WESTERN PROVINCE

RUBAVU — Rubavu district mayor Celestine Twagirayezu has called upon residents to support genocide survivors.

Twagirayezu said this last Tuesday during the Rubavu district level function to mark the 15th commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsis which was held in Gisenyi town.

‘As we commemorate the 15th year after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi that claimed over a million innocent lives, we should be aware that the survivors need support. We should all work hard and pool our resources  to provide moral and technical support to the  district’s efforts to construct houses for the poor and homeless survivors,’ he said.

He called for forgiveness and reconciliation among residents of Rubavu district and the western province at large. He however reiterated the fact that justice should be respected.

‘We are in the second phase of Gacaca and we should all support its proceedings to ensure justice is provided to all’, he explained.

‘This should be a time to focus on what happened and to use the occasion to forge a commonality to take a journey into the future’, he said.

During the commemoration The New Times spoke to some participants.

Eugene Mugwaneza a survivor upon being asked to comment on the occasion said that  Genocide memorials and commemorations  are vital especially to the survivors and the nation at large.

‘These are always difficult times because we remember the horror that visited us. But these  are also honored moments because it’s a time we pray for the souls of our families and friends who  perished during the genocide’, he explained.

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