Rwanda and Ghana have unveiled two commemorative monuments at Burma Camp in Accra in a ceremony marking the 32nd commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and honouring Ghanaian peacekeepers who served in Rwanda during the United Nations mission. Unveiled this week, the monuments include the Flame of Hope, dedicated to more than one million victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi, and a second memorial recognising officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces who remained in Rwanda during the Genocide. ALSO READ: Rwanda’s public monuments: How art preserves history and identity Rwanda’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, said the Genocide against the Tutsi was not an isolated episode but the result of years of planning and division. “The Genocide against the Tutsi, just like all other genocides, was not a spontaneous event. Instead, it was a meticulously planned genocide that unfolded over several years and the plan was implemented with minute detail.” He said the ideology behind the killings was built over decades through dehumanisation, identity based exclusion and propaganda. ALSO READ: ‘I never thought I’d return to Rwanda’ - Ghanaian peacekeeper recounts 1994 horrors Ugirashebuja warned against continued distortion of history, saying: “Denial is not an opinion; it is the final stage of genocide. It erases truth, rehabilitates perpetrators, and deepens the wounds of survivors.” He also reflected on international inaction despite warnings before the killings. “Rwandans will never understand why these conspicuous early warnings were ignored. Was it because the lives of the victims of the genocide were not worth saving?” Turning to Ghana’s bravery, he praised Ghanaian peacekeepers for remaining in Rwanda when many international forces withdrew. ALSO READ: Rwandans in Ghana appeal to world not to shield Genocide perpetrators Quoting Maj Gen Henry Kwami Anyidoho’s Guns Over Kigali, Ugirashebuja said: “I told General Dallaire that Ghanaian soldiers would not abandon Rwanda. We would stay, even if it meant dying here. We could not turn our backs on the people in their hour of need.” Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Amb Rosemary Mbabazi, said the two monuments symbolise both remembrance and recognition. “Standing side by side through these monuments is Rwanda’s contemporary reality. In Rwanda, we saw what heinous sociopolitical ideology leads on one extreme, and on the other, we witnessed what ordinary men and women can achieve when they courageously stand up against evil.” She said the memorial recognising Ghanaian peacekeepers honours those who stayed in Rwanda “at a time when many left Rwandans to face death abandoned.” Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said remembrance should remain a warning against division. “Remembrance should however not be a mere memorialisation of a painful chapter in history. It must reaffirm our shared humanity and our collective resolve that such horrors must never be repeated.” He added: “This monument stands as more than just a statue, stone and structure. It represents remembrance. It represents solidarity. It represents the enduring values of peace, courage and shared responsibility.” A message from former United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, stressed that the Genocide against the Tutsi is established historical fact. “The name of the crime ‘Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda’ is not a matter of opinion.” She warned that denial continues to evolve and spread rapidly through digital platforms. Speaking on behalf of the Ghanaian contingent under UNAMIR, Maj Gen Henry Kwami Anyidoho said remaining in Rwanda was a deliberate moral choice. “As an African General playing a leadership role on that mission, we could not turn our backs on Rwanda.” He said Ghanaian peacekeepers stayed and created humanitarian corridors to save as many lives as possible.
