Museveni on for Rwanda celebrations
Jul 01, 2009
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has been invited to attend Rwanda’s liberation day celebrations in Kigali on Saturday to mark 15 years since the end of the genocide.
By Raymond Baguma
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has been invited to attend Rwanda’s liberation day celebrations in Kigali on Saturday to mark 15 years since the end of the genocide.
During the function, Museveni will also be honoured by Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, for his role and support to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the 1990-94 struggle.
Ugandan ambassador to Rwanda Richard Kabonero yesterday said this will be Museveni’s first time to be awarded for his role in ending the genocide.
“Recognising our President and the sacrifices made by Ugandans is exciting. This shows that our bilateral relations are good,†Kabonero said on phone.
Rwandan officials say the celebrations signify the end of genocide and dictatorship and the building of a reconciled, democratic and prosperous Rwanda.
The UN estimates that over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis were killed by rival Hutu militias in Rwanda in 1994 during the 100 days of the genocide.
The killings escalated after the death of president Juvénal Habyarimana, who died in a plane crash on April 6.
The Saturday celebrations at Amahoro Stadium will be preceded by a state banquet at the Serena Hotel in Kigali, Kabonero said.
While in Rwanda, Museveni is expected to hold a meeting with the Ugandan community living there.
Since the beginning of the ethnic tension in Rwanda in the 1950s, Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, sought refugee in Uganda.
Kagame, the late Fred Rwigyema and other commanders of the RPF are among the Rwandan children who escaped with their parents. They were later part of Museveni’s fighters during the bush struggle in the 1980s.
Rwigyema was shot dead in Rwanda in 1990, weeks after the Rwandan refugees went home to form the RPF that took over power after four years.
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has been invited to attend Rwanda’s liberation day celebrations in Kigali on Saturday to mark 15 years since the end of the genocide.
During the function, Museveni will also be honoured by Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, for his role and support to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the 1990-94 struggle.
Ugandan ambassador to Rwanda Richard Kabonero yesterday said this will be Museveni’s first time to be awarded for his role in ending the genocide.
“Recognising our President and the sacrifices made by Ugandans is exciting. This shows that our bilateral relations are good,†Kabonero said on phone.
Rwandan officials say the celebrations signify the end of genocide and dictatorship and the building of a reconciled, democratic and prosperous Rwanda.
The UN estimates that over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis were killed by rival Hutu militias in Rwanda in 1994 during the 100 days of the genocide.
The killings escalated after the death of president Juvénal Habyarimana, who died in a plane crash on April 6.
The Saturday celebrations at Amahoro Stadium will be preceded by a state banquet at the Serena Hotel in Kigali, Kabonero said.
While in Rwanda, Museveni is expected to hold a meeting with the Ugandan community living there.
Since the beginning of the ethnic tension in Rwanda in the 1950s, Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, sought refugee in Uganda.
Kagame, the late Fred Rwigyema and other commanders of the RPF are among the Rwandan children who escaped with their parents. They were later part of Museveni’s fighters during the bush struggle in the 1980s.
Rwigyema was shot dead in Rwanda in 1990, weeks after the Rwandan refugees went home to form the RPF that took over power after four years.