As part of activities to mark the 29th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Ecobank Rwanda staff on Friday, April 14, visited Kicukiro Genocide Memorial, where more than 100,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide are interred. At the memorial, the Ecobank staff were led by the Board Chairperson, Ivan Twagirishema, and Managing Director, Carine Umutoni. ALSO READ: 29 years later, Rwanda remembers They were briefed about the history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi which took more than one million lives, and especially the horrors Tutsi went through after UN peacekeepers abandoned them at the former ETO Kicukiro compound. Interahamwe militia took the thousands of Tutsi men, women and children to Nyanza, Kicukiro and killed them. ALSO READ: April 11, 1994: Left to die at ETO Kicukiro The Ecobank staff also visited the Garden of Memory, which symbolically depicts what happened in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the life and rebirth of the nation after the dark history. They laid wreaths on the burial place of the Genocide victims and observed a minute of silence in honour of the victims. Twagirishema said commemorating the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was an occasion for the Ecobank staff to learn about Rwanda’s history. “We have the responsibility to remember the Genocide against the Tutsi so that we ensure that it never happens again. We have to remain committed to it, in our professional life and in our families, in order to make sure that even the future generations know that history,” he said. Twagirishema paid tribute to RPF/A-Inkotanyi for their sacrifices in stopping the Genocide and restoring national unity. The national mourning week was closed on April 13, but commemoration activities will continue for 100 days until July 3, the eve of Liberation Day. On July 4, 1994, the RPA stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi and liberated Rwanda, putting an end to the era of divisive politics that plunged the country into one of the worst tragedies in history. The Deputy Executive Administrator of Kicukiro District, Ann Monique Huss, encouraged the Ecobank management and staff to keep the memory of the Genocide and support its survivors throughout the 100 days and beyond. “Everyone has a role to play in making Rwanda a safe country. The government has done a lot in supporting the resilience of survivors and we ask everyone, especially Ecobank staff, to do more in that regard. Let’s fight the ideology of genocide,” Huss said. The Executive Secretary of Ibuka, the umbrella organization of genocide survivors’ associations, Naphatal Ahishakiye, said remembrance is one of the ways to restore humanity amongst Rwandans. “We keep the memory of the Genocide against the Tutsi. For too long our country had bad governance at the hands of the likes of Gregoire Kayibanda and Juvenal Habyarimana, who debased the dignity of Rwandans.” By remembering the tragic history of Rwanda, Ahishakiye said, Rwandans will be able to fight genocide ideology and build a prosperous country.
