Unity Club Intwararumuri on Friday, February 4 awarded the best art compositions that promote the message of unity and reconciliation in schools.

The competition started as dialogues that were to be held in different Colleges and universities in Musanze district in Feb 2020, but were later on interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and turned into a competition.

They were organised by Unity Club Intwararumuri in partnership with Rwanda Defense Force Command and Staff College (RDFCSC), the former National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation (NURC) and the Ministry of Youth and Culture (MYCULTURE).

Unity Club is an organisation that brings together present and past current cabinet members.

Sponsored by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Foundation, the contest aimed at creating a platform for dialogues between adults and children with the aim of exchanging views on the promotion and preservation of the Rwandan spirit, especially among the youth.

During the awarding ceremony, most participants stressed that Ndi Umunyarwanda is a ritual, an army, a vaccine and energy to build a better future for the youth.

Marie Solange Kayisire, the first Vice-Chairperson of Unity Club urged the youth to value their Rwandanism spirit (Ndi Umunyarwanda) as it is the root cause of their living.

"Being Rwandan is not a choice, it’s a pact between Rwandans and a root cause of our union” she said.

Such initiatives, she said, critical in ensuring the bad history that was marred by hatred does not have placr in the Rwandam society.

"Never Again (to Genocide) must prevail among all social classes, and we need to value this pact of unity, more than anything else,” he said.

Régine Iyamuremye, the Executive Secretary of Unity Club hailed the contest which she said leveraged research tools for the youths to gain more insights on the history of Rwanda.

"Students have gained a lot of knowledge from this platform, because the contest allowed them to conduct in depth research on their history, and so we want in the next competitions to add more schools,” she noted.

The competition had four categories; essays, songs, poems and sketches.

The first, second and third winner in each category secured Rwf 500,000, Rwf 400,000 and 300,000 respectively.

A short essay winner, Antoinette Benimana from the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB) urged her fellow youths to follow the example.

"Just as a metre is a measure of length, and a litre for liquids, so is the power of the youth a good measurement of a powerful country, so my fellow youths, please stand up to ensure the power of our country is maintained, which lies in our Rwandan union,” she rallied the youths.

Up to 12 contestants were awarded in this competition from different higher learning institutions like UTAB, UNILAK and IPRC Musanze among others.