Access Bank Rwanda pays tribute to Genocide victims

Access Bank Rwanda staff at the weekend visited Nyanza Genocide Memorial Site in Kicukiro District to pay tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Monday, April 18, 2016
Access Bank management lay wreaths at the graves to honor victims. (Courtesy)

Access Bank Rwanda staff at the weekend visited Nyanza Genocide Memorial Site in Kicukiro District to pay tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Jean Claude Karayenzi, Access Bank Rwanda managing director, said the visit aimed to not only commemorate but also educate their staff most of whom are young.

"The average age of our staff is 27 years and they are young and need to know the truth. With this visit, they are well informed about what happened,” he said.

"The visit is very important for us. We usually watch movies and documentaries about the Genocide against the Tutsi. But we have to come to memorial sites to feel it.”

Marie Goreth Dusabe, a staffer, said the visit motivated them to take responsibility to take part in the fight against genocide ideology so it never happens again.

"It is not the first time we are visiting a memorial site. But as we do this regularly, we are reminded that we have to fight against denial and revisionism,” she said.

Sophie Nsabeyezu, a guide at the memorial site, explained the history of the genocide and the horror victims went though.

She lauded Access Bank Rwanda staffers’ visit, explaining that it is part of ways to fight against denial and revisionism of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

"When we see people coming to visit us and honor victims, it is a sign that many are committed to fight the genocide ideology, thus revives our hope that it will not happen again,” Nsabeyezu said.

Access Bank Rwanda staff laid wreaths on graves, home to 11,000 victims of the Genocide including about 3000 who were cruelly murdered after the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from ETO Kicukiro, now IPRC Kigali.

After the visit, Access Bank staff were briefly given a lecture on this year’s commemoration theme and watched a documentary about the Genocide against the Tutsi.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw