Mohamood Noordin Thobani, a Ugandan businessman who played a significant role in preserving the remains of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Uganda was on Saturday, April 20 given the “Umurinzi w’Igihango” award. The award was handed over to Thobani by Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda Col. Joseph Rutabana, during a commemoration event in Uganda that happened at Ggolo Memorial Site in Mpigi district in Uganda. The ceremony was attended by hundreds of mourners who included; the Rwandan community and friends of Rwanda, and heads of diplomatic missions in Uganda. Thobani was among the seven “Abarinzi b’Igihango awarded last year by Unity Club -Intwararumuri, an organisation founded by First Lady Jeannette Kagame. “The award was issued on October 29th 2023, during the 16th Unity Club’s Annual Forum but he could not travel to Kigali that time to receive it and I am honored to hand it to him today, in front of you all, but especially in front of the 100 Humura members who came from Rwanda,” Col. Joseph Rutabana said. Thobani received a certificate and a pin, one data storage device of citations and videos of the 16th Unity Club Annual Forum. In the citation by Unity Club, Thobani was appreciated for having valued humanity, especially the Tutsi who were killed during the 1994 Genocide, when he buried in honour about 10,000 bodies that were dumped into different tributaries that flow into Akagera river, which flows into Lake Victoria. His achievements also include; building three memorial sites including; Kasensero in Rakai district where 2,875 bodies are buried, Ggolo in Mpigi district 4,771 bodies, and Lambu in Masaka district with 3,337 bodies. “Mohamood Noordin Thobani hired a caretaker for the memorial, offering money to pay the maintenance and cleaning staff. He continues to be involved in organising the commemoration of the victims of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,” a citation reads in part. Unity Club also highlighted that Thobani took part in activities to support the survivors of the Genocide in need, adding that in 2018 at the 24th commemoration of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Thobani donated 50 bicycles to Genocide survivors living in Rukumberi, Ngoma district. In his remarks, Thobani thanked Unity Club and the First Lady Jeannette Kagame for the award. He narrated an incident to his audience that got him emotional when he visited Nyabarongo community in Rwanda where the Genocide victims were thrown into the river. “A Genocide survivor approached me. With all her heart, she expressed her sincere gratitude to me for receiving and looking after the victims. During the vigil that night, she told me she still visualized her daughter among the victims buried here – still in the same dress she was killed in. Tears rolled in my eyes,” Thobani said.
