Staff at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) Friday paid tribute to former employees who died during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Several government officials attended the event which was held at the ministry headquarters in downtown Kigali.

The Finance Minister, Ambassador Claver Gatete, told participants that it was very important for the ministry to remember the victims because they regarded the institution as their family before they died.

"It’s very vital to pay tribute to our former workers by giving them dignity. They had families and MINECOFIN was their family, so we have to remember them for the good work they did for the country,” he said.

He commended senior members of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) for stopping the 1994 Genocide, which claimed the lives of more than a million Rwandans.

"We had lost our dignity but now we have it back due to good leadership. There is education for all without discrimination, health insurance, and development in the country,” the minister said, urging Rwandans to work hard to catch up on their economic development since they wasted a lot of time under a bad regime that led them to the genocide.

The Executive Secretary of the National Commission to Fight Genocide (CNLG), Jean de Dieu Mucyo, reiterated thanks to the RPF for stopping the genocide and highlighted that remembering the victims shall be an eternal obligation for all Rwandans.

He also pledged continued government support to the survivors of the genocide and he urged them to embrace government’s policy of unity and reconciliation among all Rwandans.

For Dancille Mukandori who worked with MINECOFIN from 1981 up to now, there is enormous testimony about the discrimination that Tutsis who were working at the ministry went through under the dictatorial and discriminatory regime of former president Juvenal Habyarimana. 

She especially testified how they were denied freedom of expression at work, a kind of injustice that she hopes will never happen again as Rwandans work to transform their country.

"We came from far. We have to teach the young generation about the bad impacts of the genocide ideology by urging people to love one another because we are one and let’s strive for self-reliance while developing our country,” Mukandori advised.

The city’s staff also paid tribute the victims who were employed in the former Prefecture de la Ville de Kigali (PVK) that was made up of three communes of Kacyiru, Nyarugenge, and Kicukiro. 

They also remembered victims of the then communes of Gikomero, Kabuga, and Masaka that were not then part of Kigali.

The commemoration ceremony started at the Gisozi Genocide Memorial where they first paid their respects by laying wreaths on the graves of the genocide victims. It was followed by a march from Nyamirambo police station to Nyamirambo regional stadium where other events took place. 

"Every honest Rwandan should commemorate the genocide, if you are not a victim you can remember your neighbours, co-workers, classmates….we are now remembering our people who were in positions we occupy today and we are joining other Rwandans to commemorate stressing on telling the truth about the genocide,” said Fidele Ndayisaba, the Mayor of Kigali City.

Egide Gatari, representative of the genocide survivors’ body, Ibuka, , , saluted the genocide commemoration activities by Kigali City.

He noted that genocide survivors are still face various challenges such as their properties being held by other people, especially those who were taking care of genocide orphans, as well as survivors in their old age who need critical special care and assistance.

"We have 106 cases relating to old age and 121 survivors’ complaints about property,” he said.

Ndayisaba said that officials at Kigali City recognise the mentioned problems and are doing something to resolve them.