TCT Community Visited Murambi Genocide Memorial Center

The Principal of Tumba College of Technology Eng. Pascal GATABAZI Presenting a Cheque to the Director of Murambi Genocide Memorial Center Mr. RUSANGANWA

On August 26, 2009, the members of the community of Tumba College (TCT) consisting of 80 students and 29 staffs paid a visit to the Murambi Genocide Memorial center, which is located on top of a hill in an old secondary school amidst a mountainous part, formerly known as Gikongoro prefecture, but now in the district of Nyamagabe at the Southern province of Rwanda.
The genocide of Tutsis was a tragic incident that occurred in Rwanda in 1994, between April 6 to the mid-July, and which claimed the lives of more than one million people mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The Murambi genocide memorial center has been preserved in memory of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that took over 1,000,000 lives, and it focuses on developing a memorial from which the school children and local community can benefit.
It was in the light of the above purpose, and in the context of the recommendations made by the lower chamber of Rwanda parliament for Educational Institutions members to visit Murambi Genocide Memorial Center, that the management committee of Tumba College of Technology (TCT) took the decision in one of her meetings, and which was then actualized on that day. According to the Report made by the Director of Administration and Human Resources (DAHR) in TCT Mr. Wilson Nzitatira who was given the responsibility to organize the visit, the specific objectives for the visit included

• To enable members of TCT community discover how much the genocide against Tutsi was carefully planned and executed
• The choice of Murambi could explain the responsibilities of certain countries in the genocide against the Tutsi
• To provide to TCT community accurate information relating to the Genocide against Tutsi, so that they can use them in fights against genocide denials as well as genocide ideology in case of any instance of it, either at school or in their villages.

Among the members of the community whose numbers totaled 109 people, and who were included in the visit as representative of other members were categories of people including the Principal of the college Eng. Pascal GATABAZI, The members of TCT Management Committee, Expatriate Members of TCT staff including some Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Experts, other TCT staffs, and TCT students.

On arrival at the center the community’s delegation was received by the Director of the memorial site Mr. RUSANGANWA Francois, who made some welcome remarks, explained how genocide activities were carried out at Mumrambi and later on conducted the delegates through the various major views in the center.
According to Mr. RUSANGANWA, on April 21, 1994, 50,000 Tutsis, who had earlier been deceived into assembling at the site – then being developed to host a technical school, and later used in operation Turquoise Zone which was carried out by French soldiers– on a promise that they would be protected, were brutally killed by Hutu militias, with the supports and helps of the then Prefect of Gikongoro Mr. Laurent BUCYIBARUTA and then Mayor of Mudasomwa Commune.

The Principal of Tumba College of Technology Eng. Pascal GATABAZI,the Heads of Departments, Deans, Directors among other member of TCT Community as they honoured the genocide victims

As members of the community were being conducted at the site, they witnessed several numbers of genocide victims’ corpses, both adults and children, and their properties.

Before departing from the center, the Principal and some student members of AERG TCT were interviewed by the media people.
Later the principal on behalf of the community donated a cheque for one million Rwanda francs (1,000,000RWF) to the Murambi Center Authorities for the center’s upkeep.

Also following this visit the members of TCT community have resolved to join in making their own contributions towards the ‘one dollar campaign’ which is a concept designed to generate funds to be used in catering for the orphans of the genocide.