The Management and staff of Access Bank (Rwanda) Plc joinedRwandans in paying tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi laid to rest at the Ndera Genocide Memorial, located within Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital (CARAES) in Kigali.

The memorial is the final resting place for more than 35,000 victims killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi including

the remains of over 15,000 victims still buried in a mass grave due to limited capacity to provide them with a dignified burial.

The commemoration event, held at Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital (CARAES) in Kigali on Friday, May 22, brought together Access Bank Rwanda staff and local leadership represented by Protais Murayire, the RPF chairman in the sectorand representative of Ndera Sector.

Murayire reflected on the historical roots of ethnic divisions, saying pre-colonial social categories of Hutu, Tutsi and Twawere later hardened into ethnic identities by colonial influence. He added that the genocide was systematically planned and executed by the then government through propaganda and discrimination against Tutsi.

Memories of persecution

Giving her testimony at the event, Genocide survivor Joselyne Mukansanga recounted how discrimination and ethnic persecution against the Tutsi had already become visible years before the Genocide.

"At school, they would ask us to go home and tell our parents to write our ethnic identities on small papers. The next morning, those identified as Tutsi would be ordered to stand up in front of everyone so that the whole school could know who we were,” she said.

Mukansanga said that by 1990, the persecution had intensified, with Tutsi men being arrested and taken away.

"There came a time when they started taking our fathers away. They only arrested men, and all of them were Tutsi,” she recalled.

"My mother would tell us that our father had been taken alongside other Tutsi neighbours. That is when we fully realised what was happening.”

Horror at Ndera during the Genocide

Mukansanga also described the horror that unfolded at the Ndera hospital during the Genocide, where Interahamwe militias, supported by government soldiers, killed patients and civilians indiscriminately, including mentally ill patients who could not comprehend the danger around them.

"We would be hiding inside the buildings and suddenly see a patient wandering outside, unaware of what was happening. Within moments, bullets would hit them and they would fall dead on the spot,” she said.

Mukansanga added that although her father survived the Genocide alongside her, he later succumbed to injuries and trauma resulting from the atrocities he endured.

Calls for dignified burial of victims

Telesphore Murenzi, the representative of Ibuka in Ndera Sector, said efforts are ongoing to ensure victims whose remains are still in mass graves receive a dignified burial.

He commended the former Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA-Inkotanyi) for stopping the Genocide and helping survivors rebuild their lives after the country had been devastated.

"We are grateful to Inkotanyi forces that rescued us from the darkness we were in. They left exile and came back to stop the killings targeting Tutsi across the country,” he said.

Murenzi also thanked the government for establishing support programmes such as survivors’ assistance fund, which has helped many Genocide survivors access healthcare, education, and other basic services.

Call for unity and remembrance

Speaking on behalf of the youth during the commemoration, James Nyirinkwaya, a staff member at Access Bank Rwanda, urged young people to safeguard Rwanda’s unity and ensure that the country’s painful history is never repeated.

"As young Rwandans, we have a responsibility to protect the unity and progress our country has achieved. We must reject divisionism in all its forms and continue building a Rwanda founded on mutual respect, dignity, and a shared purpose,” he said.

Nyirinkwaya added that the younger generation must embrace values of compassion, accountability, and patriotism as part of Rwanda’s renewal journey.

"The future of this country depends on us. We must choose to work together, support one another, and ensure that future generations inherit a peaceful and united Rwanda,” he added.

In his remarks, Faustin Rukundo Byishimo, Managing Director of Access Bank Rwanda continued to urge staff and all in attendance to uphold unity, resilience, and collective responsibility in rebuilding the country after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, noting that remembrance should also reinforce the duty to protect Rwanda’s progress.