21
Apr

On Friday 21st of April 2023, Rwanda Energy Group (REG) and Water & Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) remembered the 173 former ELECTROGAZ Staff victims of the Genocide against Tutsi, an event that took place at Kigali Genocide Memorial located at Gisozi, Kigali.

The commemoration started with laying a wreath at this memorial built at REG Headquarters, where families and friends of the victims as well as REG and WASAC partners who also attended the event took time to remember and honor the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Maitre Emmanuel Ntivuguruzwa, a former ELECTROGAZ employee gave a testimony narrating how preparation and planning of genocide against the Tutsis were carried out before 1994.

Ntivuguruzwa got a job in ELECTROGAZ in 1985 through the support of the former DG  man called Katabarwa, who was also later dismissed from the job because he was a Tutsi. He recalled how a crowd of workmates used to threaten the Tutsi by closing doors at work as a way of menacing and forcing them to give up their jobs.

“There were a lot of persecutions at work. Employees who were Tutsi at ELECTROGAZ suffered a lot due to discrimination. I had a workmate with whom we shared an office but he always had a sword with him in the office and was always telling me that he would use it to kill me one day."

Felix Gakuba, the Managing Director of Energy Development Corporation Ltd. (EDCL) at Rwanda Energy Group, stressed the need to annually organize activities to commemorate former ELECTROGAZ employees victims of the genocide against the Tutsi and pay tribute to genocide victims in general.

“We have to continue supporting vulnerable genocide survivors. This is the right time to continue fighting against discrimination, divisionism, genocide ideology and denial against the genocide committed against the Tutsi to ensure it never happens again,” he said.

Irene Niyitanga, the Secretary General of the umbrella body for genocide survivors' associations, Ibuka, highlighted the importance of having more commemoration activities during the 100 days of Kwibuka.

“This helps to exhibit evidence about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and remind genocide deniers both in Rwanda and abroad that genocide will never happen again. We also console genocide survivors who have not yet known the whereabouts of their loved ones so that they get a decent burial,” he said.

He lauded REG and WASAC for contributing to initiatives to support vulnerable genocide survivors and to the commemoration activities.

“For instance, REG helped in establishing the AHEZA Healing & Career Center that plays a role in offering counselling services to survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi” he added.

The Minister of Infrastructure, Dr. Ernest Nsabimana, hailed the RPF-Inkotanyi for stopping genocide against the Tutsi and urged the youth to borrow a leaf.

“This is a tool to combat genocide deniers. The testimonies show how the Tutsi were persecuted long before 1994, either at work or in the community. We have also heard testimonies of how genocide had been tried in different parts of the country. This was due to seeds of bad leadership. We now need joint efforts to fight genocide denial,” he said. 

 “Remember – Unite – Renew”