Legislators join residents to give Genocide Memorial Site a face lift

A group of Senators and Parliamentarians Saturday devoted their community work, Umuganda, to cleaning and rehabilitating the genocide memorial site of Gahanga sector in Kicukiro district. The activity which involved the locals and law makers joining hands to clear the overgrown bush surrounding the memorial site, served as an example to the entire public on the need of supporting and maintaining genocide memorial sites around the country. In an interview with Parliamentary Speaker, Rose Mukantabana, she expressed enthusiasm on the need to join efforts in maintaining genocide sites in good shape and cleaning those which remain unkempt in many parts of the country. “We decided to pioneer this undertaking as law makers as a way of highlighting to the public the necessity of maintaining and rehabilitating genocide memorial centres,” Mukantabana, told Sunday Times. She added that the law makers have a plan of selecting at least one genocide memorial site which they will permanently rehabilitate and support, as an example to other institutions and corporate companies to at least pick a site to support. While addressing the participants, Senate President Vincent Biruta, thanked the participants, while calling upon the entire public to emulate today’s cleaning and take on the act of honouring our brothers and sisters who died in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi by taking good care of the memorial centres. “These bad things happened in the whole country, so everyone should play a role in at least keeping these sites in dignity and honour,” urged Biruta. A tearful genocide survivor from the area, Philomene Kankesha, narrated the agonising ordeal of how hundreds of people met their fate in Gahanga, who later ended up in the mass graves which were being rehabilitated. Biruta also called upon people who stay near genocide survivors to always help them, especially in their healing and taking good care of the memorial sites since survivors have a lot of emotional attachments with these places. As we come close to the 15th Commemorations of remembering people who lost their lives in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi’s, a number of mass graves are currently being rehabilitated. This year’s commemoration will be held at the genocide memorial of Nyanza in Kicukiro. Ends