Defence minister James Kabarebe has urged Rwandan youth to prepare for a new form of liberation struggle that involve sustaining the current development, and unity and reconciliation of Rwandans.

Kabarebe was yesterday officiating at the closing ceremony of a weeklong civic training, dubbed ‘Urunana rw’Urungano youth forum’, which convened 754 youths at the Rwanda Defence Forces Combat Training Centre in Gabiro.

This ‘Urunana rw’Urungano’ is organised by the Ministry of Youth & ICT in collaboration with the Ministries of Sports and Culture, Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, Defense, Health, and Education; but also government and non-governmental institutions, including the National Itorero Commission, the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, among others.

Participants range from 21 to 35 years, and come from communities in Rwanda, and abroad, more specifically from Belgium, China, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Maroc, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Youth coming from abroad include children of Rwandan refugees, who to this day, still have not come back to Rwanda since 1994.​​

Topics covered during this Itorero were on the history of Rwanda; the uniqueness of its youth through time; the nation’s development vision and the role of its youth; entrepreneurship; identifying and coping with trauma. Speakers throughout this weeklong Itorero included Minister of Youth & ICT Jean-Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Sports and Culture Julienne Uwacu, Minister of Local Government Francis Kaboneka, Governor of Southern Province Rose Mureshyankwano, Chairman of Itorero Commission Boniface Rucagu, Dr Bizimana Jean-Damascene (CNLG)​, Honourable Edouard Bamporiki, Honourable Cecile Murumunawabo, Dep. Director of Cabinet in the President’s Office Nelly Mukazayire, Head of the Health Unit at Imbuto Foundation Geraldine Umutesi, Charles Habonimana from GAERG, and young entrepreneurs Christelle Kwizera and Yves Iradukunda.

Kabarebe said Rwanda endured a difficult past, but the current leadership has managed to lay a firm foundation that needs passionate, visionary and patriotic young Rwandans who will sustain and continue the socio-economic development of the country.

From personal experience

Kabarebe took time to share his military experience to inform the young people of Rwanda’s liberation journey and the sacrifices made by the youth of yesteryear to build a better nation.

"We were young people between 18 to 35 years, who came to liberate the country, and later stopped the Genocide. We all wanted to return home and fight for justice and identity,” Kabarebe said.

"We all came with a genuine purpose, humility and focus. We didn’t have special weapons compared to our enemies, nor were we big in number, but we defeated them because we fought for a cause: truth and justice.”

Kabarebe narrated his life’s journey as a boy, from a difficult background; living in a refugee camp in Kibondo in Eastern Province in 1982 as an internally displaced person until the time he joined Uganda’s guerrilla war in 1984 led by current Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Kabarebe later joined fellow young Rwandans to form Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) that liberated Rwanda and stopped the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

"Right from 1990, we knew that in 1991 other people would come in and others would lose their lives. But we wanted people who would continue fighting from the liberation struggle and would put an end to the Genocide ideology. We wanted to set a new beginning; setting the foundation for generations of Rwandans that are liberated in all aspects of life,” he said.

He noted that his generation played their role, including engaging in an armed liberation struggle.

"You are here to sustain what we have achieved so far and forge a better future for your own children and the generations to come. Your struggle is to liberate some Rwandans from wrong ideologies, from poverty and from illiteracy,” Kabarebe said.

He said the gallant men and women who fought the liberation war and stopped the Genocide articulate their stories "not to boast about the liberation war and such things but to prepare others for what lies ahead.”

The minister said the current generation of young and old should seek unity and Rwandan spirit (Ubunyarwanda).

Participants hailed the leaders for sharing their testimonies, saying they were instrumental in helping them understand the history of Rwanda and how the leadership wants them to be part of national development agenda.

Angelique Uwase, one of the participants, born of rape during the Genocide, said being part of Itorero had helped her to gracefully accept her new identity as a ‘Rwandan and not a child born of rape.’

This has inspired me to serve my country with dignity, she said. Her testimony was later reinforced by Minister Kabarebe, who reminded her that her nation fully recognises her rights as a Rwandan citizen who is entitled to the same opportunities as her peers, and who cannot be held responsible for her parents’ actions.

Participants who joined yesterday’s closing ceremony also included Bertrand Kamurindi and Dominique Ingabire, whose pregnant mother was found unconscious during the Genocide and whose life was saved by the Rwandan Patriotic Army, thanks to her children who refused to leave as they were telling the unit led by Kabarebe, that their mother was still in the area.

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