The management and staff of Rubis Energy Rwanda on Friday, April 29, joined Rwandans and friends of Rwanda to commemorate 28 years after the Genocide against the Tutsi, which left the country devastated and shattered. Rubis Energie is a French firm with specialised operations in the storage, distribution and sale of petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas, food and chemical products. As part of the commemorative event, over 40 staff members from the firm visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre which is home to over 200,000 victims. The visit aimed at helping employees to understand how the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was executed to exterminate over a million lives in just 100 days. They laid wreaths at the memorial site before being ushered into its auditorium for further discussions. Jeanine Kayihura, country manager of Rubis, expressed regret about what happened in 1994, noting that it should never happen again anywhere on earth. “This visit is very important for us as it helps us to look back and reflect on what happened and honour those that survived, so that we can always be by their side,” she said. Kayihura further urged employees to embrace unity among them, emphasising that it can help the company develop and also contribute to the development journey of Rwanda. Josette Umugwaneza, retail manager of Rubis, who is also a Genocide survivor, saluted the RPF Inkotanyi leadership that stopped the genocide and built the most important pillars; which are unity and reconciliation. “As Rwandans, we have to always remember what we stand for, which is unity. We should also play a role in making sure that genocide never happens again in our country,” Umugwaneza said. According to James Mulwa, financial manager of Rubis, other counties should learn from Rwanda’s history which encourages its citizens to live in harmony and peace, regardless of the hardships it faced twenty eight years ago. “It is really important to maintain peace in a country. There is a lot the world can learn from Rwanda’s history especially with reconciliation,” he said. The Rubis Energy Rwanda team also participated in the Peace and Values Education Program hosted by the Kigali Genocide Memorial team learning about the roots and steps to a genocide, and the steps to building peace after such atrocities through exercises.
