Three decades after Rwanda’s genocide, the past is ever-present

EVERY YEAR on April 7th Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, commemorates the start of the most abominable event of the late 20th century, the Rwandan genocide. Over 100 days in 1994 masses of the majority Hutu population slaughtered hundreds of thousands of their countrymen, mostly from the minority Tutsi group. In these annual speeches Mr Kagame offers glimpses of why he is Africa’s most polarising leader. In one breath there is the official narrative: Rwanda is now a miracle of peace, unity and prosperity—a beacon of progress lit from the embers of the genocide. In the next there are hints of the more sinister figure his critics decry, for instance in his disdain for those who challenge him. They also point out his brutal repression and his warmongering in neighbouring Congo.