem and repair the negative image the country attracted as a result of the genocide. Empathy refers to the government’s identification with the survivors who lost loved ones. Annual national commemoration of the genocide was inaugurated with public holidays. 7 April, which marked the commencement of the massacre, was labeled ‘Genocide Memorial Day’ and observed a national holiday while 4 July, which signaled the cessation of the bloodbath was christened ‘the Liberation Day’ and also observed as a rest day. The entire week following the 7 April rest day is spent as national mourning week for the slain genocide victims. Post-genocide government in Rwanda also embraced good governance as part of official effort to depart from the past and to demonstrate to the domestic and international community that a new and beautiful country (with a new flag in 2001) had been born out of the ashes and embers of a heinous past. As a result, the new Rwandan government achieved a progressive repatriation for the nation’s refugees from other countries and integrated a substantial number of the nation’s women into national politics. Keywords: Crisis Communication, Rwanda, genocide, image repair, image restoration, empathy, mortification. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………