Kigali-27 May 2019-The Commemoration of women and children who were killed during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, took place on Sunday 26 May 2019 in Nyanza district, Kibirizi Sector. Different dignitaries including the Speaker of the Parliament, Lower House Rt. Hon. Mukabalisa Donatile who was the Guest Speaker, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Amb. Soline Nyirahabimana and other laid wreath to the genocide memorial where more than 400 women and children and one man are buried. They were killed in a place called ‘Ibambiro’ where they sought refuge in a church after being assured of protection by the then local officials.

The Speaker of the Parliament, Chamber of Deputies Rt. Hon. Donatile Mukabalisa who was the Guest of Honor, condoled survivors and families of those who lost their loved ones adding: ‘The mothers we mourn today were kind and generous; they showed love towards everyone, they were courageous and they showed patience...’

The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Amb. Soline Nyirahabimana echoed that commemorating women and children has a special meaning because, by persecuting women who give life and children who are the future generation, genocidaires wanted to wipe out the humankind.

She reiterated that the family should be the foundation to fight genocide ideology.

‘The family we want to build, is the one that is free from Genocide ideology, starting from families, because a family is the foundation of our lives and the country. We should educate our children about the Rwandan history that lead to the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi so that what happened, should never happen again.’

According to testimonies from Genocide survivors, women and children who were killed from Kibirizi, Ibambiro experienced heinous experience. Ngutete Justine, testified that killers defiled women, killed children in a monstrous manner. Survivors appealed to officials to construct a Genocide memorial in this area in honor of the victims who perished here.