This is yet another time of the Year, that we must remember all those that perished under the hands of the merciless agents of the then state that took upon itself to exterminate a section of its own citizens. It may seem pointless remembering them because they can never come back but, the truth is that, they did not die in vain! In this regard, theiruntimely demise should serve as a VERY BIG LESSON to not only the Rwandans and all people that live in this country we call Rwanda but to the whole of mankind! The brutality as explicitly exhibited by the powers that were, together with their cohorts is an act that must always be remembered and condemned in the greatest terms. Some lines of thought put the blame squarely on the colonial mastersthat developed and propagated the divide and rule form of governance, a system that led to the destruction of the otherwise harmonious Rwandan status quo. On the other hand, the Europeanising of some Africans vis avis the elimination of their cultural values has led to a breed ofpeople that belong nowhere, and were valueless. As a result, the Rwandan Society’s status quo was broken and a breed of people was created and such were told to hold on to their newly found power and status with all their might even if it meant the shedding of others’lives; All in the name of politics. As some people want to say that, ‘Politics is a Dirty Game’, I don’t believe that, it should go as follows, ‘Politics Has Dirty Players’. Rwanda is an example of both the Bad and the Good Political players! However violent our History may have been, we must not brush it under the carpet but must always remember what happened! Forgetting is like saying that, there were or are no lessons to learn from our past! With the memories kept fresh, we will desist from formulating actions that will amount to brutality against fellow human beings. The haste with which the Genocide was carried out, it has been and is still an arduous task, finding the remains and giving a decent burial to all those that perished. 18 years down the road, mass graves are still being discovered, whose occupants must be given a decent burial. How can we rest or forget when many of our Innocent Souls are out there in the wilderness crying out for a decent burial? How about the perpetrators who are out there denying having carried out heinous acts even when some of them were documented on the National Television of then? To those that witnessed the brutality first hand and were able to narrowly survive, there is no way they can ever forget the times theybrushed sides with death; to those that lost almost every member of their families and friends, they can never forget the terror and trauma of 1994 and before! However much consolation one gives them, the pain will always be there. The only way forward is to always rememberthe brave and innocent Rwandans that were prematurely terminated at the hands of the State, its friends and collaborators. May God Grant their Souls Eternal Rest; may he strengthen and comfort all those that suffered in one way or the other. We will always remember you all.
