Members of the Belgian business delegation who are on a trade mission in Kigali on Sunday, March 27, visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Belgian Peacekeepers Memorial. Kigali Genocide Memorial is home to over 250,000 remains of the victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi which cost over a million lives and perpetuated by the government of the time. The Belgian Peacekeepers Memorial honors 10 Belgian commandos who were part of a peacekeeping mission under the United Nations and 12 others Belgians killed during the Genocide. The commandos were part of the protection detail of former Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana who was killed at her home by government soldiers at the beginning of the Genocide This tour to different historical sites in Kigali is part of their agenda during their five-day visit which will end on March 31. On top of their agenda is to also share presentations from the business arena (both from Rwanda and Belgium), conduct business-to-business networking, and form partnerships in areas of mutual interest. On their first day, they toured the memorial site’s mass graves to have a glimpse of how the Genocide was prepared until 1994 when over a million Tutsi were slain in just 100 days. After a visit at the Kigali Memorial, Claude Van Collie, Senior Consultant at HB Drilling S.A, said it is a sad and mournful tragedy that evokes questions despite the explanations given. “It pushes one to wonder how the youth of Rwanda now relate with what happened, how are they taught about the history in schools? How do parents address their children to explain the atrocity that took place?” he said. Dominique Delattre, the Director General of Wallonia Export and Investment Agency, said: “We have to draw a lesson from errors made, innocent people that were in the interest of peace lost their lives.” The agency is behind the organization of the trade mission. “What really matters is to promote peace among people to accept diversity and unity to make sure that we enrich what we are building. Diversity and unity allow us to live in a balanced society,” he added. Rebecca Ntunguka, a Rwandan-Burundian living in Belgium with a travel agency called Art-2-Travel, said she was visiting the memorial for the fourth time and she says that her emotions are the same every time she visits. “You understand that it’s not only about one million people who died but they were killed by their own neighbours. To properly organize and manage an entire population so that there is no aftermath revenge which would have led to more deaths requires a certain level of discipline,” she said. As part of the Kigali tour, the delegates were also shown different routes, the suburbs of Kigali, and got explanations on various historical places, the strides made in the development of Rwanda including how far we have come in building a knowledge-based economy. The delegated companies cut across various sectors, with the most representative being in Infrastructure and construction, water treatment sector, health sector as well as Information Technology sector. Rwanda and Belgium have built stable economic and military ties in the past and it is expected that this trade mission will bolster the bilateral cooperation between both countries. A view of the memorial site of ten Belgians who were part of a peacekeeping mission under the United Nations who were killed in Rwanda in 1994. Delegates of the Belgian private sector companies are visiting Rwanda to explore the potential and create partnerships with the Rwandan market. Delegates read the history of Ten Belgian commandos who were killed in Rwanda. Delegates tour inside Kigali Genocide Memorial to learn more about Rwandan history. Members of the Belgian business delegation tour at Kigali Genocide Memorial on Sunday, March 27. Some of the members of the delegation from Belgium read names of ten Belgian commandos killed in 1994. The delegation observe a moment of silence to honor ten Belgian commandos who were part of a peacekeeping mission under the United Nations who were killed in Rwanda in 1994.
