KARONGI - Staff members and partners of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) over the weekend, paid respect to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Bisesero, Karongi District.

During the same event, the ministry staff raised Rwf 867, 500 for the maintenance of the memorial.

Shortly after laying wreaths at mass graves where over 6,000 victims are laid to rest, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Hategeka, pledged social and financial support to survivors.

"As we remember the innocent lives that perished in 1994, one of our priorities is to support the survivors to lead better lives once again,” Hategeka told mourners.

He encouraged the survivors to come up with developmental projects that would economically empower them.

Hategeka challenged the public to emulate the endurance and resilience exhibited by those who perished in Bisesero by divulging details about the Genocide to younger generations.

Residents in the area were renowned for their bravery in resisting attacks using bows and arrows, stones and sticks to suppress the assaults by armed soldiers belonging to the genocidal regime.

60-year old Aaron Gakoko, one of the survivors shared his testimony.

"With the limited defence equipment, I managed to hit an armed soldier before he could kill us all. That is how some of us survived,” Gakoko said.

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