Kwibuka 30: Rwanda honours politicians who opposed genocidal regime

Author: Josephine Kalembe

• 2024-04-08 05:30:00

The genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda, 30 years ago, between April and July 1994, claimed one million lives in 100 days.

The genocide did not happen overnight. It was the result of the individual involvement of the political and military authorities led by the then government.

During the genocide, leaders were at the forefront of organizing massacres, giving out instructions, providing weapons used to kill innocent people, among other activities. However, a few politicians opposed the genocidal plan and saved the lives of many Tutsi, at the expense of their own.

Specifically, this year, nine politicians will have their names inscribed at a memorial in Kigali which was preserved for politicians who did good deeds before and during the Genocide against the Tutsi.

The politicians whose heroics actions will be honored include:

Boniface Ngurinzira, the former Foreign Affairs Minister, who advocated for Rwandan unity during the Arusha peace talks. Ngurinzira believed that all Rwandans should live in a country where they had equal rights, a belief that he did not shared with the genocidal regime. Ngurinzira was killed on April 11, 1994, at ETO Kicukiro.

Godefroid Ruzindana and Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, the former Kibungo and Butare prefects, respectively, are among the politicians to be honoured. They violated the instructions of ‘accelerating the killings’ of the Tutsi in the regions they led. They stood against genocidal politics at the cost of their lives and that of their families. They were killed on April 17, 1994.

Prof Jean-Gualbert Rumiya, an academic left the MRND, the genocidal party, after criticizing the incendiary speech made by genocide convict Leon Mugesera who was his fellow faculty member at the National University. Mugesera widely called for the extermination of the Tutsi in the early 1990s.

While many journalists in the country were busy spreading hate, in 1994, Vincent Rwabukwisi, a journalist and politician used his platform to promote peace and reconciliation. He was shot dead by the genocidal regime's military sometime between April 10 and 12 1994, in front of his home in Nyamirambo, Kigali.

On April 16, 1994, Dr Theoneste Gafaranga, a private medical practitioner and member of PSD political party, was killed. Gafaranga was a leader who was not afraid of speaking his mind. He once said: “The RPF are welcome to Rwanda. They have doctors, lawyers, engineers that Rwanda needs". His words and rational thinking cost him his life during the Genocide.

In addition, there were three bourgmestres: Calixte Ndagijimana of Mugina, Narcisse Nyagasaza of Ntyazo, and Jean Marie Vianney Gisagara of Nyabisindu commune. The three leaders bravely fought against the Genocide in their respective areas and saved many Tutsi lives.

However, they were killed in horrific ways for their courageous acts of resistance.

Through many channels including media and political rallies, most political leaders of the genocidal regime encouraged citizens to kill the Tutsi, and got rid of any person who opposed that genocidal agenda. But these nine politicians shunned the genocide ideology.

The nine politicians set a good example for future generations of Rwandan leaders.