Rwandan youth living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Bahrain this weekend met to celebrate the liberation ceremony on 27th time under the theme "the role of the youth to build the Rwanda we want-post liberation struggle”.
The ceremony was held virtually on July 9 and the youth were joined by their counterparts in Rwanda and were addressed by different senior government officials on the history of the liberation journey and what is expected of the new generation to push forward the struggle for liberation.
"In Rwanda youth have diverse opportunities, they have a platform more than ever…nothing is better than having a country like Rwanda; it is a country which allows the youth to do what they need to develop,” the Minister of Youth and Culture, Rosemary Mbabazi told the youth.
She added: "Our government invested a lot in youth; even now, we have several programmes to boost your capacity through these conversations and other platforms where you meet with different people who can motivate you and inspire you to do what can make you better selves.”
Other speakers at the event included Major General Emmanuel Bayingana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, who gave them an account of the liberation war and how it was during its four year course.
Bayingana said, "we have found ourselves where our country needed us, we didn’t come as terrorists; we came as children of Rwanda returning home, having been denied our right for so long. We were blessed to have a leader like Paul Kagame.”
"We knew that was tough, all of us had the same spirit of going home, we were saddened by how Rwanda was ruled, our parents have taught us to love our motherland that’s where patriotism came from”, Bayingana added.
He told the youth to strive to make a difference such that their own children will inherit a better country than they found.
Sandrine Uwimbabazi Maziyateke, Director of Rwanda Cooperation Abroad (RCA) who was also among the speakers commended the Rwandan youth abroad over their curiosity about their country and active involvement in the country’s development.
Aime Musonera, a youth who lives in UAE said: "We need to build a worthy cooperation between Rwandans who live here and those in Rwanda in order to share different skills, make investment and forge synergies in the economic arena to advance our country.”
"We have to be open to opportunities available back home; let us approach the Ministry of Youth and Culture and other institutions which are there to help us,” Ibthal Arafat, another young entrepreneur, told the youth.
Emmanuel Hategeka, the Rwandan Ambassador to UAE said that Rwanda went through a lot of hard moments but because of the sacrifices by the Inkotanyi, this sad chapter is now closed, urging the youth to work together to help the country achieve its development ambitions.