On 7 April 2024, Rwandan people commemorated the 30th anniversary of the genocide of Tutsis. Mass crimes were reported from 7 April to 17 July 1994, killing over 800,000 people. Rwandan President Paul Kagamé chaired the commemoration in the presence of several Heads of State and Government, including Prime Minister Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé. She represented the President of the Republic, H.E.M. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé.

30 years on, Rwandan people still remember such a painful and dark chapter in their shared history. On 6 April 1994, the then Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana was assassinated, triggering the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus. It was the most rapid genocide in human history, with an unprecedented daily death toll. President Paul Kagamé paid tribute by rekindling the flame of remembrance at the Gisozi memorial in the capital city Kigali.

The Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed his indignation at the horror that had befallen Rwanda during that period. “It was perpetrated by murderous forces fueled by disastrous ethnic ideologies. Three decades after the outbreak of such an indescribable horror, we are still dumbfounded, painfully questioning the absurdity, the folly, the madness, which shamelessly overstepped the limits of our humanity. How, why, to what end, what motive, what thirst do we quench by exterminating others? What can we say or do today? We must remember in order not to forget, we must remember in order to understand the depth of the wounds inflicted, and we must remember in order to measure the bestiality that lies dormant in man and paradoxically finds an outlet to the total destruction of human dignity,” he said. 

On his part, Rwandan President Paul Kagamé grieved that “today is a day of sadness, our hearts are filled with sorrow but also with gratitude. We commemorate the departed ones. We are also grateful for what this country has become, for what it has achieved. To the survivors, I would say that we owe you a great deal, we are indebted to you. We had asked you to carry the burden of reconciliation on your shoulders and you continue to do so, you keep on achieving the impossible every day for our nation. We thank you.”

Events to mark the commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda will take place over 100 days across the country.