Parliament to house Liberation Memorial

The government is planning to set up a Liberation Memorial site at the parliamentary buildings, 16 years after the liberation war. The President of the Senate, Vincent Biruta, confirmed yesterday that the project was in the pipeline. “The parliament was central in the liberation war and we are in the process of setting up the Liberation and Campaign against Genocide site to highlight the liberation struggle,” he said. Biruta explained that on December 28, 1993, 600 troops of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) and politicians camped at the building to await results of the Arusha peace talks between their representatives and the Habyarimana government. “Though nothing came out of the talks, several diplomatic meetings and negotiations took place within this building,” he said. “When the Genocide began, the first civilians to be rescued by the RPF came to this building; many others came here with serious injuries. This building played a very big role before and during the Genocide”. Biruta said that the first study was carried out and it was discovered that the setting up the memorial site would be very costly. “We are aware of the fact that the site may be expensive, but we are still looking at all possible options and we may have to do it in phases,” he said. The memorial will, among other things, have a liberation monument and exhibition halls where videos, documents and pictures of the liberation will be shown. Biruta further revealed that some funding for the project is available “We already have part of the money and we will soon recruit a company to start the work this year,” he said Ends

National

Parliament to house Liberation Memorial