Born and raised during a period marked by deep ethnic divisions and having served as a soldier in the former Rwandan army (ex-FAR) in the early 1990s, Jeanne Chantal Ujeneza never imagined that her journey would one day place her among the country’s top security leaders in the post-Genocide era.

Ujeneza, a Deputy Commissioner General and Deputy Inspector General of the Rwanda National Police (RNP), recently opened up on her experience in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and reflected on lessons of unity and reconciliation in the country led by RPF-Inkotanyi.

Ujeneza is a wife and a mother of two. Her journey started in 1967, when she was born in Buriza, then in Mugambazi Commune, now part of Rulindo District. Ujeneza grew up in what she describes as a stable and respected family. Her father was a teacher, and during her early years, she did not fully understand the ethnic divisions and discrimination that existed in the country.

"When I was young, I did not understand that some people were struggling because of who they were,” Ujeneza said during the Conversation on the History of the Genocide against the Tutsi and the Liberation Struggle hosted by Unity Club Intwararumuri on May 22

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Ujeneza said that after completing primary school, her family relocated to Buyoga, also in present-day Rulindo District. It was later in life, as she reflected on her school years and history, that she began to recognize the systemic discrimination many Tutsi faced.

She remembers classmates who had to leave their home areas to pursue education because they had been denied opportunities in their communities.

"Some were prevented from continuing with their studies because of their identity,” she said. "At the time, I did not fully understand it, but as I grew older, I realized the kind of society we were living in.”

After high school, Ujeneza earned a rare opportunity to join the École Supérieure Militaire (ESM), where recruits trained for four years while also pursuing university studies before graduating as Second Lieutenants.

"Not many people got that opportunity, and I was among the select few who did,” she said.

However, it was during her military training that she began witnessing ethnic discrimination more openly.

She recalls one incident during a military exercise when a fellow trainee was humiliated for being Tutsi.

According to Ujeneza, hostility toward Tutsi soldiers and trainees intensified over time, especially after the launch of the liberation struggle by the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army on October 1, 1990.

She said propaganda and anti-Tutsi became increasingly normalized within the military and across society.

Ujeneza said that at the time, women largely remained in administrative roles while male soldiers were sent to the battlefield. She witnessed growing fear, arbitrary arrests, and persecution targeting Tutsi civilians and soldiers alike.

She also remembers the atmosphere surrounding the Arusha peace negotiations, saying many extremists within the military opposed any power-sharing arrangement with the RPF-Inkotanyi.

"They did not want to live with Inkotanyi,” she said. "Even during seminars bringing the two sides together, you could feel the resistance and anger.”

Before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Ujeneza had already fallen under suspicion for allegedly collaborating with the RPA. She was transferred to Cyangugu Prefecture as a disciplinary measure.

When the Genocide began following President Juvénal Habyarimana's plan crash of April 6, 1994, she was stationed in the western part of the country.

"In Cyangugu, soldiers and extremists believed that by exterminating all Tutsi, they would defeat Inkotanyi,” she said.

She recalls violence in the region, including the killing of civilians and even fellow soldiers. Among the figures she remembers was Lieutenant Imanishimwe, whom she said played a major role in the killings in Cyangugu.

'At first, we were afraid'

Amid all that, she said she and a small group of colleagues and family made a difficult decision not to join the killings or flee alongside the genocidal forces to neighbouring Zaire (today's DR Congo).

"We were around eight people, and we decided we would not follow the killers,” she said.

After the Genocide, a senior officer later informed Ujeneza and her colleagues that the RPA was willing to integrate government soldiers who had refused to flee. Through the French-controlled humanitarian zone known as Zone Turquoise, they eventually found protection before later being received by the RPA in August 1994.

"At first, we were afraid,” she said, "But when we met Inkotanyi, they welcomed us, gave us food, and treated us with dignity.”

She and other ex-FAR soldiers were taken to Gako, where they underwent military training focused on patriotism, unity, and the dangers of genocide ideology. The RPA forces and ex-FAR soldiers later formed Rwanda Defence Force (RDF).

"That is when I understood the values they stood for,” she said.

Ujeneza said that when President Paul Kagame, who was then Vice President and Minister of Defence, came to close their trainings, she got a sense of reassurance and belonging.

"That was the moment I felt safe and convinced that I was on the right path,” she said.

Still, her personal journey remained emotionally complex. At the time, she was pregnant and her husband, another soldier, would later be arrested, tried, and convicted for genocide crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison.

"On one part, I was happy to graduate as a Second Lieutenant and on the other I was carrying the child of someone charged with genocide,” Ujeneza said. "It was not easy emotionally.”

She credits colleagues and the support system around her for helping her move forward.

"I never felt rejected. They supported me until I gave birth, and I remained convinced that I was where I was supposed to be.”

Ujeneza continued serving in the military and later pursued further education. In 2000, she returned to university to complete her degree and later got promoted and earned new opportunities for advanced training, including doing a master’s degree in Costa Rica.

She says the experiences convinced her that post-Genocide Rwanda had chosen a different path.

"The opportunities I received showed me that this leadership does not discriminate,” she said. "I realized that if this leadership had come before Inzirabwoba (FAR), Rwandans would never have destroyed the country the way they did.”

Ujeneza says her life journey has strengthened her belief in unity, equal opportunity, and national service.

"I believe I was given a chance,” she said. "And I think I received opportunities beyond what I had ever imagined.”