Rwanda: “The World Failed All Of Us” President Kagame.

As he marked 30 years since the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people, President Kagame blames world for inaction. The Rwandan President Paul Kagame blamed the inaction of the Global community for not taking actions promptly to prevent the 1994 genocide to happen as the country Rwanda marked 30 years since an estimated 800,000 people were massacred by government-backed extremists. Since after the unfortunate incident, Rwanda has shown strong recovery and economic growth, but scars remains and there are questions about whether genuine reconciliation has been achieved under the long rule of Mr Kagame, whose rebel movement stopped the genocide and seized power. He has been praised by many for bringing relative stability but vilified by others for his intolerance of opposition. President Kagame led somber commemoration events in the capital, Kigali, on Sunday.

President Kagame and Wife at the Rwanda genocide anniversary.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame delivered his speech in Kigali to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide in the presence of Foreign visitors included a delegation led by Bill Clinton, who was US president during the genocide, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The killings were provoked when a plane carrying then-president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down over Kigali. The Tutsis were blamed for downing the plane and killing the president, and became targets in massacres led by Hutu extremists that lasted more than 100 days. Some moderate Hutus who tried to protect members of the Tutsi minority were also killed. Rwandan government have long blamed the global community for ignoring warnings about the killings, and some Western leaders have expressed regret.

Dignitaries including The President of Tanzania  Mrs Samia Suluhu Hassan, Former President of The United State Of America Bill Clinton and the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa were present.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement: “We will never forget the horrors of those 100 days, the pain and loss suffered by the people of Rwanda, or the shared humanity that connects us all, which hate can never overcome.” Former President of America Clinton, after leaving office, cited the Rwandan genocide as a failure of his administration. French President Emmanuel Macron, in a pre-recorded video ahead of Sunday’s ceremonies, said France and its allies could have stopped the genocide but lacked the will to do so. President Macron’s declaration came three years after he acknowledged the “overwhelming responsibility” of France the Rwanda’s closest European ally in 1994, for failing to stop Rwanda’s slide into the massacre. “It was the international community which failed all of us, whether from contempt or cowardice,” President Kagame said in a speech after lighting a flame of remembrance and laying a wreath at a memorial site holding the remains of 250,000 genocide victims in Kigali. He also shared the story of a cousin whose family he tried to save with the help of UN peacekeepers. She did not survive.

Former President Bill Clinton and South Africa President Cyril at the 30 years anniversary

Despite the incident, Rwanda’s ethnic composition never unchanged since 1994, with the Hutu as the majority, then the Tutsis account for 14% and the Twa just 1% of Rwanda’s 14 million people. As part of the efforts to build a unified Rwandan nation, President President Kagame dominated his government with the Tutsis has to destroy any for of ethnic bias. So far in Rwanda National identity cards no longer identify citizens by ethnic group, and the government have put in place tough punishment a tough to prosecute those suspected of denying the genocide or the “ideology” behind it.

President Kagame and his wife Jeannette Kagame light up the remembrance flame the Presence of dignitaries.

The president said on Sunday that Rwandans are disgusted by critics who have “questioned and revised” the history of the genocide. “Rwandans will always challenge it,” he said, adding that preventing another genocide requires political measures such as those now in place. “Our journey has been long and tough,” he went on. “Rwanda was completely humbled by the magnitude of our loss, and the lessons we learned are engraved in blood. But the tremendous progress of our country is plain to see and it is the result of the choice we made together to resurrect our nation.” He further added: “The foundation of everything is unity. That was the first choice, to believe in the idea of a united Rwanda and live accordingly.”

Dignitaries at the anniversary with President Kagame and Wife.

A night vigil will be held later on Sunday as part of a week of remembrance activities. Naphtal Ahishakiye, the head of Ibuka, a prominent group of survivors, told the Associated Press that keeping the memory of the genocide alive helps fight the mentality that allowed neighbors to turn on each other, killing even children. President Kagame, who grew up as a refugee in neighboring Uganda, has been Rwanda’s de facto President, first as vice president from 1994 to 2000, then as acting president. He was later voted into office in 2003 and has since been re-elected severally. As a candidate for elections set for July, he won the last election with nearly 99% of the vote. Some observers say the law has been used to silence critics who question the government’s policies.

Rights groups have accused President Kagame’s soldiers of carrying out some killings during and after the genocide in apparent revenge, but Rwandan government see the allegations as an attempt to rewrite history. President Kagame has previously said his forces showed restraint in the face of genocide.

Recently discovered skeletons of the past genocide.

“It’s a time to learn what happened, why it happened, what are the consequences of genocide to us as genocide survivors, to our country, and to the global international community,” said Mr Ahishakiye. He said his country has come a long way since the 1990s, when only survivors and government officials participated in commemoration events. “But today even those who are family members of perpetrators come to participate.” Though mostly peaceful, Rwanda has also had troubled relations with their neighbors. Most Recently, tensions have flared with D.C. Congo, with the two countries’ leaders accusing each other of backing armed groups. Also Relations have been tense with Burundi as equally over allegations that Kigali is supporting a rebel group attacking the Republic of Burundi. while relations with the Republics of Uganda are yet to fully normalize after a period of tensions stemming from Rwandan’s allegations that Uganda was backing rebels opposed by President Kagame.

source: www.oneinfoafrica.com