Unity Club: First Lady Opens Cyanika Genocide Memorial

First Lady Opens Cyanika Genocide Memorial

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26 June 2012

The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, has called upon Genocide survivors to overcome the challenges and hardships which followed the 1994 Genocide in order to improve their lives.

Mrs. Kagame Saturday joined Cyanika community in Nyamagabe District in paying tribute to about 30,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi buried at Cyanika Genocide Memorial Centre. The First Lady officially opened the newly constructed site where the victims were recently reburied.

The new memorial site is an initiative of local survivors, the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), with support from Unity Club and other partners.

The First lady is the chairperson of Unity Club, which comprises current and former senior government officials and their spouses. The Club was founded in 1996 to promote unity as well as contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

Speaking at the occasion the First Lady observed that 18 years after the Genocide, survivors have moved a long way in regaining hope but added that the road ahead is still too long.

“Keep being strong and strive to live a better life”, the First Lady urged.

“One of the reasons why we will keep strong is the special time set aside to remember and commemorate by learning from our history to build a bright future.”

She added that “We should assist our children to love our culture, which includes living together peacefully, guarding against divisionism of any sort by instilling in them politeness, humility and honesty which is embedded in the Rwandan culture. Overcome hatred, overcome sorrow and talk about peace, by learning from history to help us build a bright future.”

Mrs Kagame urged the mourners, especially the youth, to shun divisionism and the genocide ideology in order to concentrate more on developmental initiatives.

She called upon residents to provide more information on the whereabouts of other victims who are yet to be given a befitting burial, adding that the burial exercise is a healing tool for the survivors.

Mrs Kagame disclosed that Unity Club has partnered with the World Food Programme (WFP) to implement a project in Cyanika in order to improve the socio-economic conditions of the local residents.

Sponsored by the Korean Government, the project dubbed “Food for New Village Project” consists mainly of the development of clean water infrastructures and the construction of a community centre aimed at uplifting Rwandan values and nurturing unity and reconciliation. The project will also promote animal husbandry and modern agriculture.

Emotional testimony

Thousands of mourners from all walks of life thronged Murizo playground where the ceremonies took place. Senior government officials, including ministers and Members of Parliament, took part in the commemorations.

Marianne Nikuze, a survivor of Cyanika massacre, gave an emotional testimony which left many mourners in tears.

Nikuze, who was only ten years old at the time of the Genocide, recounted how she witnessed Interahamwe militias killing thousands and thousands of Tutsi who had sought refuge at Cyanika Catholic Church, including her relatives and friends.

“Interahamwe were supported by armed gendarmes. Grenades were hurled in the crowd and those left breathing were finished off with machetes and clubs”, she recalled

“It was an absolute carnage. very horrific !” she said, tears dropping from her eyes.

“They were chopping people over and over again, may be to make sure no one survived. People were crying. Blood flew all over. I myself was drenched in blood”.

At one occasion, she narrated how a five-year -old boy she was with after escaping the church killings, was also killed before her eyes.

At several occasions, militias arrested but released her at the last moment, telling her she would be killed by others, Nikuze said in reference to how she survived.

About 30,000 Tutsis are said to have sought refuge at Cyanika parish in 1994. But a few of them survived the machetes of the killers, who outnumbered them.

Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, the president of Ibuka, thanked Unity Club for supporting the survivors in the healing process. Ibuka is the umbrella organisation of Genocide survivors’ associations.

“The construction of this site has enabled us to give a decent rest to those we lost, which is important in healing the wounds we have been living with”, Dusingizemungu said.

“We know and value your continued support. It gives us hope that our problems will be addressed and challenges overcome. The result of all this is that those who once lost hope are at the forefront of the development”.

The Minister of Culture and Sports, Protais Mitali, said : “This memorial site will not only be a sign of the horrors we went through in 1994, but also a testimony of the massacres Tutsis were subjected to in this region since the 1960s”.