The Tanzanian government has called upon EAC member countries to spare no efforts in fighting against genocide ideology and revisionism in all their manifestations.
The call was made on Friday during the 29th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
Emmanuella K. Mtatifikolo the Arumeru District Commissioner represented the Government of Tanzanian at the commemoration at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha.
“With the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, the entire humanity was put to test and the sanity of human nature was for once put into serious doubts,” she said.
“I therefore call upon the international community in general and the EAC countries in particular to work together at different levels to fight against all forms of genocide ideology or any slightest signal of its kind,” she said.
Mtatifokolo further said that as these barbaric acts were being carried out in Rwanda, the whole world was well aware of such terrible occurrences yet the International Community did nothing to stop those killings in which innocent men, women and children were brutally murdered for no other reason than their ethnic belonging.
The Rwandan High Commissioner to the United Republic of Tanzania, Amb. Maj Gen Charles Karamba, expressed his appreciation to the EAC, the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals and all friends of Rwanda for standing in solidarity with the Government and people of Rwanda to remember loved ones who perished in 1994.
Amb. Maj Gen Karamba said that it was during this period that Rwandans take time to reflect on where the country was in 1994, on the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, and where Rwanda is today.
“The country was totally destroyed with no hope of recovery,” he said, adding that, the post 1994 Government of Rwanda was faced with enormous challenges of rebuilding a deeply divided country with a destroyed political, economic, social, and legal infrastructure.
“The stakes were high and tough decisions were needed,” added Amb. Gen. Karamba.
The High Commissioner informed the invited guests that for the last 29 years, Rwandans chose a completely different path of resilience and courage necessary to get solutions for their problems, rejecting the rotten politics of hatred and divisionism, thus, rebuilding Rwanda from the ashes.
The Chairman of the Rwandan Diaspora (Arusha and Moshi), Eng. Murenzi Daniel, informed the commemorators that after 1994, the Rwandan community abroad embarked on a journey of national rebuilding and promotion of peace and reconciliation with the support from the government of Rwanda.
“Today, the Rwandan Diaspora plays an integral role in uniting the Rwandans aboard with a focus on building the nation,” said Eng. Murenzi.
The event brought together a broad spectrum of stakeholders including representatives from various religious groups, Germany Cooperation in Arusha (GIZ), the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (AUABC) UN-MICT, and students from various universities and secondary schools in Arusha, and EAC staff.
