A group of Rwandan fans for English Premier League side Liverpool on Sunday visited a mass grave of Genocide victims in Mukarange Sector in Kayonza District, Eastern Province where they laid a wreath before donating goats and an assortment of household items to over 20 families of survivors in Mwili Sector in the same district.

About 8,074 remains of Genocide victims are interred at the site which authorities in the area say is on course to being transformed into a Genocide memorial. 

The event, which also involved a ‘walk to remember’ from Kayonza town to the mass grave, was graced by Kayonza District vice mayor Jean Damascene Harerimana. 

"Before being a Liverpool fan, we are Rwandans and it’s our responsibility to help build this country. It’s in that context that we decided to visit this place and support Genocide survivors, we pledge to continue this in the coming years, we are determined to contribute anything so that this site can be a memorial site,” said Dr Alex Mutangana, the group’s national coordinator

After paying their respects, the Liverpool fans proceeded to Nyawera village in Mwili Sector where they donated 16 goats, 500 kilogrammes of different types of foodstuff and a solar panel to over 20 families that were directly affected by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal fans in Rwanda have increasingly undertaken activities to support vulnerable citizens across the country, including extending support to Genocide survivors especially between April and July when the country commemorates the Genocide that claimed that lives of more than a million of its people.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw