Unity and reconciliation through sports

The national unity and reconciliation commission (NURC), in conjunction with the secretariat of Travaux d’Intérêt Général or Works for General Interest (TIG) held a football match between the former prisoners who are now in TIG and the citizens of Gahanga sector, Kicukiro. This took place in Gahanga sector yesterday. The aim of this match, according to the president of the NURC Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, was to continue building a sense of trust between those who committed the Genocide and are now in TIG, and the Genocide survivors. It was also held to convey a message of fighting the genocide ideology as a way of continuous building of unity and reconciliation. “We got this idea after touring the whole country holding talks with the prisoners who showed concern of the mistrust between them and the people with whom they were working. So we decided to introduce this get-together through sports,” he explained. The TIG of Gahanga is comprised of 533 prisoners. These have participated in many community development activities which include constructing 12 kilometers of the Gahanga road, building 37 houses for survivors in Gahanga sector and 30 hectares of terraces. In his remarks, the vice president of the National Secretariat of TIG Anastase Nabahire thanked the NURC for thinking about this idea which was going to play a very big role in the reconciliation process. TIG was introduced as an alternative punishment for people who confessed and sought forgiveness for their role in the 1994 Genocide. The event was closed with a get together party (ubusabane) where all the residents present and the TIG members got chance to interact and exchange ideas. The game ended with the Gahanga sector team scoring 2 goals to TIG’s1. Ends