A national public speaking competition which will attract students from various secondary schools, countrywide, kicked off in Kigali.The competition, under the theme; ‘Civil Courage in War and Genocide’, aims to encourage students to actively and constructively participate in the forthcoming commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and is organised by Never Again-Rwanda.  Students are expected to write and present their own compositions either in English or French.The first phase of the competition, held at Green Hills Academy, attracted 32 students from eight schools within Kigali.Four students emerged victorious and are scheduled to attend the final competition that will be held two weeks from now.They are Gloria Igihozo, Ian Manzi (both from Green Hills Academy), and Riviera High School’s Isaac Manzi and Nadia Ecyomuhendo. Upon receiving a certificate of appreciation and a bag pack containing an assortment of scholastic materials, Ian Manzi, who was the overall winner, could not hide his excitement.He told The New Times he was not surprised by his victory. "I did enough preparations, and with the help of my teachers, I could see myself becoming one of the best students,” a joyous Manzi said.In his composition, Manzi talked about how ordinary people rise through the ranks to become heroes."Someone’s character can drive them to do great things to save people during war or genocide. That was the source of my inspiration,” he said.Meanwhile, in the run-up to next month’s final national competition, two other local competitions will be held in Huye and Rubavu next weekend.According to Jean Baptiste Hategekimana, the peace building programme coordinator at Never Again, participants from six schools from Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo are also scheduled to attend. "We decided to make it cross-border because it’s vital to have a common understanding on war and genocide in the entire region,” he said.