Construction of a new museum that tells the story of how the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) stopped the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi is in the final stages.

The museum named; ‘The Campaign Against Genocide Museum’ located within the Parliament buildings  primarily tells the story of the RPA’s 600-strong battalion that was based at the Parliament to protect Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF- Inkotanyi) dignitaries who were monitoring the implementation of the Arusha peace accord.

 The RPA was the military wing of the RPF Inkotanyi.

The RPA launched the liberation struggle in 1990 until they pushed the government in place to the negotiation table, leading to the Arusha Peace Accords signed on August 4, 1993. 

The accords were supposed to put in place a transitional government based on power sharing between the ruling party, opposition parties and RPF Inkotanyi.

"This museum will be considered as a centre of education on Genocide prevention. It will mainly showcase operations carried out during the campaign against the Genocide in 1994, without forgetting the major historical periods and iconic artefacts surrounding the liberation struggle,” the Permanent Secretary of the Senate, Sostene Cyitatire, told The New Times last week.

He, however, pointed out that the campaign against genocide museum is different from the Liberation Museum.

 The Liberation Museum will be based in Mulindi, Gicumbi District, and will be constructed around a historic bunker which served as the command base for the RPA during the 1990-94 war.

The museum at the Parliament is made up of four sections, three of which are monuments while the fourth section is enclosed and has eight rooms that contain documentation and objects that depict how the Genocide was stopped.

 Monuments

 The main monument faces the entrance of the parliamentary buildings and narrates the story of rescue missions carried out by the RPA.

The force comprising 600-soldiers took the lead in rescuing civilians who had sought refuge in different parts of the city.

The second monument bears a soldier holding a gun. The monument situated below the main parking is in honour of the soldiers who perished during the rescue operations.

The most visible monument is placed on top of the Parliamentary buildings. It is an imposing statue of two soldiers operating a machine gun and it is an exact replica of their mission then.

At the height of the Genocide, the RPA fighters at Parliament came under sustained gunfire from the then government troops that had surrounded the Parliament.

For the RPA to contain the fire, they had to place a heavy gun on top of the Parliamentary main building to counter the attackers. One of the soldiers who operated the gun is still active in Rwanda Defence Forces.

The eight rooms within the museum tell a detailed story of the equipment, the life a soldier lived, the rescue missions, from the time of the Arusha Peace Accords to the enemy’s defeat.

If construction of the museum is complete on schedule, it will be unveiled on July 4, when Rwanda marks the 20th liberation anniversary.