GATSIBO/NYAGATRE - 58 cases of trauma were, on Thursday, registered among survivors in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts during the 17th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

According to officials from both districts, 38 cases were registered in Gatsibo, while 20 were recorded in Nyagatare district.

Speaking to The New Times, Esperance Uwimpuhwe, Gatsibo Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs, said that most of the victims were from Murambi Sector, the home and killing base of former Mayor, Jean Baptiste Gatete.
Gatete was recently sentenced to life imprisonment by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTRfor his role in the Genocide.

"Many trauma cases were  recorded in Murambi Sector where the commemoration was held at the district level,” she said.

Uwimpuhwe added that other cases were registered in Kiziguro and Kiramuruzi sectors.
"All those who were taken to the hospital were shortly discharged,” she disclosed.

During the commemoration, the district Mayor, Ambrose Ruboneza, urged survivors not to be held back by bitter memories, saying that the government supports their development initiatives.

In Nyagatare, the Vice Mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Charlotte Musabyimana, said that those traumatised were steadily recovering.

"We had many cases of trauma, especially at Umutara Polytechnic University where we held a night vigil. Other few cases were in Karangazi, Rwempasha and Mimuri sectors. But all have since recovered,” she said.

Musabyimana added that the district has deployed two people in each sector to continuously monitor and treat trauma-related cases.

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