• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us

For all official information and updates regarding COVID-19, visit the South African Department of Health's website at www.sacoronavirus.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Africa

Rwanda ‘a family again’, 25 years after genocide: Kagame

7 April 2019, 9:40 PM  |
AFP AFP |  @SABCNews
Kagame

Rwanda President Paul Kagame.

Kagame

Image: Reuters

Rwanda President Paul Kagame.

President Paul Kagame said on Sunday that Rwandans had become a family again 25 years after more than 800,000 people were slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world. Kagame lit a remembrance flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than 250,000 mainly Tutsi victims are believed to be buried, as the country began its annual 100 days of mourning that coincides with the length of the slaughter.

“In 1994, there was no hope, only darkness. Today, light radiates from this place. How did it happen? Rwanda became a family once again. The arms of our people, intertwined, constitute the pillars of our nation. We hold each other up. Our bodies and minds bear amputations and scars, but none of us is alone. Together, we have woven the tattered threads of our unity into a new tapestry,” said Kagame, at the Kigali Convention Centre, a dome-shaped auditorium in the centre of the capital, a modern building emblematic of the regeneration of Rwanda.

The genocidal Hutu forces, members of the old army and militia forces called the “Interahamwe” began their campaign of killing on April 7, 1994, the day after the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu. Some were shot, but most were beaten or hacked to death with machetes.

“Our people have carried an immense weight with little or no complaint. This has made us better and more united than ever before. The fighting spirit is alive in us. What happened here will never happen again,” Kagame said.

The killings lasted until Kagame, then 36, led the mainly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) into Kigali on July 4, ending the slaughter and taking control of the devastated country. Kagame, now 61, and in power ever since, is leading the memorial to the dead.

After his speech, Kagame led hundreds of people on a walk to the country’s main football ground. The Amahoro National Stadium, whose name means “peace” in Rwanda’s Kinyarwanda language, was used by the UN during the genocide to protect thousands of Tutsis from being massacred on the streets outside.

Dignitaries lit a candle which they used to light candles held by the youth, a symbolic passing of the baton to the younger generation, before the stadium turned into a sea of flickering lights. Two thirds of Rwanda’s population was born after the genocide.

“Our children enjoy the innocence of peace. They know trauma and violence only from stories. Our aspirations rest in this new generation,” Kagame said.

For many survivors, forgiveness remains difficult when the bodies of their loved ones have not been found and many killers are still free. A quarter of a century on, the east African nation has recovered economically, but the trauma still casts a dark shadow.

Kagame has kept an authoritarian hold as he steers the small, landlocked East African nation through economic recovery. Growth in 2018 was a heady 7.2 percent, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). Some 10 leaders were expected to pay their respects, mostly from nations across the continent. Former colonial ruler Belgium sent Prime Minister Charles Michel.

French President Emmanuel Macron did not attend, but expressed his “solidarity with the Rwandan people and his compassion to the victims and their families” in a statement Sunday.

The statement said Macron would like to make April 7 a “day of commemoration of the genocide” in France, without giving further details. France was represented by Herve Berville, a 29-year old Rwandan-born member of parliament in Paris.

Rwanda has accused France of being complicit in the genocide through its support for the Hutu-led government and of helping perpetrators escape. Paris has consistently denied complicity in the bloodshed, though former president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010 acknowledged France had made “serious errors of judgement”.

On Friday, Macron appointed an expert panel to investigate France’s actions at the time. Macron was not the only notable absence; former ally Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was also absent, amid a diplomatic spat between the two nations. During his speech, Kagame sent out a warning to those who interfered in Rwandan affairs.

Share article
Tags: RwandaGenocidePresident Paul Kagame
Previous Post

White House to Democrats seeking Trump tax returns: ‘Never’

Next Post

ANC leaders facing fraud, corruption allegations must be removed from election list: YCL

Related Posts

Civil society members hold banners during an anti-Rwanda protest, amid tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali over Rwanda's suspected backing of the M23 rebel group, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo June 25, 2022.

Scary times for Rwandans in Congo as rebel attacks ignite tensions

29 June 2022, 12:36 PM
[File image]

Spain begins natural gas exports to Morocco following diplomatic row

29 June 2022, 10:15 AM
Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki presided over the proceedings of the opening ceremony of the PAP Ordinary Session in Midrand.

PAP expected to elect new leadership following a stern reprimand from AU Chair

29 June 2022, 7:03 AM
Swearing in ceremony of new Pan African Parliament members in Midrand, Johannesburg on 28 June 2022.

Pan African Parliament must clean up its battered image: Faki Mahamat

28 June 2022, 9:45 PM
Employees examine avocados at the Kakuzi pack house in Makuyu, Kenya, May 11, 2022.

Africa’s dream of feeding China hits hard reality

28 June 2022, 5:33 PM
Demand for avocados in Europe and Asia has seen a rise in the number of Kenyan farmers and exporters.

Kenya is Africa’s top exporter of avocados, surpassing South Africa

28 June 2022, 12:26 PM
Next Post
Nxesi, who delivered the keynote address at the launch, has stressed the importance of unity.

ANC leaders facing fraud, corruption allegations must be removed from election list: YCL

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • EMS says fire at Bree Street Taxi Rank in Johannesburg has been extinguished
  • The public has until 18 May to make submissions on Icasa’s regulations for extension of expiry period for data, airtime
  • ANC NEC expected to hold a special meeting on Sunday
  • Eastern Cape flood victims plead for support as access to food, services remains difficult
  • Amathole Regional Secretary elated to have corruption charges against him dropped
  • East London police search for clues that led to tavern death; calls to revoke tavern’s licence 
  • UPDATE: At least 17 people killed in an East London tavern stampede
  • South Africans no longer required to wear face masks indoors
  • E Cape Liquor Board says Enyobeni tavern owner will face criminal charges
  • Zulu Royal Palace abuzz as King Misuzulu’s cleansing ceremony continues
  • East London police search for clues that led to tavern death; calls to revoke tavern’s licence 
  • UPDATE: At least 17 people killed in an East London tavern stampede
  • Mosimane alleges sabotage from CAF President Patrice Motsepe
  • SANTACO and NTA calls on COSATU to join the national shutdown over the hiking fuel prices
  • NTA yet to decide whether to support calls for national shutdown amid fuel price hikes

LATEST

Travellers walk at a terminal hall of the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China March 23, 2022.
  • Coronavirus
  • Sci-tech

China removes indication of travel through COVID-hit cities on mobile app


(File Image) A bat and cricket balls seen on a pitch.
  • Sport
  • Cricket

Temba Bavuma ruled out of Proteas’ UK tour


Candles in the dark displayed alongside a digital clock.
  • South Africa

Rolling blackouts negatively affecting power network, infrastructure: City of Tshwane


Pope Francis arrives for the Mass of Saint Peter and Paul in St Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, June 29, 2022.
  • World
  • Russia, Ukraine conflict

Ukraine shopping centre bombing the latest ‘barbarous’ attack: Pope


Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022.
  • Sci-tech

No need to impose regulations for Monkeypox: Government


Civil society members hold banners during an anti-Rwanda protest, amid tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali over Rwanda's suspected backing of the M23 rebel group, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo June 25, 2022.
  • Africa

Scary times for Rwandans in Congo as rebel attacks ignite tensions


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Donald Trump White House to Democrats seeking Trump tax returns: ‘Never’
Next ANC leaders facing fraud, corruption allegations must be removed from election list: YCL