Remembering 30 Years of Tragedy: Congolese ambassador leads commemoration of genocide

On August 2, 2024, the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Accra hosted a solemn event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Congolese Genocide, a tragic period marked by the loss of over 12 million lives and the displacement of more than 6 million people.

This day, known as the Commemoration Day of the Congolese Genocide (GENOCOST), serves as a reminder of the atrocities faced by the Congolese people over the past three decades.

The genocide traces its roots to 1994, following the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana.

The international community's decision to open the DRC's borders to armed men from Rwanda, known as the FDLR, fleeing the conflict, set off a chain of events that led to widespread violence.

The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), representing the Tutsi, pursued the FDLR, a group of Hutus, into the DRC, resulting in a brutal conflict that claimed millions of lives.

During the commemoration event, Her Excellency Mrs. Jeannette Njuma Nyakeru, the Congolese Ambassador to Ghana, expressed deep sorrow and resilience, emphasizing the need for international recognition and action to curb such menace.

“August 2nd represents a special day for a collective memory of the nation and people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This 2nd August of the year 2024 is more. It already reminds us of another day, no less symbolic, the 4th of January, dedicated to our martyrs of independence.

“The Congolese Genocide Commemoration Day (GENOCOST) is an annual event presented by the government as a gesture of respect to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in the long history of conflicts in the DRC,” she said,

Ambassador Nyakeru defined genocide as an act committed with the intention of destroying a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

She highlighted that the massacre of the Congolese people for illegal mining fits this definition.

“I would like to commend the strength, courage, dignity, and tremendous resilience of my wonderful people. Whatever the plot, the DRC will remain one and indivisible, no inch of my country will be surrendered.

“I ask you to stand up and take a minute of silence in memory of more than twelve million people killed by human malice.

“And to light after each one his candle, which symbolizes a glow of hope of peace for the Congolese people, and to lay it in front of this painting that represents the Congolese tragedy.

“Long live a united, strong, and prosperous Congo!” she added.

AM/EK

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