First Lady Jeannette Kagame on Saturday, April 20, attended the commemoration of the late Queen Rosalie Gicanda, who was killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in Butare.
In the commemoration held at the former Royal Palace in Rukari, the First Lady joined Gicanda's family, friends, residents of Nyanza District as well as local authorities from Southern Province.
The First Lady and the relatives of Gicanda laid wreaths at Mwima Mausoleum in honour of the late Queen.
The last Queen of Rwanda and wife of King Mutara III Rudahigwa, Gicanda was killed on April 20, 1994, at the orders of Capt Ildephonse Nizeyimana, a commander in the genocidal regime's army.
Gicanda was born in 1928. Her killers came to her home, where she lived with her elderly mother, in Butare in the morning of April 20 and took her away with six children. Her mother died three days later due to lack of medication.
Those who knew Queen Gicanda remember her for her generosity, humility, calmness, and kindness.
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"People would come to see her and she would give them milk. She is the Queen who lived by love and peace," said Martin Mudenderi, a Catholic priest who knew Gicanda for the 30 years she lived in Butare after she had been relocated from the Royal Palace.
"Rosalie Gicanda was a queen who knew how to correct people humbly and gave them good advice. She was a Queen who was characterised by uprightness, bravery, and humility."
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Gicanda's relatives extended their appreciation to the First Family for support in the search for the Queen's body and burial.
Protais Mutembe who spoke on behalf of the Queen's family, noted that the Queen endured three decade's discrimination and humiliation at the hands of politicians who preached hate and discord among Rwandans.
"Every Rwandan should remember what has happened in this country since 1959. It is incredible that the leadership of a country can claim to have the right to sow discrimination and hate among the people," Mutembe said.
"Then they should no longer be called the leaders; they should lose their positions. Discord was also present among religious leaders."
"Evil was praised in the place of good," said Mutembe, adding that it was condemnable that killers who did not spare children, the elderly, the unborn and the weak were to be rewarded.
He appreciated the fact that the country had moved away from hate and embraced unity, even as the journey remained long.
"We are confident that kindness, tolerance and truth will triumph over hate, and lies, if we continue to embrace the noble choice of unity of Rwandans that our leadership always reminds us."
Minister of National Unity and Civic Education Jean Damascene Bizimana said that although Queen Gicanda did not survive the Genocide against the Tutsi, today, her wish for a unified Rwanda has been fulfilled.
"The blessings that Queen Rosalie Gicanda wished for Rwanda have been received. [RPF-Inkotanyi] have delivered these blessings. Rwanda today belongs to all of us, as she wished it before her killers murdered her for who she was."