SOUTHERN PROVINCE

HUYE — Students who will be implicated in genocide ideology will no longer be admitted in any school in the country, the deputy speaker of Parliament Denis Polisi has warned.

Addressing pupils of Ecole Notre Dame de la Providence, on Genocide ideology in the country, Polisi said strong punitive measure await students harbouring genocide ideology which may include but not limited to denial to admission in any school in the country.

The deputy speaker told an attentive audience comprising of pupils and teachers, that a law criminalizing the vice has been passed, and every body including teachers and students would be prosecuted once implicated.

He said: "The law stipulates that any pupil found guilty of harbouring the Genocide ideology be denied admission in any school in the country. Such a child can also be prosecuted in the courts of law when he or she turns the prescribed age."

Parents of errant children will also be held responsible for their children’s conduct and if found to be accomplices, such parents are liable to serve a jail term of 15 years, to life imprisonment like all other adults guilty of the crime, he added.

This is the second time legislators are traversing the country in a concerted effort to stem genocide ideology in schools; which was first revealed by a damning report of a parliamentary commission late last year.

Pupils at the school were lectured on the genesis of the ethic problem in Rwanda. "Hutu, Tutsi and Twa are not ethnic groupings but rather social stratifications. Colonialists used them in a bid to entrench their divide and rule policy as is the case in the whole region," said Polisi.

He reminded the pupils about the danger inherent in the Genocide ideology stressing that the 1994 Genocide in which about 1 million Rwandans died, was the climax of this ideology which was deep rooted among citizens over the years.

He told the pupils that given their tender age, changing their mindsets is much easier than the older generation.

Polisi hailed the school’s administration for their vigilance in keeping the vice at bay; because there were no such cases reported in the school.

Pupils expressed appreciation for the lessons especially on the genesis of the ethnic problem in Rwanda. "The lecture was rich in content. We request the authorities to avail us with reading material on the history of Rwanda and any other results of research done on the ethnic divisions in Rwanda," requested Clementine Uwamaliya, a senior five student.

The Headmistress of the school, Sister Gorreti Mukarubyiza, called upon pupils to work together for unity in the country. She urged them to disseminate the message home to their parents and other residents.

Earlier in the day, Polisi met with teachers of the school with whom he discussed ways of including the campaign against the Genocide ideology in their lessons.

Ends