While remembering former employees killed in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) said it is committed to putting knowledge to good use for inclusive development of all Rwandans.

This was during the 28th commemoration of the Genocide held at the Ministry headquarters in Kacyiru, in which it and its affiliated entities paid tribute to 810 former workers who were killed in the Genocide.

Gerardine Mukeshimana, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources said that while some of its former workers misused knowledge and killed Tutsis during the Genocide, this shouldn’t be the case.

Some of the slain employees were killed by their co-workers or employers.

The minister thus called for a different case from that of the past, noting that the ministry should be dedicated to contributing greatly to developing the country.

Mukeshimana said that the awful reality that Tutsi were cruelly killed by neighbours and co-workers, or even employers, is a shame to those who committed the Genocide, urging the ministry and its affiliated entities to always strive for living in harmony and achieving inclusive development for all Rwandans.

Former agriculture entities blamed for their role

Research carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) in 2021 showed that about 810 of its employees, including those from its affiliated agencies and projects were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.  

Of those employees, 403 were from the Ministry itself (central level), 220 belonged to Rwanda Agriculture Research Institute (ISAR), 161 to Rwanda Tea Authority (OCIR-Thé) and 26 to Rwanda Coffee Authority (OCIR-Café).

The study indicated that some workers of the ministry, affiliated institutions and projects had a major part in the planning and commission of the Genocide.

According to the study, the most infamous are   Michel Bagaragaza who was the head of OCIR-Thé, former director of OCIR-Café, Fabien Neretse, and Charles Ntahontuye Ndereyehe, then head of ISAR.

Others are Alfred Musema, then Director of Gisovu tea factory, Denis Kamodoka who was the director of Kitabi tea factory, Juvenal Ndabarinze, former director of Mata tea factory.

Mukeshimana said that in the first and second Republic, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources significantly fuelled the discriminatory and oppressive politics against the Tutsi, hence infringing on their rights.

"Particularly, it played a major part in dispossessing them of their land and livestock,” she said.

The ministry and its affiliated entities were among Government institutions that started the plot to create paramilitary groups, especially in tea factories, ISAR, and OCIR-Café.

"The leaders of those entities in different times, accommodated Interahamwe militiamen to study regions in which they would be committing the Genocide,” she said, adding that they also trained there and it contributed to the execution of their ill-intentioned plan.

In one of his talks titled "We chose to be one,” Tito Rutaremara, Chairperson of Rwanda Elders’ Advisory Forum  said that before the arrival of white colonisers, Rwandans were bound with unity, having one language [Kinyarwanda] and common ideology – that of unity, not genocide.

"The Genocide occurred when our unity had already been completely destroyed. And, unity was the most important element for us to save this country,” he observed, referring to the national reconstruction gains that have been made since the Genocide was stopped by RPF Inkotanyi’s army.

Yves Mugisha, son of François Bayingana – a former MINAGRI employee killed during the Genocide, was nine years old when the Genocide happened.

He shared his story and the progress he has made so far, appreciating the fact that he was able to complete his studies with support from the Government, and later starting a family of his own.

"We went through many hardships … but, we are alive and we will live to serve the community,” he said.

Minister Mukeshimana commended Genocide survivors such as Mugisha, who soldiered on, and their commitment to contributing to the development of the country without bearing a grudge, despite the ordeal they endured.