Kigali Genocide Memorial welcomed H.E Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, the First Lady of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who came to pay respects to the more than one million victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Accompanied by Rwanda’s Minister of Sports and Culture, Hon. Nyirasafari Espérance together with Dr Jean Damascene Bizimana, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), Mrs Tshisekedi and her delegation visited the memorial on Monday, June 10th as part of her two day official visit in Rwanda.
The visit began with a viewing of a short film detailing the Memorial’s history and its significance to the survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi then a laying of wreaths on the burial place where more than 250.000 victims of the genocide against the Tutsi are laid to rest.
Following this, the delegation was guided through the exhibits in the museum, learning the history of the Genocide, from the colonial roots of ethnic divisions, through to the horrors of the killings.
During this visit, Mrs Tshisekedi together with her delegation also had the opportunity to learn about the efforts by Rwandans to rebuild and reconcile after the Genocide and the work of Aegis Trust in Genocide prevention and peace education in Rwanda.
To conclude this visit, H.E Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi left a message in the memorial guest book.
”No explanation can be given to an act of atrocity of any kind. I share the sorrow of every person who has lost a loved one during this macabre period in the history of Rwanda. Heartfelt thought towards those women, girls, mothers who had to undergo, in a particular way, all these violence. May God’s peace be their portion”, she wrote.
