President Paul Kagame said there is no hiding place from historical facts of the Genocide, even for those who want to distort them.

Kagame shared the message while speaking at the Kigali Genocide Memorial as the country started the  29^th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Every year on April 7, Rwandans and friends of Rwanda come together to honor the more than a million innocent lives lost within just 100 days.

Joined by different government officials, members of civil society, members of diplomatic corps, and friends of Rwanda, Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame laid a wreath and observed a minute of silence in commemoration of Genocide victims.

Jean Damascene Bizimana, Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, went through the history from colonial times that led up to the planning and execution of the Genocide, with killings starting as early as in 1959.

He explained how the genocidal government carried out a process of recruiting young Rwandans to train them in military under what was called ‘Civilian self-defense’ in 1991, who were meant to be ‘Interahamwe’ executing the carefully planned Genocide.

Bizimana noted that Rwanda is still battling effects of Genocide ideology, even traceable in the Great Lakes Region.

“Genocide ideology is still lingering in the region. FDLR genocidal militia has not yet been eradicated, the Congolese government supports hatred and killings of Congolese Tutsi,” Bizimana said.

Kagame said that from the facts shared by Bizimana and personal testimony of Eric Mwizerwa - a genocide survivor-, the truth of the matter is what has always been said, you can run but can’t hide.

“There is no hiding place for you from these very facts of our history.”

Kagame’s remarks followed a testimony of Mwizerwa who recounted how he fled to an Anglican church in Rusororo sector, and witnessed more than 15,000 Tutsi killed by the genocidal army and Interahamwe, and the death of his family members.

He survived and was able to develop himself, saying he now finds pride in being Rwandan.

Kagame said it's very clear that wounds are still deep but “Rwandans, I thank all of you for refusing to be defined by this tragic history.”

“People have managed to turn the page and move forward from grieving, crying and have decided to live on and even willing to do the most difficult thing one way or the other, they have decided to forgive but we can’t forget.”

He noted that some of those who try to distort the facts of history, it’s just because they cannot be ashamed.

According to him, Rwandans draw incredible strength from the history which informs them to never allow anybody else to dictate how to live their lives.

“We are polite and humble people, we know where we come from, we know who we are, we listen but at the end of the day I want to assure you that as long as some of us are still here...we shall have to live our lives the best way we can,” he said.

Unity as a foundation

Rwanda has transformed itself, unity is the foundation of everything we try to do. For the beginning we understood the need to cultivate and preserve the spirit of oneness to give us hope for a better future, Kagame said.

“We cannot, however, ignore that things like violence and hate speech persist not far away from here. Much as it does so, you can also see the same indifference today as we saw in 1994.

Genocide denial is a dangerous and deliberate attempt to block the truth, we must fight revisionist and ideologist because they are easily passed on from generation to generation and that is how history repeats itself.”

He emphasized that young Rwandans learn about the past so that they can lead with historical clarity but also with a sense of responsibility and accountability, which is the essence of ‘Kwibuka Twiyubaka’.

Despite several alerts and call for help from the international community during the Genocide, there was no response.

“Remember that in the time of need when we needed every help we could get, the world turned its back on us. The message is ‘you are on your own’, So we should learn to be on our own and I think we have learnt enough,” Kagame reminded Rwandans.

“One lesson that our country learnt is to transform challenges into opportunities and also use so little to do a lot. There is nothing Rwandans cannot overcome through unity, hard work, and perseverance.”

This underscores the need to find solutions within ourselves no matter how unconventional that may be and remain in charge of our destiny, he added.

The President also thanked partners and friends who stood by Rwandans and continue to do so in the search for justice as well as development.

“Above all and as always I thank my fellow Rwandans for the courage they have shown in overcoming impossible odds and working together to build a new and better nation for all,” he said.