Hundreds in Uganda pay tribute to Genocide victims

Hundreds of mourners yesterday thronged the Lambu Memorial Centre in Uganda to pay tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Prayers marked the ceremony and hymns as well as laying of wreaths on mass graves at the centre. The graves contain close to 4,000 remains of victims who were killed and thrown into rivers, their bodies finally ending up on the shores of Lake Victoria. The mourners, led by the guest of honor , Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Frank Mugambage, condemned Genocide propagators and revisionists. Mugambage underscored the importance of remembering the victims of Genocide, adding that memory honors the dead and bestows dignity to the survivors. In reference to the FDLR rebel group still operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he called on the mourners to resolve to always stand up to challenge genocidal ideology, hate campaigns and divisionism. “The unity of Rwandans is strong enough to defeat these negative forces whenever and wherever they are,” Mugambage told his audience, which included heads of diplomatic missions in Uganda and religious leaders. He announced that there are plans to upgrade the Genocide sites into international centres of learning. Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Uganda DegefeBula called for the upholding the notion of‘ Never Again’. Shasha Kiwewesi, a pastor at Kasanga Miracle Centre prayed for love among people and prayed to God to continue giving the leadership in Rwanda more wisdom to defeat Genocide deniers and propagators. Mhamood Noordin Thobani, a Ugandan businessman who played a significant role in preserving the bodies, donated the land on which the site is established. In his speech, Thobani announced a donation of 50 bicycles to Genocide survivors in Rwanda, and called for renewed efforts in fighting revisionism. “All the facts are there to see. How does anybody stand firm and deny that the Genocide in Rwanda didn’t happen? ” he wondered. Thobani added that he will work closely with the Rwanda High in upgrading the memorial sites, starting with Ggolo memorial site which is not only home to the largest number victims, but is also more accessible compared to Lambu in Masaka district and Kasensero in Rakai district. A delegation of members of Humura, an organisation of Genocide survivors in Rwanda led by its president, Alfred Rudodo attended the event. “We want to thank the Rwanda Patriotic Front which put a stop to the massacres, otherwise all of us here would be in these graves,” Rudodo, told the mourners. On Friday, over 200 members of the Rwandan community living in Entebbe held a night to remember in which the mourners called for a spirited fight against Genocide.

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Hundreds in Uganda pay tribute to Genocide victims