The University of Rwanda, Huye campus, is holding a night vigil as part of Kwibuka 32, with leaders urging students to use their education and youth to safeguard unity and prevent genocide ideology.
The commemoration, attended by Vice Chancellor Associate Prof. Didas Kayihura Muhanga and other officials, follows a Walk to Remember held earlier in the day across key sites in Huye District, in line with this year’s theme, “Remember, Unite, Renew.”
Opening the night vigil, Acting Principal Dr. Alphonse Muleefu reminded students that people their age participated in the genocide against the Tutsi.
He urged the current generation to use their education and youth responsibly, stressing their role in safeguarding unity and preventing a recurrence.
A central moment of the commemoration was testimony by genocide survivor Asumpta Numukobwa, who was a student at the University of Rwanda Huye campus during the genocide.
Born in Nyarugenge District, Muhima Sector in Kigali, she recounted experiences of persecution and violence, including witnessing Tutsi patients being removed from hospitals by soldiers and taken to administrative offices where they were abused.
She also described beatings at the former CND site and said students were among those killed. According to her, military roadblocks were placed at university entrances, restricting movement and targeting Tutsi students.
Numukobwa explained that many Tutsi students were unable to complete secondary school or obtain certificates due to discrimination and violence.
She further spoke of widespread sexual violence, which forced many survivors into hiding and disrupted their education.
She also recounted an incident where armed attackers, alongside Interahamwe militia, entered student residences.
As Rwanda enters the 100-day mourning period, the University of Rwanda Huye campus reaffirmed its commitment to preserving memory, confronting genocide ideology, and educating a generation grounded in truth and unity.
David RUTARE / Kaminuza Star