REL staff joined by the Mayor of Rusizi District, Dr. KIBIRIGA Anicet, and the Executive Secretaries of Bugarama and Nzahaha Sectors which are the two sectors that will be directly affected by the Ruzizi III Hydroelectric Power Project visited on 16 June 2022 Nyarushishi Memorial site and commemorated the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994.

During the visit to the Nyarushishi Memorial site, REL Staff laid wreaths at the memorial site to pay their respect to the dearly departed friends and families resting at Nyarushishi Memorial site. Further, the staff got the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the history of Genocide Perpetrated against the Tutsi in the Rusizi District specifically at Nyarushishi hill hosting the Nyarushishi Memorial site in the Nkungu Sector.

Mangara Claudien, 83, who survived the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994 at Nyarushishi hill, told REL Staff during commemoration that people were gathered at Nyarushishi hill from all over Rusizi. “Interahamwe Militia collected us from different parts of Rusizi district even from as far as Kibuye to Nyarushishi hills. People were mistreated and tortured here at Nyarushishi, women raped, and a lot of people were killed on this hill,” Said Mangara.

“We survived because Inkotanyi timely arrived here at Nyarushishi before the perpetrators had got time to finish (kill) all over us. We thank them for securing us at the time we desperately needed someone, anyone, who could relieve us from the tragedy we were embroiled in,” Mangara added.

Guylaine Ntunaguza, the Project Controller at REL, who was representing REL Project Director, said that REL decided to visit Nyarushishi memorial site and paid respect to those resting at Nyarushishi Memorial site because the place has its specific history in line with the Genocide perpetrated against Tutsi in 1994.   

“We have learned that Nyarushishi memorial site has its personal history. It is at this very place that the victims were herded or ruled to be slaughtered during the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. It is very difficult to understand genocide wherever it has taken place, but the Genocide against the Tutsi is even more difficult to understand, for it was committed by Rwandans against fellow Rwandans, worse still in many cases by neighbors,” Guylaine said.

She added that the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi was not an accident but a meticulously prepared action, religiously taught over the years, and systemically planned and executed. “The Genocide ideology did not commence in April 1994 but had inured for decades before that. As such, it is a necessity to work closely together to fight the Genocide ideology so that genocide will never happen again,” Guylaine added.

The Mayor of Rusizi District, Dr. Kibiriga Anicet, who joined REL Staff at Nyarushishi Memorial site for the Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi thanked REL for its initiative of visiting the memorial site, commemorating, and deepening understanding of the history of the Genocide against the Tutsi. 

“You have made it possible to come here to Nyarushishi memorial site to pay your respect to the Victims of the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994. This initiative proves that we still have Rwandans who are willing to fight the Genocide ideology and cement our never again slogan. We thank REL and we remind you that this is not a once-in-a-lifetime activity, but we must continue remembering and honoring our friends and families resting in different memorial sites,” said Anicet.

More than 8500 people rest at the Nyarushishi Memorial site. It is a main memorial site in Rusizi District. It was selected to be the main memorial site because of the specific history that characterized Nyarushishi hill during the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.