Christopher Jator Njechu
28 April 2008
"It is still a hidden truth what caused the genocide. Truth must be unveiled for reconciliation to take its course.
It remains deeply rooted because it is still hidden, so I can't go back to Rwanda because there is no reconciliation..." These are the words of a survivor (names withheld) of the genocide and a refugee in Yaounde.
He recalled that before he fled to Cameroon in 1998, his wife, Teza Sifa, and child, David Granlac, had both been killed in the heat of the 1994 genocide. This was just four years before Hutu-led camps in Kinshasa, where he sought refuge, were turned into bloody camps by Tutsi rebels who crossed into Zaire in 1997.
It is because of this experience that he said, "We want that Cameroon continues to protect us because it is a country of hospitality and understands our problem. Authorities in Cameroon are good because they have given us the opportunity to have jobs, buy land, rent houses and stay in Cameroon, through the Law on Refugee Status of July 27, 2005. I am happy being a journalist for a print media in Yaounde," he told The Post.
This sad event caused the United Nations to set apart April 7 every year to share messages of peace and development with the Rwandan refugee community. Commemorative activities in Yaounde took place on Friday, April 25, at the Ecumenical Service for Peace Centre where Rwandan refugees in the country received gifts of rice, groundnut oil, among others, from the United Nations Information Centre, UNIC, and Trauma Centre.
The day was celebrated under the theme: "The scars of genocide run deep: support the survivors".The outreach event, which also witnessed the participation of some members of Soroptimist International NGO, aimed at 'curing' the psychology of the refugees and teaching goodwill messages of peace and solidarity.
It also had as plan to support the Rwandan community in Cameroon shape their reflections and give them hope of a good life.In a message from the UN Scribe, Ban Ki-Moon, on the occasion, he urged everyone to copy the lesson of courage and resilience from the survivors.
According to him, April 7 is also set aside to bolster efforts towards the prevention of genocides. It should be remembered that the Rwanda genocide took away some 800,000 lives.
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A Genocide Survivor in Cameroon? that is a bit strange. What i know is that the refugees in Cameroon are mostly fugitives from rwanda who committed Genocide. Guys stop hoodwicking Cameroonians you are Genocidaires running awy from justices.
What you must know is that your days are numbers.
Dear brothers,
Your comments on this article from the guy in cameroun reflect hatred and ethnic extremism . You are like those called "Interahamwe".You are bloody in your thoughts and words.Your saying is a proof of what the guy was saying. How can he come back and live with guys like you who take every hutu or a moderate tutsi as an ennemy ? Shame on you with your stupidity !!!!
I told you they will alwayz run but they will not hide. The genocidairs are coming home to roast. Every interahamwe will pay for what they did.
What a lot of bull! Man go back to Rwanda and see how really survivors live. You even managed to go back to Congo, how some of us would have liked to be that lucky instead of falling to mad evil wielding machettes. Today I have no one left, you are lucky you can concentrate and work, buy land as you say. I wish I was that lucky.
we say in Kinyarwanda..ntimugasetse abapfu...would you make the dead laugh? or turn in their graves???