By Seif Shaggy Gracien Hasingizwimana/Kigali/Rwanda,
The Acting Mayor of Nyagatare District, Kakooza Henry, has emphasized that the proposal to establish a special monument to remember the former employees of Muvumba Commune killed in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has been approved and will be implemented soon.
He stated: “It is expected that this monument will have been established before the 33rd Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi.”
This was highlighted on April 30, 2026, during the 32nd commemoration of these employees. The event began by laying wreaths and paying tribute at the Nyagatare Genocide Memorial, where the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi rest. Those remembered today are former employees who worked in the former Muvumba Commune, specifically the Ngarama and Kiyombe areas.
The representative of Ibuka in Nyagatare District, Bimenyimana Jean de Dieu, stated that eight employees who worked in the former Muvumba Commune and were killed in the Genocide have been identified so far.
He requested the establishment of a monument for remembrance that includes their names. He said: “It is important that we place a monument at the district office to remember these employees, and we will continue to search for other names of those not yet identified.”
During this ceremony, testimonies were shared highlighting the history of discrimination and injustice that led to the Genocide. Gatete Sylvère Gatera, a former employee who gave testimony, said that from schools, Rwandans were taught a history full of discrimination and hatred against Tutsis, which continued into the workplace where Tutsis were persecuted.
He stated: “I was dismissed from work in 1990 because of my ethnicity,” emphasizing that many of his former colleagues were killed when the Genocide began.
This initiative aims to preserve the history of the victims of the Genocide, honor their lives, and continue sensitizing Rwandans to fight against Genocide ideology, with the goal of ensuring that what happened never happens again.
