NYANZA - The Mayor of Nyanza district, Abdallah Murenzi, has asked residents to be courageous in restoring self-respect and rebuilding the country 16 years after the genocide.

Murenzi made the remarks during the genocide commemoration held in Nyanza cell, last week.

Local leaders and residents also paid tribute to over 5,000 genocide victims laid to rest at the Genocide memorial sites in Kavumu and Nyanza, in Bweramana sector.

"All Rwandans need to build a certain level of self confidence and live on. This calls for heroism and working towards a brighter  future within the whole community,” Murenzi said.

He also called for punitive measures against residents who still perpetuate genocide ideology and threaten lives of others in the community.

The Mayor also pledged that the district will continue soliciting for more support in order to address the current problem of housing for survivors. The district has so far constructed 1,600 houses for survivors.

The representative of Nyanza survivors, Jean Pierre Ngirishuti, said convicts who have evaded arrest pose a threat to survivors and authorities need to bring them to book.

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