GITWAZA, RASTAS, TROUSERS.

Warm Greetings Friends and Foes: (Hano Mwese ni Karibu!)

First things First, Imma need y’all to leave Gitwaza alone. We are inundated with ridiculous liberal messages on the daily that we cannot even critique freely by fear of being “canceled.” As such, when ultra-conservatives express their point of view, allow them to develop their arguments in peace. I have long spoken of the fact that in the West: God is Dead. Morality is Dead. If the man wants to resurrect morality, let him work!

If you know me, you know I am very vocal about the flaws of the Church and its supposed servants. One person I have never criticized though is Gitwaza. I have known him since I was 8years old so maybe I am a tiny bit biased, I’ll give you that. I was living in Belgium with some family (salut les cousines chéries) when I first saw him. I was too young to understand the revolutionary work he was doing but in my most Nigerian accent, the man “don try”. People often ask, how much therapy did Rwandans do in the aftermath of the Genocide? The answer is ZERO! Therapy was not a very African solution at the time. Instead, therapy was Gitwaza and the likes.

I grew up in his Church in Kigali and over the years, I must have watched hundreds of people testify about the church giving them a sense of belonging, paying their rent, visiting their children in hospitals. Etc. They even instituted small groups, named after the 12 tribes of Israel. They’d go around visiting people in their homes and serving the community. My small group was led by this incredibly beautiful and fancy woman who would invite us to her home and have her chef (wearing an actual chef’s hat) bake delicacies for us. (Impundu Impundu ku Mubyeyi Pusuli). It was a beautiful sight because we had members of lower socio-economic rank, but in “Rubeni”, (Jacob’s first son, our small group’s name) everyone was equal!

I actually vividly recall, as a teen, going “Mu Migina” with the church. This was an area infamous for prostitution and we shared the love of God with sex workers. Later, drama and division followed in the Church but Zion Temple really deserves its flowers. I do not seek to glamourize all things Gitwaza, the man is made of flesh and bones like us BUT having lived 3 decades in the public eye with a fairly clean record, let us “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Plus, try managing people and report back…. People, (starting with me), can be incredibly annoying! We talk too much, don’t listen, are lazy and hate authority. Worse of all, we can be greedy and entitled. I tried managing people once with my non-Profit. Didn’t last a year, NO PUEDO… Now our non-Profit has neither Board nor recurring meetings, we operate on a more solo – case/by case basis. (Latest Works: We raised 2 months rent for an Atlanta based Sickle-Cell patient & raised $2900 for a Rwandan Cancer Patient; to God be the glory.)

Now a bit of background on Gitwaza, the man comes from a VERY conservative Mulenge family. (Banyamulenge actually remain one of the few “stateless“ groups on Earth, that is, —- not recognized as citizens of any country.) Gitwaza low-key may be one of say, 10 Nazarites left because y’all be wildin’ down here on Earth, I don’t even know how I ended up here, ngomba kuba ndi akamalayika kayobye…. Nazarites are Biblical figures who had made a vow to dedicate their lives to God, abstain from wine, etc. Seemingly, so had his father before him. So have his sons after him.

Therefore, when Gitwaza says “it is forbidden for women to wear trousers at the altar”, or “your boys should not have tattoos or dreads”, I understand it to mean “Let us restore order in the Church.” Will God reject people at the gate of Heavens because they grew locs? Doubt it. But I’d rather my child grows in a spiritually strict environment then he/she can adjust later than raise empty children. Children that don’t know what integrity, decency, morality, humanity mean. In other words, will our daughter Genga be taught not to wear trousers at the altar? Likely not. But trust and believe, we will do our best to teach Genga to approach the throne of God with fear and trembling.

As for the Rastafarian bit, I don’t think the man is wrong… Hear me out, I actually wrote about the Rastafari Religious/Political movement once. I admire the original idea of black emancipation, that was in fact influenced by Marcus Garvey’s teachings. In all transparency, knowing my adventurous self, I may have even joined the Rastafari if it had not been for two things: (1) the Ganja part, (2) the Haile Selassie bit, whom they in fact view as a divinity (the Second Coming of Christ.) Gitwaza actually taught me something today. I already knew Jamaicans were a product of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, but I thought the trade only touched the West Coast of Africa (Ghana, Nigeria etc.) BUT Gitwaza is right, the slave trade also touched Central Africa. Slave Ship Records that landed in Jamaica show a large chunk of “Kongo People” (found in DRC & Republic of Congo).

My conclusion is this, even my father (absolute most favorite human on Earth) and I can disagree. People mustn’t agree on every tiny debate but we MUST respect each other. I speak of Gitwaza with great reverence because he is a man of valor whose works precede him.

Muri make, Gahunda Ni; Abasenga, musenge. Abadasenga mutuze babasengere! Ariko ubundi muzakizwa ryari? Mutegereje ngo ibicu bifunguke, Manna igwe? Buriya se ziriya drone za New Jersey tuzifate nka Manna mukunde mukizwe? Imana ishimwe ko Umuntu atari yo Mana, narikuba narabakatiye kera cyane.

Love Always,
Chouchou Des Grands Lacs