Rwandans across the country have been called on to uphold the same values that national heroes cherished and promoted.

This was the message several officials delivered in different parts of the country as citizens converged in their respective neighborhoods to celebrate the Heroes Day yesterday.

In Musanze District, Northern Province, hundreds of residents gathered at Ninda Cell, Nyange Sector where the event was characterised by patriotic songs and poems reflecting on how some Rwandans put national interests above their own, many of them eventually paying the ultimate price.

Aimé Bosenibamwe, Governor, Northern Province, said Heroes Day was an opportunity to pay tribute to those that sacrificed all to remove a genocidal regime that had entrenched ethnic and regional based politics, among other social ills.

Bosenibamwe urged residents to embrace unity and work toward consolidating what the country had achieved thus far.

"Heroes whom we remember today had an option to stay in their comforts but they opted to stand for a better Rwanda,” he said, singling out Maj. Gen. Fred Gisa Rwigema and former Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana – two of the celebrated fallen national heroes.

The governor reminded residents that they should be vigilant and ensure that the Northern region, with areas that border restive eastern DR Congo where some of the elements blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are still active, remains peaceful.

Elsewhere, in Kinoni Sector, Burera District, Northern Province, Senator Narcisse Musabeyezu told the residents that the prevailing peace and security, and socio-economic development did not come on a silver platter, saying it was the responsibility of every Rwandan to ensure that further progress is registered.

Residents who spoke to The New Times hailed the heroes who gave up any privileges they enjoyed and instead dedicated their youthful life to the liberation of Rwanda.

"We know that our heroes did make the country how it is today, it was not easy for a woman like Agathe Uwilingiyimana to oppose (President Juvenal) Habyarimana’s regime, she knew well that she could die in the process but she kept opposing the then government’s divisive policies,” said Beatrice Mukabarame, a mother of four, resident of Nyange sector.

More awareness, participation

In Kigali, Senate president Bernard Makuza led other leaders and families of celebrated national heroes to lay wreaths at the Heroes Mausoleum in Remera, Kigali.

Residents said Heroes Day was an occasion to yet again reflect on the selflessness of the country’s heroes in the quest to have a better country.

Epiphanie Kaneza, the president of Mpazi Village in Kimisagara Sector, Nyarugenge District, said the students of Nyange Secondary School in the western district of Rutsiro demonstrated the Ndi Umunyarwanda virtues by defying their eventual killers’ orders to separate themselves along ethnic lines.

"The Genocide against the Tutsi happened because heroism lacked and cowardice reigned. If all people had embraced Ndi Umunyarwanda then, the Genocide would not have occured,” she said.

Many said that taking the celebrations to the village level was crucial because discussions were tailored to realities in every community and allowed more people to participate as opposed to previous events when focus was on the national or provincial level events.

Saro Alphonse, 12, a Primary Five pupil and resident of Kiberinka Village in Nyamirambo Sector, Nyarugenge, said he draws inspiration from Rwandan heroes, especially those that were at the centre of launching and ensuring the success of the 1990-94 liberation struggle.

He said he wants to be a medical doctor so as to build a hospital to treat the vulnerable.

The head of Kiberinka Village, Alice Mbabazi, said taking Heroes’ Day celebrations to the village level allowed messages about heroism to reach the grassroots.

"On average my guess is that about 300 people participate in each village during such events,” she said.

At different sites in the Southern Province, residents were told to recommit to nation building in order to carry on the legacy of the country’s celebrated heroes.

In Nyanza District, students and residents staged a parade in front of several leaders to mark the day. Traditional songs and dances hailing the national heroes were also performed.

In the footsteps of heroes

Speaking at the function, MP Rose Mukantabana told residents that Heroes Day was an occasion to reflect on the sacrifices that Rwandan heroes had made to make their country a better place, and urged them to always draw lessons from them.

She told them that everyone had an opportunity to make a positive impact in their communities by emulating the national heroes.

"When you stand for what is right, be virtuous and honest and be at the service of the community without expecting any rewards,” she said.

"But when you defraud others, misuse public funds or betray the trust put in you, you are a villain.”

In Huye District, the Mayor, Eugene Kayiranga Muzuka, urged participants, who included mainly secondary school and university students, to shun anything that might divide them to help protect the country’s gains and advance development.

"The youth should remain patriotic and always ready to defend what is right,” Muzuka said. "They should also stand ready to step into the footsteps of the Heroes we are celebrating today by following their example.”

In Kamonyi District, Southern Province Governor Alphonse Munyantwari, joined local residents in the Heroes Day celebrations in Runda.

Munyantwari told local residents that Rwanda has an obligation to remember and honour its heroes and heroines in order to keep learning from them and ensure that the legacy they left remains alive.

"We should all learn from them and live our lives in a way that will leave a positive legacy behind as our heroes did,” he said.

Across the country, the discussions evolved around the theme ‘Heroism of Rwandans, Our Dignity”.

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