Kwibuka 30: Speaker Mukabalisa tells youth not to let guard down but strive to sustain country’s gains

Speaker of Parliament Donatille Mukabalisa has urged the youth not to let their guard down due to the peace ushered in by the current government, but rather fight to sustain the gains made. The Speaker noted this on Thursday, April 11, as thousands of Rwandans participated in a commemoration night vigil to honour victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi at Nyanza Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, as part of the 30th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide. According to her, among others, the youth have the capacity and knowledge to use available technologies and social media platforms to fight Genocide denial, genocide ideology, and revisionism. She said: “Our wish for you is to live in a country that is, in no way, similar to what your forefathers and us your elders lived in. Be careful so as no to allow the bad times to happen again as a result of distractions from the current good times created by your parents.” April 11,1994 forever marks a stain on the international community for it seemed more appropriate to the latter, according to Rwandans, to rescue a dogs’ lives rather than save the more than 2,000 Tutsi who sought protection from UN troops that were based at Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO) Kicukiro. ALSO READ: April 11, 1994: When Belgian forces withdrew from ETO Kicukiro and killers pounced The Belgian contingent that formed the backbone of the then UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (MINUAR) evacuated its own people, including a dog, and left the Tutsi children, women and men in the hands of merciless government genocidal forces and Interahamwe militia that had surrounded the place. Each year on the same date, Rwandans, especially Kicukiro residents, join together in a Walk to Remember ceremony from ETO Kicukiro up to the memorial site on top of the hill in Kicukiro Sector to commemorate. ALSO READ: Nyanza-Kicukiro massacres: Rethinking the failure of international community Mukabalisa noted that the commemoration of the Genocide is the responsibility of every Rwandan, and foreigners, and is an opportunity to learn lessons in rebuilding and giving a better direction for the country. She thanked all the people who are already fighting Genocide denial through different platforms, noting that the battle shall be won. The memorial is home to more than 105,000 genocide victims who were killed on the hill and other nearby parts of the district. However, it was noted, there are still victims’ remains that have not been found. Samuel Dusengiyumva, the Mayor of the City of Kigali, said: “On this date, we remember our beloved ones who fell here and also the shame of the international community because it abandoned those who sought refuge at ETO Kicukiro. “It is a time to renew commitment and resolve that we will never be left for dead again.” Sharing their testimonies, survivors Didier Rubimbura who was 15 during the 1994 Genocide, Angelique Kayiganwa, and Yvonne Mukanubaha who were both 20 at the time, recounted the discrimination and torture that Tutsi families endured prior to April 7, and how some Tutsi families were completely exterminated by their neighbours. The survivors painfully recollected how Belgian soldiers abandoned them. Mukanubaha who spent about five days hiding in dead bodies narrated how, the genocidal militia were selectively killing people as they marched to be slaughtered at Nyanza hill. The commemoration night vigil also featured a discussion on the history leading to the genocide against the Tutsi and the question of justice. Wellars Gasamagera, the Secretary General of the RPF-Inkotanyi, said that political parties were first introduced in Rwanda without a foundational understanding of why they were established, which is why they became vehicles of inciting divisionism, hatred, and extermination ideologies. He noted that the international community watched, idly, as the Genocide unfolded expect for a few countries such as the Czech Republic, Nigeria, and New Zealand, that took a stand against it. ALSO READ: Diplomatic heroes against Genocide: The story of Ibrahim Gambari and Karel Kovanda Philbert Gakwenzire, the President of Ibuka, the umbrella organisation of Genocide survivors’ associations, said: “What we are asking the international community today is to pursue the perpetrators of the genocide against the Tutsi who roam freely in their countries. If they cannot try them, they can repatriate them to Rwanda. We have the mechanisms in place and we will judge them ourselves.”

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Kwibuka 30: Speaker Mukabalisa tells youth not to let guard down but strive to sustain country’s gains