Attended by 150 mourners, the ceremony held on Sunday was marked by a walk to remember from Place du souvenir Africain, a place where the memorial of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi built in 2018 is located, crossed around Dakar city before returning to the memorial.
The President of Rwandan diaspora in Senegal, Patrick Karamaga reflected on history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and hate speech propagated by politicians.
He recalled the speech of Leon Mugesera in 1992 held in Kabaya mobilizing Hutus to return Tutsi home in Ethiopia through River Nyabarongo which later turned into reality when Tutsi were thrown in the river dead or alive during genocide.
Karamaga reminded the youth of their role to build the nation free of divisionism and ensure genocide never happens again.
The President of the Friends of Rwanda’s Association, Dr. Sakhoudia Thiam said that commemorating genocide should be everyone’s responsibility.
Rwanda’s ambassador to Senegal, Dr. Mathias Harebamungu explained how colonizers divided Rwandans and early preparations of genocide since 1959 when Tutsi were deprived of their rights and killed at different regimes until the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi was executed.
Amb Harebamungu also reflected on 10 commandments of Hutus and hates speeches mobilizing Tutsi killings and called on United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to increase memorials of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi across the world and urged people with genocide archives to share them with Rwandans.
The ceremony was concluded by laying wreaths in Atlantic Ocean.
The ceremony took place within 100 days of national mourning in commemoration of genocide victims.
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