Home NewsNational WHO Boss Breaks Down at Nyamata Genocide Memorial

WHO Boss Breaks Down at Nyamata Genocide Memorial

by Dan Ngabonziza
1:53 pm

Dr Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus(3rd left) listens to a guide explaining the horror of the Genocide at Nyamata genocide memorial site

Thursday, January 11, 2018, will remain in the memory of World Health Organisation Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus.

It was his first time to visit a memorial site to witness the heinous killings that were conducted during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Dr Tedros travelled to Bugesera district and visited Nyamata Genocide memorial site.

Tedros who is in Rwanda for a 2-day visit arrived at the site in a calm mood, but minutes later broke into tears after entering a room that houses thousands of remains of Genocide victims.

“Very shocking, brutal and evil – beyond words. The world should not forget this genocide,” said an emotional WHO Director-General.

In the garden of Nyamata Genocide memorial site, Dr Diane Gashumba, Minister of Health(L) tells WHO boss the attrocities of Genocide

In the 1960s, the then government ferried Tutsi from across the country to Bugesera, then a forest with deadly flies – Tsé-Tsé.

Many died of sleeping sickness and 30 years later, another plan was made to exterminate the survivors.

In 1992, the Genocide against Tutsi was tested in Bugesera where many would be massacred, others fled the country, but the worst was yet to come.

During the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, thousands of Tutsi were killed at Nyamata and Ntarama Catholic Churches in Bugesera, and others in their neighbourhoods.

At Nyamata Genocide memorial site around 45,000 victims of the Genocide against Tutsi are laid to rest.