THE KIGALI GENOCIDE MEMORIAL, 28 YEARS LATER - SILENT REFLECTION. "Sofonie Dala visits the Kigali Genocide Memorial - A place of remembrance and learning"

  Kigali Genocide Memorial - a place of remembrance and learning

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to our platform. Our program for today leads us to reflect on the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

My name is Sofonie Dala, Angolan delegate at the Youth connekt Africa Summit, for socio-economic transformation. The event took place in Kigali, Rwanda from October 13 to 15, 2022.

After the summit we decided to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a very important place not only for Rwanda but for all of Africa and the world in general.

The elegance of its simplicity allows people to both focus on the history of the 1994 genocide as well as grieve.

The memorial is a place of remembrance and learning where more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide have been laid to rest. Many people who lost loved ones in the Genocide visit to remember and grieve. There is no entrance fee and donations are gratefully accepted.

Our visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial - A place for learning

“For the international community, the Kigali Genocide Memorial is a crucial place to see when they visit Rwanda,” says Gatera. “If you come to Rwanda to travel through the ‘land of a thousand hills’, explore the beauty of our nation and meet its people, it is important to understand where they are coming from. If you don’t understand the genocide then you won’t understand the population.”

The Kigali Genocide Memorial museum includes three permanent exhibitions, the largest documents the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. There is also a children’s memorial, dedicated to the children who were killed during the genocide and an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around the world. “This part of the exhibition shows that this kind of tragedy is not a phenomenon only in Rwanda.” It is an international issue – and this is a place for humanity to think deeply about who we are as human beings.

Nobody remained indifferent after visiting the children's room people left in tears, we learned each child’s favourite foods and activities. It was like viewing a family album — except it abruptly ends with how the youngster’s life was violently snuffed out.

Opened a decade after the genocide, the memorial is a solemn, tear-inducing museum. With giant wall displays, archival documents, photos, video footage and weapons encased in glass, the indoor exhibit sheds light on the Rwandan genocide, as well as its pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial roots. The room filled with human skulls and bones was chilling but most heart-wrenching was the children’s memorial.

Surrounding the center are peaceful gardens for quiet reflection, created as if the developers knew visitors would need to recompose themselves after such a core-rattling experience.

We inhaled and exhaled with intention and a sense of relief until we came upon the tombs. Covered by giant plates of concrete, mass graves for over 250,000 victims serves as a place for visitors to honor those lost, and for the loved ones of the victims to grieve and remember.

“It is important to take the time to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial to learn about the background of the country.

The memorial not only offers a place for remembrance and reflection, but also the opportunity to better understand this tragedy and the impact it had – and continues to have – on the country and its people. It is possible to understand the efforts the country has made to bring people together, and to educate people not to hate but to love. 

Rwanda has transformed into one of the safest and most eco-aware countries in Africa. It's capital, Kigali, is a creative hub home to a vibrant art scene and a thriving fashion industry – but it's just as important that visitors engage with the devastating events in the country's recent history to understand how they have shaped Rwanda and ensure that they don 't happen again.

The Youthconnekt Africa Summit is one such example.

Remarkably though, Rwanda today is a country rebuilt. Kigali, is a clean, developed city (Rwanda is one of the cleanest countries in Africa) with a strong infrastructure, modern buildings and well-paved roads — the very streets where Tutsis were openly maimed and killed just 28 years ago.

The history

In 1994, the devastating mass slaughter of the Tutsi people of Rwanda took place. The Rwandan Genocide lasted from 7 April to mid-July, and more than 1 million Tutsis were killed, many of them in their own towns by neighbors and fellow villagers.

“The genocide against the Tutsi was an effect of the seeds of hatred sown in colonial times and the three decades that Rwanda was under very oppressive leadership,” says Honoré Gatera, Director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial. “There was an ideology of hatred spread against the Tutsis, and people were learning to hate rather than to love one another. If you teach people this hatred, this is the result.”

In 2001, in collaboration with Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG), the Aegis Trust raised the $2 million required to build the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The center was officially opened on 7 April 2004 to mark the tenth commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The memorial is the final resting place for up to 259,000 victims of the genocide and serves as a place where people can grieve for their lost loved ones and remember them. It also serves as a museum where both local and international visitors can learn about the history, implementation and consequences of the genocide.

The Kigali Genocide Memorial is an important place of remembrance and learning about the Genocide against the Tutsi. It is through education that we can prevent mass atrocities from occurring in our communities. A number of education programmes are run by the memorial, both onsite and in communities across Rwanda.

Zimbabwe: US Official Blames Zimbabwe’s Economic Decline On Corruption, Not Sanctions

 Harare — Poor governance and corruption in Zimbabwe are responsible for the country’s economic decline, not U.S. and other Western sanctions imposed after reports of election rigging and human rights abuses, a top U.S. official said Wednesday. The country’s capital, Zimbabwe has scoffed at the claims, while some pro-government citizens protest the sanctions at the U.S. embassy in Harare.

James O’Brien, the U.S. State Department’s sanctions coordinator, he said. that U.S. sanctions are not hurting Zimbabwe’s economy, as they do not affect banks, pointing to billions of dollars in reported annual illegitimate, illegal cross-border transactions as examples of what is hurting the country’s economy.

“Those cost the citizens of Zimbabwe a lot of their chance at having a more prosperous and free life. And so, we’d like our sanctions to be part of a policy answer that begins to improve the management of public services and public resources and makes things possible for the people of Zimbabwe to improve,” he said.

O’Brien said Washington is aware of concerns regional leaders have raised over the impact of the sanctions, including the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, saying that the impact of the sanctions is felt regionally and throughout the continent.

O’Brien said the U.S. would continue reviewing the sanctions list imposed in the early 2000s following reports of human rights abuses and election rigging by the current administration in Zimbabwe.

“We are not engaged in a comprehensive effort to close the Zimbabwean economy. We’re aware that because of the depth of the problems and the duration of this program, there probably are a lot of companies who believe that doing business in Zimbabwe is just too difficult. And that does cost opportunities for the people of Zimbabwe. Whether that’s the result of the underlying mismanagement and corruption, or whether our sanctions add to it. That’s something we are willing to talk about. We are focused on the people who benefit from corruption and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. That’s the behavior we are attempting to change. Our sanctions are only one part of a policy to improve the situation there,” he said. Some Zimbabweans disagree.

The chants are coming from pro-government members known as the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions. They are singing outside the U. S. embassy in Harare and ask, why do you hate Zimbabwe?

They have been camping here for months and continue to demand the removal of the sanctions.

Calvern Chitsunge, a member of the organization, told protesters and fellow government supporters the only thing we can do is demand that America remove sanctions it imposed on us today or yesterday.

He said as the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions, we sat down and agreed to write the Patriotic Act and we petitioned parliament. We appeared before the committee on foreign affairs and we said this law must prosecute those [Zimbabweans] who go abroad calling for sanctions, people who write lies. That’s what we are doing today: to correct mistakes made by the Americans and the British. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again. We are here to defend it, he said.

Zimbabwe officials refused to comment on O’Brien’s comments to journalists, saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa would address the nation Tuesday as the country marks what is known as “Anti-Sanctions Day,” when there will be government-organized protests in Harare.

Mnangagwa’s government called for the protests, alleging Zimbabwe is being punished for the land reform program under the late President Robert Mugabe in 2000, which forcefully displaced white commercial farmers and gave land to Black citizens.

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Moody’s downgrades outlook on UK from “stable” to “negative”

 Moody’s last night downgraded its outlook on the UK’s rating to negative, warning that the country was at risk of permanently losing credibility over economic policy after the mini-budget.

In a late ratings update, the agency revised down its outlook on the UK from “stable” to “negative” but maintained its overall Aa3 rating. Moody’s became the third of the big three raters, alongside Fitch and S&P, to revise down the UK’s borrowing outlook in the past month.

Moody’s said its revision was driven by risks to the UK’s rising debt servicing costs, caused by higher interest rates, growing government borrowing and “risk of a sustained weakening in policy credibility”. Moody’s also revised down its outlook for the Bank of England to “negative”.

Source: The Times of UK

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Diplomat deems it essential to mobilise resources to facilitate visas issue

 Luanda – The ambassador of Portugal to Angola, Francisco Alegre, this Friday guaranteed an investment in human and technological resources to facilitate the issuance of visas and avoid, thus, crowds at the Poertuguese General Consulate in the Angolan capital, Luanda.

Francisco Alegre denied the allegations that there is deliberate intention to create obstacles for Angolans to get visas, adding that he is not aware of any scheme intended to subtract financial advantages through a rising demand for entry visa for Portugal.

 

The diplomat was speaking to the press in the end of an audience with the Angolan National Assembly Speaker, Carolina Cerqueira, which served to analyse the allegations of big crowds at  the Portuguese consulate.

 

He assured that the difficulties that exist wil soon be overcome, aiming for better mobility of Angolan and Portuguese citizens.

 

The diplomat revealed that the European Union has placed some limitations on short stay visas, however, he explained, the Angolan and Portuguese governments have been working to make the long-stay visa issuance process speedier.

 

Francisco Alegre disclosed also that the meeting touched on issues like the “Portuguese co-operation in the diversification of the Angolan economy and other domains, aiming at wealth and employment creation”.

 

The two officials also assessed the co-operation between both countries’ parliaments, as well as the participation of Carolina Cerqueira in the Parliamentary Forum of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries), scheduled for next week in Lisbon, Portugal.

Belgium praises absence of Angolans among exile seekers

 Luanda - The absence of Angolans in the list of more than 26,000 applicants for exile to Belgium this year was praised Friday by that country's ambassador to Angola, Jozef Smets.

The diplomat was speaking to the press at the end of an audience granted to him by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Carolina Cerqueira. 

"There is a very large immigration in Belgium and, from January to September, more than 26,000 requests were registered, and the Angolans do not join this list, in general, in an irregular situation. The majority of exile seekers come from the countries with instability and violence," he said. 

He praised the creation of a third group in the National Assembly,  emerged from the three parties less voted in the general elections on 24 August, adding that it was thanks to the openness and dialogue process to preserve the national interest. 

On the other hand, Jozef Smets said that the possibility of exchanging experiences between the Parliamentary bodies of the two countries had also been addressed. 

He also underlined the cooperation with Angola in mine clearance, which has allowed farmers to return to their areas of origin. 

Although he did not specify the volume of trade between the two countries, he stressed the cooperation in the diamond sector. 

The Belgian ambassador also reiterated the importance of cooperation on creation of  centres for diamond cutting process in Angola.

Head of State to attend forum on peace and security in Africa

 Luanda - The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, is travelling Sunday (23) to the city of Dakar, Senegal, to take part for two days in the 8th International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa.

According to the spokesman for the Presidency of the Republic, Luís Fernando, the meeting will take place on 24-25 of this month, under the motto, “Africa and exogenous shocks, challenges to stability and sovereignty”.

The Dakar Forum was established in December 2013 in Paris during a France-Africa Summit on Terrorism Fighting.

The event gathers African Heads of State and Government, international partners and several players involved in peace and security matters.

The first Dakar Forum took place in December 2014.

Government has USD 300 million available for farming sector

 Luanda - The Angolan government has US$300 million available to fund the country´s farming sector until 2025, the secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, João Cunha, announced Friday in Luanda.

Talking to the press at the opening session of the first edition of the Luanda Agricultural and Livestock Fair that is taking place from 21 to 23 October in the capital city of the country, the official assured that its foreseen the availability of 100 million US dollars annually out of the total financing amount.

 

“We are assisting the farming sector, in order to overcome some of the difficulties that the sector has been going through. Around US$ 300 million is available and will be made available to our producers”, he disclosed.

 

According to the secretary of State, this investment will enable to boost national production of livestock products.

 

Due to that, João Cunha expects there to be a major commitment in order for farmers to improve the quality and quantity of farming products to be exhibited on the market.

 

The official mentioned that the government's objective is to reduce meat imports in the near future, focusing on local production, which must be based on technical and scientific knowledge.

 

The event, which has the participation of around 50 exhibitors, at the first edition of the Luanda Agricultural and Livestock Fair on genetics, nutrition and health, is displaying goats, cattle, pigs, poultry, as well as tractors and various machines