“Today, we commemorate the Genocide against the Tutsi, any other reference is inaccurate” a representative from the Rwandan Embassy, Mr. Mucho Noel, said at the 23rd Kwibuka Commemoration as he disapproved the naming of the tragedy as the Genocide, the Genocide of Rwanda or any other name.
The Rwandwan students of Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono campus gathered on the 15th of April, 2017, Saturday to commemorate the massacre of the Tutsi community as happened during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The event rotated around this year’s theme “Fighting Genocide Ideology against the Tutsi-Build on our steady Progress.”
Kwibuka runs for a span of 100 days from the 7th of April every year as a way of remembering the victims of the genocide. The 100 days was the period during which the genocide was perpetuated until efforts of the Rwandan Patriotic Army under Paul Kagame brought it to a halt.
The event commenced with a “Walk to Remember” around the Mukono Municipality that lasted about 1 hour, until the participants gathered at Nkoyoyo Hall for the rest of the activities.
“Being a Tutsi was sin” shared Munyaneza Emmanuel, a student of UCU and a survivor of the genocide during his narration of the events. “It was a really tough time. Houses burnt down, people struggled to hide, pregnant women and children were executed” he continued.
The genocide was planned…“those that killed in the genocide were highly trained.” He added.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of UCU, David Mugawe urged the Rwandan Community to continue holding such celebrations even at the university level because “UCU holds the event very dear.”
“My prayer is that we continue the spirit of love, spirit of peace and spirit of fellowship” he said.
A Poem was recited, Never Again a popular Rwandan song by several artists was sung, and a skit that depicted the development of the genocide from pre-colonial times was played. These among other presentations were intended to show strong disagreement for the atrocities that were orchestrated by the Hutu.
The president of the Rwandan Students Association, Munyanziza Hervin shared that through the Kwibuka, comfort is given to the survivors of the genocide.
“We give company and comfort to survivors because they went through a lot during that time.” He continues to say that the event at UCU has been learning experience.
“During the genocide, we were not always together, Kwibuka helps us learn from others the tribulations they went through in the different regions.”
Towards the end of the event, candles were lit, placed at the centre of the stage indicative of the fact that Rwanda has a bright future ahead of it.
Mucho commends the regime under Kagame for supporting unity in Rwanda. One evidence of this is the determination of the government to have the people identify themselves as Rwandese and not Hutu or Tutsi, with a popular phrase “Ndi Umunywaranda” to mean “I am Rwandese.”
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