It's our duty to fight Genocide ideology, says Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament has criticised Rwandans who still habour genocide ideology, 22 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Abbas Mukama was on Saturday speaking at Kamonyi Genocide Memorial site where lawmakers and officials from Hope and Peace Foundation joined residents to clean the site, home to remains of 47,302 victims. Mukama said the outreach activity was in line with preparation for this year’s commemoration week due to start on April 7. The Deputy Speaker said bearing in mind the atrocities that occurred in Rwanda, the bad history that the country underwent, everyone should take responsibility to confront genocide ideology and divisionism that can draw the country back. “The development that the country has achieved came at a cost, so we have to safeguard it. Negative talk during commemoration is not acceptable, we should embrace unity as Rwandans,” he said, warning the public against abuse of social media like Whatsapp during the commemoration. He urged residents to reach out to the needy. “We should be close to the survivors, show them love and console their hearts. We should resist whoever wants to espouse past genocide ideology. That way, we will have given value to the [RPF] Inkotanyi, who risked their lives to liberate the country,” Mukama said. He noted that no one would imagine that after more than 20 years, Rwandans would sit and interact in harmony, but it has been realised through good governance. Mukama appealed to people to participate in commemoration activities to be held at the village level, cautioning that during the period, there are elements bent on hurting others, whom he said would be dealt with by security. “These are critical moments where we have to stay united, hand in hand, and fight anyone who would want to hurt us,” he said. Hope and Peace Foundation consists of the youth, including Genocide survivors or their children, children whose parents participated in the genocide and children who were born as a result of rape during genocide. Mukama said this co-existence is a good example of unity of Rwandans towards common development goal. “Children born out of rape were put in troubles that they never thought of but if they can work together and unite, that is the real Ndi Umunyarwanda,” Mukama said. Honorine Uwababyeyi, the coordinator of Hope and Peace Foundation, said their organisation aims to keep in mind the country’s history while drawing lessons from it. “We learn from the country’s history to avoid anything which can draw us back in order to build the future,” she said. Pascasie Mukanziga, a resident of Gacurabwenge Sector, said they were ready to participate in the commemoration activities. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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It's our duty to fight Genocide ideology, says Deputy Speaker