A moment of reflection

Name: Francine Murengezi Ingabire. Age: 12. Favourite sport: Swimming. Favourite food: Eggs and chips. Favourite drink: Milk and Fanta tropical. Best friend: Her elder sister Claudette. Cause of death: Hacked by machete. This information is picked from a plaque beneath a portrait of a child killed during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.Fourteen more faces of children line the walls of the children’s memorial at the Kigali Genocide memorial centre. Blissful faces representing the many children who were killed in the crudest of ways; some hurled on walls, others ripped from their mothers’ wombs.Murengenzi would be celebrating her 30th birthday today in the presence of her peers, parents and relatives. She could have become a top IT professional. She could perhaps have won her country a gold medal in swimming at the Olympics. She could have become anything she dreamt of if it wasn’t for that machete wielding murderer that destroyed a young life, full of unlimited dreams. Today, Rwanda and the rest of the World commemorate for the 18th time the Genocide against Tutsi. In April 1994, these children like, the rest of the million plus Genocide victims had their lives and dreams cut short with such cruelty that will forever haunt humanity. For the survivors, the burden of memory is profound. Every hill has its own heart rending story of how neighbour hunted down neighbour, how closely knit families disintegrated, how the ‘men of God’ hunted down their flock in the 100 days of madness, how medics handed out their patients to the killers, how... An attempt to explain the gruesomeness with which the Genocide was carried out only ends in futility. The 18th commemoration of the Genocide against Tutsi, as is indicated in this year’s theme, should be a moment of reflection. It should be a time to draw lessons from the harrowing history of the country with a view of ensuring a brighter future for the present generation and the generations to come.There is no doubt that the country has taken giant strides in rebuilding itself. Unity and reconciliation has been an important pillar of this reconstruction process. It was inconceivable how families of the Genocide perpetrators and those of victims could live together again. Rwandans have made a tough choice: not to be taken hostage by their history. Instead, they have drawn from their history to forge a prosperous and united country, suitable for all Rwandans.Despite this resolve, the ghosts of the 1994 Genocide still linger. Many Genocide planners and perpetrators are still at large. Many of them are walking scot-free on the streets of different western capitals. The threat of Genocide deniers should not be underrated either.But it is not all gloom and doom. It took many years to propagate the genocide ideology in the population and researchers portend that it will equally take many years to change this. Sadly, some people who harbour this ideology may never change.Impunity should not be given a place to thrive anywhere. Genocide suspects should be apprehended and brought to book. The international community should wake up from its slumber; genocide is a crime against humanity and should be treated as such.Efforts to reinvigorate local initiatives borrowing from the country’s rich traditional institutions like Itorero (a civic education training programme) should be sustained. Special focus should be put on the young generation so that when the buck is passed on, they will be ready to carry the country forward. Ensuring a bright future also calls for breaking the shackles of poverty. The horrid history should not hold the country back but inspire its people to face the future with greater resolve.

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A moment of reflection