Cogebanque Board, management, staff and partners commemorated the victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, on Friday, April 29. Their commemoration activities included a tour of the Nyanza-Kicukiro Genocide Memorial where participants learned about the history of atrocities committed and the courageous efforts taken to stop the Genocide. The group also laid wreaths and honored the memories of those laid to rest at the memorial site. During the commemoration, Venuste Karasira, a survivor of the genocide in Nyanza-Kicukiro, shared his testimony about the events leading up to his rescue by the RPA-Inkotanyi. He expressed pain for the fact that the perpetrators of the genocide were bragging, for years, about their intention to kill the Tutsi, and the international community did not seem to care. Karasira highlighted that what happened in Kicukiro could have been avoided if UN military personnel deployed under UNAMIR had made protecting innocent Tutsi A priority. Cogebanque CEO, Guillaume Ngamije Habarugira, shared a tearful statement about his experience as a child witnessing the violent killings during the Genocide against the Tutsi. Habarugira noted that while the bank did not exist during the time of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, its staff members were all affected by the atrocities committed, in one way or another. This is precisely why the bank chose to dedicate a work day and close all of its branches to remember the victims of the Genocide, he said. Naphtal Ahishakiye, the Executive Secretary of Ibuka, praised Cogebanque's dedication to remembering the genocide's victims, calling it a sign of resilience. He urged all institutions, those established pre-genocide or post-genocide, to commemorate and keep the memory of those killed alive. Jean-Claude Karangwa Sewase, a researcher at the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE), spoke about Rwanda's history and how it used to be a culture of love. He called on all Rwandans to never again be blindfolded to the real truth and emphasized the importance of unity, hard work, and perseverance. Karangwa also called on everyone to play a practical role in fighting Genocide ideology that is largely spread on social media and further urged people to use such platforms to denounce those that deny and trivialize the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. Cogebanque, a commercial bank licensed by the National Bank of Rwanda, started operations in 1999 and played a big role in rebuilding the country after the Genocide. The bank has been part of efforts to preserve the memory of genocide victims and promote the path towards development. This year, they partnered with Our Past Initiative, a youth-led organization, to console survivors of the genocide and paid community health insurance premiums for more than 130 people and provided food to the most vulnerable people in Nduba sector, Gasabo District. WATCH: Cogebanque 29th Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
