During the 31st commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi held at the Bukiro Genocide Memorial in Murundi Sector, Karongi District officials called on survivors to actively participate in rebuilding their historic communities.
Karongi District Mayor, Muzungu Gelard, specifically appealed to survivors to return and develop the areas of Budaha and Nyatango – the hills of Bukiro where their ancestors once thrived through agriculture and livestock farming before being exterminated. Mayor Gelard emphasized that these areas witnessed intense killings during the 1994 genocide and urged survivors to revitalize them as a powerful rebuke to the perpetrators’ goal of eradicating Tutsi heritage.
“We must develop these areas,” Mayor Gelard declared at the somber ceremony. “When we come to commemorate not as visitors but as residents, our slain loved ones will see it and be happy.”
The Mayor framed this rebuilding as a direct counter to the genocidal ideology. He referenced the infamous speech of genocide architect Léon Mugesera, who called for Tutsis to be thrown into the Nyabarongo River. “The planners of the genocide wanted to erase our roots, as evident in the extremist manifestos of leaders like Mugesera,” Gelard stated. “I want us to love this land, restore it to how our ancestors built it, and commemorate from here – so they too may be happy.”
Ngarambe Vedaste, President of IBUKA (the Genocide survivors’ association) in Karongi, provided historical context. He identified Budaha as the entry point for the genocidal ideology into the former Kibuye Prefecture. “The killings started here,” Ngarambe said, recounting that one locally born individual alone killed over 300 Tutsis in the area.
Ndengeyingoma Cyrille, speaking on behalf of families with loved ones buried at the Bukiro Memorial, stressed the genocide’s premeditated nature. He linked it to earlier massacres, including anti-Tutsi violence in 1973. “Those who killed Tutsis weren’t drunk,” Ndengeyingoma testified. “They were rewarded like heroes. Runangu Telesphore was carried shoulder-high in celebration after murdering people in their homes. Others were rewarded with looted property, including some that belonged to my own father.”
The Bukiro Genocide Memorial is the final resting place for more than 200 victims. It stands as one of Karongi District’s key sites preserving the evidence and history of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
