Rwandans have been called on to preserve the country’s progress and fight any attack on their dignity and sovereignty. The call was made by retired Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana during a news conference in Kigali yesterday.
Rwandans have been called on to preserve the country’s progress and fight any attack on their dignity and sovereignty.
The call was made by retired Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana during a news conference in Kigali yesterday.
Rucyahana is the president of National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC).
He said the recent arrest in the United Kingdom, of Lt Gen Emmanuel Karenzi Karake, the country’s head of National Intelligence and Security Services, was a result of the contempt in which Westerners hold Rwanda.
Gen Karake was barred by the UK immigration officials from boarding a flight back home, about three weeks ago, in connection with a highly controversial indictment by a Spanish judge over alleged war crimes.
"Those people who walk and eat with killers of our people do not arrest those Genocide perpetrators, but have the guts to arrest our heroes who risked their lives to stop the Genocide. They are exercising Genocide denial.
We Rwandans, knowing where we are coming from, have to jointly fight that arrogance,” he said.
Rucyahana noted that the 21st anniversary of the Liberation the country is celebrating was achieved through sweat and hardship. It will only have meaning if Rwandans keep fighting for their dignity and sovereignty to live free of any foreign influence on driving the country forward, he said.
"We did not consult foreigners in establishing NURC, Gacaca or any other policy, but all these are home-grown solutions for the brighter future of our country.
"Our progress has made us stand out and revisionists can clearly see our actions and then attack our strengths. Don’t be indifferent to their attacks; get courage and fight back,” he said.
Dr. Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, NURC’s executive secretary, said that most attacks against Rwanda emanated from outside and urged the media to help in reversing the trend.
"We want to empower Rwandans with the capacity to detect what to believe and what to reject, what to adopt and what to denounce. Let us, together, fight the threats to our unity and reconciliation,” he said.
Xaverine Uwimana, the vice-president of NURC, said the latest study indicated that the levels of national unity and reconciliation stood at 80 per cent and urged Rwandans to use their unity to uphold the country’s values.
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