President Paul Kagame urged residents to continue upholding the values of working hard and joining hands to transform the country that form the foundation of the monthly community service-Umuganda. The President was speaking to residents of Kicukiro District after taking part in Umuganda at Nyanza genocide memorial site as part of preparations for 25th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. “The reason behind community work-Umuganda is collaborating and working together to achieve transformation. It should not be just working together but also working even faster” he said. President Kagame participated in Umuganda with residents who were building water trenches and cleaning the memorial site. At the memorial site, a garden of memory is being built to document how the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi was executed in Kicukiro district. Residents of Kicukiro district take part part in Umuganda at Nyanza genocide memorial site yesterday. Village Urugwiro. The memorial garden will be a place where people can meet, remember and reflect on the history of the Genocide against the Tutsi and will be launched on April 8. The community work was also attended by East African Community Ministers, Heads of Organs and Institutions of EAC who earlier this week attended the EAC strategic retreat. A delegation from DRC who had come for environment affairs in Rwanda also joined Umuganda. “Today we have our fellows from EAC countries that came to join us in community work. We are working together as residents of East Africa Community. If you happen to go in any EAC country such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan also join them and work with them to further the activities that develop them as they did it here in Rwanda,” Kagame urged the residents. The concept of Umuganda can be translated as ‘coming together in common purpose to achieve an outcome’. In 1998, with the efforts to rebuild Rwandan society and nurture a shared national identity after 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the Government of Rwanda reintroduced Umuganda as one of Rwanda’s home grown solutions to reinforce socio-economic development and to promote the use of cultural resources in mitigating effects of scarce resources as envisioned in vision 2020. The president reiterated that Rwanda seeks cooperation starting in Rwanda, East African Community and the whole Africa and beyond. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
