WESTERN PROVINCE

RUBAVU — The Rubavu district Mayor Celestine Twagirayezu has called upon residents to leave their physical and ethnic differences and work hard towards the development of the country. He said that Rwandan culture was characterised by unity and togetherness in solving issues in communities.

"We should look beyond being Hutus, Tutsis and Twas to being Rwandans who are ready to work in unity towards the development of not only our households but also our mother country,” he advised.

He made the remarks recently while officially launching the district Unity and Reconciliation week in the area. The function took place at the Kanzenze Sector.

"Former leaders used our differences to destroy the country, although we were people with the same culture and language, colonialist and former Rwandan dictators used minor ethnic differences to divide Rwandans which later on resulted into the 1994 Genocide,” he added.

Gabriel Murwanashaka, an official from the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC), said that true reconciliation starts from an individual wrong doer, to his victim and then to God.

"We need to reconcile among our selves before we go ahead to reconcile with the people we wronged. One needs to first admit his crime, go ahead to apologise and reconcile with the people he wronged, then he will have reconciled with God,” he told thousands of residents who turned up for the launch.

He explained that the unity and reconciliation week was a time for all Rwandans to evaluate reconciliation progress in their respective communities and neighbourhoods and to say ‘never again’ to the ‘useless and destructive’ genocide ideology.

The Kanzenze Sector coordinator, Daniel Rugomboka, said that his area the residents have managed to overcome divisions due to the efforts of leaders to educate them.

"We have preached unity from the Mudugudu (village) to the Sector levels, the Sector currently has over 300 convicts serving their sentences in community work (TIG) who are constructing houses meant for the Genocide survivors. Our continuous education to the people has helped residents to accept the people (in TIG) in the communities and have worked together during community work to construct houses for the survivors and the disabled,” said Rugomboka.

He disclosed that  the Sector has also created and supported Unity and Reconciliation Clubs in both primary and secondary schools and has organised debating competitions on unity and reconciliation- which he said will provide children with a good and strong unity and reconciliation foundation to help them grow into united and responsible future Rwandans.

Ends