NGORORERO-The remains of over 23,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi from Kibirira now in Ngororero District were, yesterday, accorded a descent burial in Gatumba Sector.

The victims were laid to rest at Muhororo Parish, the site of a new memorial centre.

"Now that our relatives and friends have been given a decent burial, this is a great relief to us because their dignity has been restored,” said Solange Mukarwema, a Genocide survivor from the area.

Mukarwema also narrated her ordeal during the Genocide, saying that unlike in other parts of the country, the genocide started in the early 1990’s in the then Kibirira Commune.

She said that it was masterminded by the so-called elites who hailed from Kibirira such as Leo Mugesera, a key Genocide ideologue now living in Canada.

"The priest at this church protected us from the killings until Mugesera issued orders to kill all Tutsis and send them back to their origins in Ethiopia through River Nyabarongo," she said.

Officials from Ibuka, called for the documentation of what happened, adding that the Kinihira Genocide site should be elevated to national level.

Ibuka also recommended that survivors should be resettled in the land they abandoned during the Genocide.

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Protais Mitali, who was the chief guest said that the government will help the survivors to productively use their land.

Mitali reminded the mourners that; "Genocide memorabilia should be kept as a way of giving due respect to the deceased, restore human dignity and learn lessons so as to restore peace, unity and reconciliation."

He encouraged the youth to champion the fight against genocide ideology.

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