SOUTHERN PROVINCE NYAMAGABE — Students and Staff from the School of Finance and Banking on Monday paid homage to over 50,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who are buried at the Murambi Genocide Memorial site.
SOUTHERN PROVINCE
NYAMAGABE — Students and Staff from the School of Finance and Banking on Monday paid homage to over 50,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who are buried at the Murambi Genocide Memorial site.
Francois Rusanganwa, a guide at the memorial told the visiting SFB community that Genocide in the former Gikongoro Province started way back in the 1950’s.
"Genocide was been undertaken on a small scale here before being applied on a grand level, countrywide in 1994. There were killings of the Tutsi in 1953, 1963 in this part of the country, forcing many Tutsi to flee to places like Rukumbeli in the Eastern Province,” said Rusanganwa.
Students and staff were taken a round eleven rooms containing some preserved bodies of the victims of Genocide at Murambi, before laying wreaths on the graves of the victims.
"Thirty of my family members are buried at this memorial site,” said Emmanuel Murangira, a survivor of Murambi. There were emotional scenes at the memorial as traumatised students wailed uncontrollably.
"This is a bitter lesson for humanity, Genocide should never happen again any where in the world,” said Diana Mbabazi, a third-year Accounting student.
"The youth should spearhead the campaign against Genocide ideology whose repercussions we have seen and never want to see again,” added Bob Shema a fourth-year Finance student.
The SFB community, after the tour of the memorial held a discussion session where different persons who called for a need by the youth to inculcate a new focus and vision.
Rogers Muragije, the SFB vice Rector in charge of Finance called upon the students and staff to draw critical lessons on life from what happened at Murambi.
"The gruesome nature of how Genocide was carried out here should be enough motivation for you to fight against anything that would seek to lead us back into the dark past,” said Muragije.
"True testimony of what happened in Rwanda,” Muragije wrote in the visitor’s book. The SFB community donated Rwf.300 000 towards the maintenance of the memorial.
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