In a bid to avoid a clash between two important events, this year’s National Harvest Day, locally known as ‘Umuganura’, has been moved to a yet to be communicated date, according to the Minister for Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu has said.

According to the annual national events calendar, ‘Umuganura’ celebrations fall on August 4, the same day Rwandans will be heading to their polling stations to vote for the country’s next President.

Uwacu, said that while both events are of national importance, ‘Umuganura’ had been postponed to give an opportunity to all Rwandans to fully concentrate on casting their vote.

"We had to postpone the Umuganura day celebrations because the day it was scheduled to take place is the same day we will be having presidential elections. We will be able to communicate the date at a later stage,” she said.

Umuganura dates way back to the ninth century as one of the most important ceremonies celebrated by Rwandans at the beginning of every harvest season to help assess the country’s achievements in terms of harvest both at kingdom and family level.

It served a very crucial role in building national unity, as well as establishing a strong relationship with God through traditional religious practices performed by the King or Queen mother during the festivities.

Umuganura was abolished by colonialists in 1925.

However, it was reinstated in 2011 and it has ultimately developed into a fascinating aspect of revisiting the Rwandan ancient spirit of cohesion, friendship, intimacy as well as mutual support.

Speaking to The New Times, Boniface Rucagu, the chairman of the National Itorero Commission, said that rescheduling the day does not take away its value.

"The election day itself is like Umuganura because voters will be rewarding a candidate of their choice with their votes thanking him for what he has done for them depending on what they feel that they are thankful for.”

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