The youth were Tuesday called on to embrace unity as it is the only way the country will be able to move forward and fully recover from the effects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The call was made by the Rwandan Minister for Justice Johnston Busingye during a Genocide commemoration ceremony at Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. “Many of you were born shortly before and after the Genocide, this means that most of us are stepping out of Rwanda if it can be compared to an organisation, and you youth, are now the majority shareholders,’’ he stated. ‘’There is no way the country will be able to move forward if you are still divided along ethnic lines’’. The event, dubbed ‘Our Past’, is held annually by youth as a way to pay tribute to those that lost their lives in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. According to one of the representatives of the organising body, Sick City, Christian Intwari, the event has registered significant growth since its inception in 2012. ‘’The numbers have greatly increased given the fact that we barely had above 400 youths in 2012 but participants keep growing, this year we had over 2,100 participants from within and outside Rwanda,’’ he told The New Times shortly after the event. Christian Intwari further noted that some of their achievements over the past couple of years, include renovating five houses of Genocide survivors, and now they are embarking on a project of extending piped water to the houses. One of the Genocide survivors, Hyppolite Ntigurirwa, narrated how he witnessed his father being killed, aunties getting raped, and other inhumane acts. He is currently moving around the country sharing his testimony. A play showing how the Genocide was carried out, and the role played by the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) to bring an end to the Genocide was performed. Shortly after, young trees, of the same species, were brought before the stage to represent the new Rwanda after the Genocide. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
