The Minister of Local Government Protais Musoni has refuted claims that the recent grenade attack on Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre was part of a wider campaign against Genocide survivors.

On Thursday evening, policeman Ignace Munyantamati who was on guard at the main gate of the Gisozi-based memorial was killed, and another injured when an unknown person threw a grenade at them at about 7:15pm.

That incident occurred within five minutes of another incident in which a driver rammed a minibus into a procession of mourners near Kigali Institute of Management (KIM), killing one student and injuring four others. The dead was identified as Fred Gasasira, a first year student.

The group had just returned from laying wreaths on the graves of Genocide victims near the institute in Nyandungu, Kigali.

The mourners – most of them KIM students – were on the roadside, and the "accident" occurred after the speeding driver abandoned his lane and crossed to the opposite side.

"It is unfortunate that these incidents happened during Genocide mourning week. However, police are investigating both cases," Musoni told journalists on Friday.

Musoni is the first official to publicly claim that the incidents were not targeted at Genocide survivors, as many other officials and observers have connected them to the campaign against Genocide commemoration activities and violence against survivors.

Police is holding the driver but is yet to arrest anybody linked with the museum attack. Police Commissioner General Andrew Rwigamba on Friday refrained from taking a clear stand on both incidents and urged the public to wait for the outcome of the investigations.

Almost ten survivors have been killed this year alone by Genocide suspects who seek to destroy any evidence that could work against them in courts.

The country yesterday completed a one-week official mourning week in commemoration of the over one million people who perished in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis.

Ends