The visiting Secretary General of South Africa’s ruling party, African National Congress (ANC), has urged all African countries to strengthen their cooperation in fighting for their freedom and stability.
Ace Magashule made the call on Monday in Kigali, shortly after touring the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi, where more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are buried.
Magashule said that what happened in Rwanda 25 years ago was the result of Africa’s colonisation and is a reminder that African unity is important now more than ever in order to fight for the continent’s peace and stability.
"Africa must always stay united. The struggle continues,” the official wrote in the guest book shortly after visiting the memorial.
ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule and his delegation are taken through the history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi inside the Kigali Genocide Memorial yesterday. Sam Ngendahimana.
Mugashule and his ANC delegation are in the country at the invitation of their counterparts, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi), to take part in activities to mark the 25th anniversary of Liberation Day.
Rwandans across the country will on Thursday this week celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Liberation Day, reflecting on the time when Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 was stopped and citizens embarked on a long journey to transform their country and lives.
For Magashule, the Genocide in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of more than a million Rwandans, shouldn’t have happened because there is only one human race in the world and people ought to live together in harmony.
"Humanity is humanity; there is no colour, there is no race, there is no ethnicity, there is no tribalism. We are one world; we are all human beings and we must live in peace and harmony,” he said in an interview at the memorial.
But he noted that the genocide in Rwanda and other discrimination policies across the continent, such as Apartheid in his own country, were a result of colonisation and remain a wake-up call that Africans must work together to keep up the fight for their rights.
"It reminds us of what colonialism did to Africa. We must not forget that as Africans we must at all time stay vigilant so that we continue (the struggle) because there is counter revolution. When our countries are stable, there are those who will try and destabilise and take us further steps backwards,” he said.
The official also commented on current frosty relations between Rwanda and South Africa, which is mostly due to the fact that Pretoria still hosts some Rwandans sought by Kigali for criminal cases, and indicated that they will soon be harmonised.
"We know that and are busy with that. I know that the ministers of international relations and the presidents are dealing with those challenges and we are very hopeful that sooner than later things will be fine,” he said.
During their stay in Rwanda, Magashule and his delegation also met and interacted with their counterparts at the RPF-Inkotanyi as well as visited the Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ).
Most specifically, the delegation was hosted to a working lunch yesterday by the Secretary-General of RPF-Inkotanyi, François Ngarambe, with whom they discussed matters of bilateral cooperation.
During their engagement, the two leaders renewed their commitment to deepen partnership for the benefit of the peoples of both countries.
editor@newtimesrwanda.com