Senate pushes opinion leaders to come out clean on Genocide

KIGALI-Senators have requested the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) to expedite the process of establishing a national platform that would make top government officials and religious leaders speak the truth about their role in 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The request was tabled by several Senators after the NURC presented its 2008 annual report before the Upper Chamber of Parliament yesterday. Senator Chysologue Kubwimana was the first to take the floor saying that the problem of Genocide ideology and the role of the society in the Genocide should not be blamed on the church followers or the entire citizenry, but on opinion leaders. “It is the opinion leaders who are supposed to come out and speak the truth; I personally don’t understand why top leaders need first to be summoned by Gacaca to speak of their role in the Genocide,” said Kubwimana. “Let’s take it upon ourselves to clear the air about the Genocide; the only way to do this is through creating a platform (Itorero) and have people come up to speak the truth, it’s the only way we will reconcile our society.” Itorero is a civic education programme that was established two years ago as a platform for civic education for different groups of people. Kubwimana was immediately seconded by Senator Joseph Karemera who also proposed a leadership forum that would bring together all opinion leaders and plan how to reconcile the society. Karemera also heads the Senetorial Standing Committee of Political Affairs. In response, the Executive Secretary of NURC, Fatuma Ndagiza, said that the Commission has for long been planning the civic education programme for opinion leaders and religious leaders and that the plan is set to kick off this September. The report presented yesterday indicated that unity and reconciliation has improved in the country, but it gave no parameters how progress was made. This prompted Senators to request the commission to come up with an impact assessment plan. “This would help in mapping the troubled areas of the country and put more focus on them,” Karemera said. In her quick intervention, Senator Aloysia Inyumba said that government should embark on setting up strong punitive measures against anyone displaying a sign of negationism or divisionism within the society. She also proposed a progress assessment and support of community initiatives related to the reconciliation drive. Ends