African leaders must draw lessons from Rwandan genocide – Rosemary Mbabazi

 The Rwandan ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Rosemary Mbabazi, has called on African leaders to draw lessons from the country’s genocide experience and commit to unity and justice on the continent.

She said the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, has for the past 31 years held the country together by placing unity above everything else.

“Always remember that to­gether we are strong but divided we can all fall. Rwanda descend­ed into the abyss of genocide be­cause of division,” she stressed.

Speaking at the 31st anniversa­ry of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda held in Ac­cra on Monday, she said Rwanda and the world stood in solidarity to remember the victims of this heinous crime.

It is a 100-day period set aside to reflect on the happenings during the genocide known as Kwibuka in Kinyarwanda and starts from April 7 for 100 days to July 3.

It is an event held in honour of the memories of the victims and also reflect on the past in or­der to chart a path for the future.

Mrs Mbabazi said it was to also honour victims of the geno­cide and to elaborate on ideas to help prevent similar atrocities from happening again in the world.

“The seeds of discord sown by colonialism in our society were watered to flourish for over six decades. We are aware that undoing this heinous ideology may take even more effort but we are determined to never re­turn to the history that made the genocide against Tutsi possible,” she noted.

The Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme to Ghana, Mr Niloy Banerjee, said a country torn by division could heal through justice, mutual love and collective action.

He stated that wounds of the past create hatred, however heal­ing does not mean forgetting and occasionally holding Remem­brance Day was significant to honor those memories.

“Rwanda rose out of the ash­es. When I think about countries turning around, rising from the ashes and, coming out of that brutal massacre. I am so proud of Rwanda,” he said.

 BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA