The Ministry of Finance and Economic planning on Friday, June 13 commemorated the lives of its employees who were killed during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
More than one hundred employees were massacred during the genocide.
The event was characterized by testimonies and songs from genocide survivors who worked at the ministry as well as families of those who perished during the genocide.
Under the theme Remember-Unite-Renew genocide survivors narrated their ordeals during genocide and their road to recovery.
“We were hunted down and killed for who we are. We lost our loved ones but God who protected us during genocide against the Tutsi will always be with us.
Today we have hope, we enjoy rights just like everyone and the future is bright thanks to the leadership that doesn’t discriminate whatsoever.
Only if those who left us could see this transformation,” Alice Gasengayire, a representative of families of former MINECOFIN employees said.
In his remarks Senator Jean Damascene Bizimana noted that before colonialism, Rwandans lived in harmony with no difference between Hutu, Twa or Tutsi.
“Hate ideology was introduced into Rwandans by colonialists who differentiated Rwandans by their physical appearances.
They planted the first seed of hate which culminated in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi,” Senator Bizimana said.
The executive secretary of the National Commission to fight Genocide (CNLG) Jean de Dieu Mucyo urged mourners to remember while planning for the future.
“It is important that we remember our loved ones while we continue transform our country and our lives for the better to ensure that none of atrocities that befell us ever happen again,” Mucyo said.
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete said that remembering those who were killed during genocide against the Tutsi was away to honor and dignify their lives.
“They should have been part of us today hadn’t the genocide against the Tutsi happened. We will forever remember those that we lost by recreating their lives through telling their stories,” The Minister said.
He pledged that the Ministry would document the lives of its staff killed during the genocide so that their lives history will never be forgotten.
“We want their lives to be remembered for generations and generations so that those who will come after us know and understand what happened,” Minister said.
During the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi more than one million Rwandans were killed in a space of one hundred days.
Minecofin
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