Mugina Parish is located in Mbati Cell, Mugina Sector, in Kamonyi District. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, hundreds of Tutsi from Bugesera, Kigali City, Kigali Ngari, and the communes which surrounded Mugina commune took refuge at Mugina Parish. According to Jean Damascene Ntivuguruzwa, 53, a Genocide survivor who was born and grew up in the area, people in Mugina used to be very united and shunned the divisive politics of the day. No one in the area, at the time, could turn on a neighbour and kill them. Our people were united, he said, which encouraged many Tutsi from other areas to seek refuge there. Those who took refuge at Mugina Parish also had the full support of the area Bourgmestre, Callixte Ndagijimana, who did not support the killing of the Tutsi. Jean Damascene Ntivuguruzwa, 53, a Genocide survivor of Mugina Parish. This is highlighted in documents by the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) on how the Genocide against the Tutsi was executed, countrywide, on April 26, 1994. Ndagijimana agreed to pay selected Hutu, Tutsi youth as well as police officers if they would continue to fight back and repulse invasions by killers from Mbati, Mukinga, Jenda and elsewhere to attack at Mugina Parish. But the masterminds of the killings in the area including former Mugina Bourgmestre, Onesphore Ngiruwonsanga, alias Gitaro, eventually eliminated him so that they could have their way. According to CNLG records, at some point during the Genocide, Ngiruwonsanga, held a meeting and ordered the cutting off all water pipes, saying that you cannot kill snakes without starving them. Before Ngiruwonsanga and other genocidaires had their way, however, Ntivuguruzwa recalls, Ndagijimana had done his best to prevent the killings. Initially, as a member of the extremist MDR-PARMUHUTU party, the likes of Onesphore Ngiruwonsanga, Major Karangwa Pierre Claver, and others who organised killings here, thought that being one of their own, Ndagijimana would implement their murderous agenda, but they were very wrong about him, Ntivuguruzwa said. When things started getting out of hand Ndagijimana was observing. Very many people were coming to hide at the Parish. Few days after the presidents plane was downed, on around April 9, Ndagijimana successfully mobilized youths and communal policemen to thwart attacks. For some days, Ndagijimanas actions reassured the Tutsi He made us feel very safe. He stood with us all the time. Every evening, he would visit the refugees at the parish and address them. He told us not to despair. And we were so many as hundreds kept on coming, from other areas. This is why later, thousands were killed here, in a locality that was previously sparsely populated. According to Ntivuguruzwa, an initial attempt on Ndagijimanas life, on April 16 or 17 failed. While the latter was addressing a crowd of refugees, on top of his vehicle, an assassin sneaked near the area, aimed and shot but missed. He was shot by a soldier who had been brought by a Taxi Moto. Ndagijimana being a former soldier, dived when some people in the crowd shouted to warn him. Luckily, he survived and people managed to catch the assassin and kill him. Ndagijimana carried on with his work undeterred, he explained. But on April 20, 1994, Ntivuguruzwa said, local leaders were called to Gitarama for a meeting and that was the last time they saw their Bourgmestre alive. Ntivuguruzwa is sure Ndagijimana had gone to the meeting in Gitarama with the objective of demanding for answers as to why the Tutsi were being targeted for no reason. But then, you know, they had tried to kill him before and failed. The likes of Major Karangwa wanted him out so that they could carry out their genocidal mission unhindered. So, they plotted his death in Gitarama. Thats where his death was planned and executed. They set Burundi refugees on him at a roadblock who killed him, Ntivuguruzwa said. After his death, the killers then called upon Burundian refugees who lived at Nyagahama, Kinazi to come and help them kill. According to CNLG, about 14 trucks full of armed soldiers, interahamwe as well as groups of killers from Kabugondo, Ngoma, Runda and elsewhere arrived at the Parish. Those who had fled to the parish were killed using various weapons including guns, grenades, machetes, sharp sticks, and stones as marauding killers hunted for any survivor. Ntivuguruzwa said: When news about his death reached us late that evening we were hit psychologically. We lost all hope. We knew we were finished. People started fleeing to Kabgayi. And we were fighting every day. Many were shot and killed. There was a big attack on 25th but the worst came on 26th where hundreds died. According to CNLG, the killers, among other things, used roadblocks and dogs to hunt any Tutsi who would go to look for food. According to Ntivuguruzwa, those like him who survived the massacres took to the swamps and bushes in very difficult circumstances.
