The management and staff of Canal+ Rwanda on Monday, April 26, paid a visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial to honour victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi interred at the memorial.

The visit aimed at understanding how the Genocide was prepared and executed with view to help ensure a similar tragedy does not happen anywhere in the world again.

Sophie Tchatchoua, the Managing Director of Canal+ Rwanda, said the company paid a visit to the Genocide Memorial not only to learn the history of the Genocide but also to pay their respects to the victims.

"Canal+ Rwanda really wishes to be part of such an act of solidarity. We are here to learn and understand as we honour all the victims resting in peace,” she added.

Kigali Genocide Memorial is home to over 250 000 Tutsi victims killed during the 1994 Genocide which cost over a million lives of Tutsi.

During the visit, the employees of the visual and audio company toured Memorial site’s mass grave to have a glimpse of how the Genocide was prepared until 1994 when over a million of Tutsi were slain in just 100 days.

Tchatchoua said it was important that employees at Canal+ Rwanda to visit Kigali Genocide Memorial to better understand the tragic past of their country.

"It is important to visit a place like this because it’s a testimony that makes everybody remember and when we remember, we honour the victims, we can’t forget them. We hope that nothing similar (genocide) happens anywhere in the world,” she said.

Laetitia Isimbi, one of the employees at Canal+ Rwanda who took part in the visit, said it was important to honour the victims of Genocide against the Tutsi because they deserve respect.

She also said that from the history of the genocide she is inspired to fight genocide denial.

"Personally, I was not in the country when the Genocide happened but I have relatives and friends who lost their families during that time. We came to visit this memorial site to give all the victims the value and respect they deserve. I have them in my heart and this gives me a reason to play my part to ensure that it does not happen again,” Isimbi said.

"For those who deny Genocide against the Tutsi, we, as the young generation, are and will always be here to make sure that the history that our country went through does not happen.” 

Canal+ Rwanda is a subsidiary of Canal+ International.

It is a key player in Rwanda’s visual and audio industry.

Launched in November 2020, Canal+ Rwanda seeks to enhance the country’s arts including movies, sports, music while enabling them to reach wider audiences across the African continent and globally.

Canal+ Rwanda employees lay a wreath at Kigali Genocide Memorial in honour of Genocide victims on Monday, April 26. Photo: Craish Bahizi.