Nyanza residents urged to support Genocide survivors

RESIDENTS of Nyanza District have been urged to always endeavour to support Genocide survivors, especially the most vulnerable among them, as a way of helping them to uplift their living conditions.The call was made yesterday at an event to welcome the Kwibuka Flame as it completed the fifth leg of its national tour.The torch is set to reach all the 30 districts before the start of the national commemoration week which starts on April 7.The Flame arrived in Nyanza’s Busasasamana Sector from Ruhango District where it had been last Sunday. It will leave Nyanza on Friday and head to Huye District.Thousands of residents, including school children, gathered at Nyanza Stadium to welcome the Flame.Speaking at the event, the Minister for Sports and Culture, Protais Mitali, told residents that the Kwibuka Flame tour is aimed at giving citizens an occasion to reflect much deeper on the causes of the Genocide, discuss strategies to avoid falling into the same dark history and strengthen the ‘never again’ resolve.He said the country has emerged from the darkness of the tragic event and continues its journey to sustainable development.“The Flame is a symbol of the light that is shining over the country, a symbol of good health and development that prevail in the country and is an indication that genocide will never happen again,” Mitali said.He encouraged them to “allow light to shine into your lives” and “to take it into the lives of others.”Particularly, he called upon residents to always endeavour to support Genocide survivors, especially widows and orphans whom he said need special attention and support from the community.“We should endeavour to support vulnerable survivors and help them move from the delicate situation they have found themselves in,” Mitali said.Call for truthMitali also encouraged Nyanza residents to embrace Ndi Umunyarwanda as a way of championing truth and open discussions about the country’s past and future.He said the country went through difficult times but that it is successfully heading to becoming a successful and model nation.“We have moved out of darkness and today shines the light of hope into a better future,” Mitali said, adding that continued quest for truth will help build a united community, which he says is critical to the nation’s future.“It is our common responsibility to make every effort to champion the truth and contribute to healing the broken hearts,” he said.The minister called on anyone with information on the whereabouts of Genocide victims to speak out so that their remains could be accorded decent burial.Immaculee Kayitesi, a survivor, gave an emotional testimony of how Tutsis were hunted down and killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.She said in the build up to the Genocide, Tutsis in the district were denied employment and those who had been at the helm of some government institutions and schools fired from their positions.“That could have been an indication to us that something bad was under preparation but we were unaware of the plans to exterminate us,” Kayitesi said.When the Genocide broke out on April 6 in other parts of the country, killings didn’t start immediately in Nyanza, she testified.Improved lifeKayitesi paid tribute to the former Busasamana bourgoumestre Jean Marie Vianney Gisagara, whom she said vehemently opposed the killings.“He was killed with his family and his body was then displayed in Nyanza town as a way of demonstrating to citizens that anyone who dared to oppose the killings would pay dearly,” Kayitesi said.She reserved a special mention for the former Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) for stopping the Genocide, saying: “We won’t forget the sacrifice they made to save us and the entire country.”She said Genocide survivors have managed to transform their lives from deplorable to more improved conditions.Kayitesi said she started a mini milk processing plant which produces yoghurt and other dairy products.Kayitesi urged other survivors to work hard to improve their livelihood, saying “there is room for improvement.”

National

Nyanza residents urged to support Genocide survivors