HUYE - Hundreds of local residents from several villages in Ngoma Sector braved the mid-morning scorching sunshine to attend the 16th Liberation Day celebrations at Huye stadium on Sunday.

There was an air of celebration as local residents, foreign visitors and local leaders joined in song and dance to celebrate the day.

"We have a come a long way,” said 60-year old Aloysie Nyiraminani, "the youth have a duty to consolidate the development path the country has chosen.”

Pascal Sahundu, the Sector Executive Secretary, hailed the decentralization drive that was started in the year 2000, adding that services have been brought closer to the people and that the local population has an important role in determining the development agenda in their respective communities.

"Our challenge today is to make decentralization better, as Sector authorities we pledge better service delivery,” he said.

At the National University of Rwanda (NUR) hundreds of students thronged the university’s main auditorium to celebrate the day.

Francis Kaboneka, a member of the chamber of deputies called upon NUR students to become persons of integrity.

As future leaders, he urged them against corruption, injustice and other vices that seek to undermine the development path the country has taken.

”You are the hope and future of the nation, it is our hope that you will use the knowledge attained from the university to find solutions to the challenges the country is faced with,” said Kaboneka.

Students reiterated their commitment to use their knowledge in nation building upon completion

"We, as future leaders, need to make a difference in the communities that we live in. A good student not only does academic work, but also has to be knowledgeable of what happens around him or her so as to contribute towards seeking solutions,” said Joseph Niyonzima, a 3rd year student in faculty of Medicine

A documentary on the life of the late Fred Gisa Rwigema- one of the country’s Heroes who died during the liberation war was screened at NUR at the end of the function.

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