Rwandan students in Uganda hold a Walk to Remember

The Rwandan community in Uganda and their friends on Saturday took part in a Walk to Remember at the Uganda Christian University (UCU), Mukono Uganda. The walk was organised by the students studying at the University and the Rwanda High Commission in Uganda.

Monday, April 17, 2017
Rwandan students during a Walk to Remember on Saturday in Kampala, Uganda. / Courtesy

The Rwandan community in Uganda and their friends on Saturday took part in a Walk to Remember at the Uganda Christian University (UCU), Mukono Uganda.

The walk was organised by the students studying at the University and the Rwanda High Commission in Uganda.

Carrying banners and placards with messages denouncing genocide ideology and calling for genocide prevention in the world, the youth were joined by mourners from other Universities in a one hour walk in Mukono town.

UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor David Mugawe and several elders of the Rwandan community in Mukono District vigorously participated in the walk.

Later, the mourners gathered at the university’s Nkoyoyo hall, where the First Counsellor at Rwanda’s High Commission in Uganda, Noel Mucyo told the audience that Genocide revisionists are using all means of diverting the pursuit of acknowledging the crime of Genocide.

"Twenty three years after the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the FDLR still roam the region freely as the world looks on. Many Genocidaires are also residing in many capitals in the western world instead of being brought to account for the horrendous crimes they committed against humanity,”Mucyo said.

UCU students took the audience through a play that showcased how the Genocide was planned and executed.

Evariste Musafiri, the Chairman of Ndi Umunywarwanda programme in Mukono district called on Rwandans living in Uganda to play their rightful role in promoting their culture.

Mugawe commended the Rwandan community for their solidality and underscored the value of always offering parental guidance to the youth.

The audience later listened to an emotional testimony from Rev. Emmanuel Munyaneza, a student at UCU and a Genocide survivor, who thanked the Government for restoring respect and dignity to Genocide survivors.

Other planned activities include a visit to one of the three Genocide memorial sites in Uganda.

There are three memorial sites in Uganda including Ggolo in Mpigi District, which is home to remains of over 4,000 Genocide victims, while the others are Kasensero and Lambu in Rakai and Masaka districts, respectively.

In 1994, bodies of the victims were dumped into different rivers and ended up on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda.

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