President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame on Wednesday, October 16, attended the farewell ceremony held in honour of former minister Col (rtd) Joseph Karemera, who passed away on October 11.

The ceremony, held at Parliament, was also attended by Karemera’s friends and family, senior military and government officials.

Karemera had been battling cancer. He was 70.

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Karemera served in various positions including as Rwanda’s first Minister of Health after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and Minister of Education. He also served as a Senator and Rwanda’s High Commissioner to South Africa.

A medical doctor by training, the retired Colonel was among the founding members of the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army, which liberated Rwanda in 1994 and stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi.