Members of the Private Sector Federation (PSF) in Kigali City, officials, security personnel, and Genocide survivors gathered on April 24, at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial in Kicukiro to pay tribute to their fellow businesspeople who were killed in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The members of PSF pledged to do "business with an impact on the community”, acknowledging their role in national development and rebuilding the country.

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The event began with a ‘walk to remember’ from IPRC Kigali to the Genocide memorial and served as a reflection on the past and a pledge to unite and prevent future genocides.

This was followed by the laying of a wreath for the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

PSF acting chairperson Jeanne-Françoise Mubiligi expressed gratitude for the collaboration between the government and the private sector.

Mubiligi emphasised the importance of educating the business community about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

"We remember to build a professional business community where we emphasise the importance of doing our business as professionals with a clear analysis of what we are doing and the consequences it has on our community,” she said.

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Mathilda Uwanyirigira, a PSF member and survivor of the Genocide, said before the Genocide, people who were mistreated in school turned to business as a second option, which was not as easy, or facilitated, as it is now.

"When we were in primary school we were being mistreated because we were Tutsi, even when you passed the exam they wouldn’t let you go on to the next class,” Uwanyirigira narrated.

Uwanyirigira lost her husband and some members of her family during the Genocide, however, she is now a well-established businesswoman and is thankful to RPF-Inkotanyi and the country’s leadership.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda Amb. Charles Murigande also took the time to explain the history of Rwanda before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and how it was stopped. He also emphasised the importance of "knowing our history and fighting those who deny the Genocide against the Tutsi.”

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"Commemorating is important, we don’t do it because we want to wake our emotions, but we commemorate for so many reasons, among them to honour and pay respect to those who were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,” said the vice president of Ibuka, Louis de Montfort Mujyambere.

The Mayor of Kigali City, Samuel Dusengiyumva, thanked the private sector for its assistance in rebuilding the nation after the Genocide and commended the resilience of survivors in his closing remarks. "Although the private sector was involved in the Genocide, it is crucial to remind them of their responsibility to work toward its prevention.

"After all the testimonies we heard, I would like to tell you to be strong, we are alive and we have a country,” Dusengiyumva said.