Rwandans
will today mark Heroes’Day, an annual event to pay tribute to people
who exemplified and defended the highest values of patriotism and
sacrifice for the wellbeing of the country and its citizens.
Among others, heroic values celebrated today include proven
integrity, patriotism and sacrifice, acts of bravery, setting a good
example, truthfulness, and love for others.
Celebrations will be held in villages across the country and
discussions will focus on the theme, “Sustaining heroism in a vision we
have chosen”.
In the capital Kigali, President Paul Kagame is expected to lead
other government officials and families of the country’s celebrated
heroes to lay wreaths at their graves at the National Heroes’ Mausoleum
in Remera.
Deo Nkusi, CHENO’s Executive Secretary. File.
The Chancellor of the Chancellery for Heroes’, National Orders and
Decorations of Honour (CHENO), Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi, has said that
the youth need to be guided into maintaining Rwanda’s strong values if
the country is to achieve its vision for prosperity.
“We are heading towards vVsion 2050 and we cannot achieve it without
heroic values and without the future generation embracing heroic
values,” he said last week.
He was launching a weeklong nationwide campaign to promote the values of heroism ahead of Heroes’ Day celebrations today.
Different activities were held during the campaign, which took place
from January 25 to 31, including several sports games under ‘Ubutwari
tournament’, conferences, talk shows, as well as poem recitals.
CHENO’s Executive Secretary, Deo Nkusi, said that as Rwanda continues
to build herself, the challenge today remains how to best instil values
of heroism to the country’s youth who are growing in a globalised
world.
In an exclusive interview with
The New Times this week, the
official wondered how to best teach and instil a sense of heroism in the
Rwandan children while bearing in mind their way of life is shaped by a
fast-paced world.
“We decided that it is important to focus on the youth as heroism is
no longer a thing only for the old. The youth are the ones largely
working and capable of developing and defending this nation. They have
the energy to work,” he said in the interview.
The country has progressively identified brave men and women who have
loyally and exceptionally served their country in different capacities
and whose deeds inspired many across generations.
Rwanda’s heroes being celebrated today are in three categories: Imanzi, Imena, and Ingenzi.
The Imanzi category, the highest order, features people who
registered utmost achievements at the expense of everything, including
their own lives.
They include Maj Gen Fred Rwigema, who died on the frontline the day
after the launch of the country’s armed liberation struggle in October
1990, and the ‘Unknown Soldier’, who represents all the men and women in
uniform who lost their lives during the campaign to liberate the
country.
The Imena category comprises of people whose track record includes
extraordinary acts for the country and were characterised by utmost
sacrifice.
This category includes King Mutara III Rudahigwa Charles Léon Pierre,
Michel Rwagasana (special adviser to late King Rudahigwa), and Agathe
Uwilingiyimana, the female prime minister who was slain by genocidal
government forces within just hours of the start of the 1994 Genocide
against the Tutsi.
Others in this category include Félicité Niyitegeka, a Catholic nun
who offered shelter to fleeing Tutsi during Genocide only to be killed
by the
Interahamwe militia alongside the people who she had hid
in her house at a parish in Rubavu District; and the Nyange Secondary
School students, whose school was attacked by the remnants of the
genocidal forces and
Interahamwe militia on March 18, 1997 (six of the students were killed on that fateful night).
The Ingenzi category is comprised of living heroes but their list is yet to be published.
editorial@newtimes.co.rw
In the aftermath of the DusitD2 Hotel terrorist attack in Nairobi, it
was reported that security guards would be armed in six months.
If it comes to pass, the guards, who outnumber police, will be allowed to carry guns.
It is not clear what type of guns they will carry. Some have joked that
since our policemen recently got new guns, mostly black in colour, there
is now plenty of idle guns that can be
The continued reliance on other countries means
the government’s goal of growing the manufacturing sector’s output from
Sh2.2tr to Sh5tr in 36 months will remain a mirage.
Labor Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani (L) and
Saudi Arabia Ambassador Dr. Mohammed A. Khayat (C) together with a Saudi
Arabia Official
CS Tourism Najib Balala welcoming visitors at a past function
Main entrance of EPZ Athi River. Most tax exemptions have become wasteful to the country. [Wilberforce Okiwiri, Standard]
Chief Administrative Secretary for Lands Mr. Gideon Mung’aro. [Bruno Mutunga/Standard]
Moses Mwangi a tea farmer, on his farm at Tetu in Nyeri County. [Kibata Kihu/Standard]
Isaac Awuondo (eft) Group Managing Director CBA with
John Gachora (right) Group Managing Director NIC Bank speaking during a
merger between NIC and CBA banks. [Wilberforce Okwiri/Standard]
Kenyans are consuming food high in poisonous substances as unscrupulous
farmers and traders take advantage of laxity in the enforcement of
safety regulations.
This comes even as the long-awaited regulations aimed at keeping toxic
chemicals off the food chain are bogged down by parliamentary
bureaucracy, exposing oblivious consumers to life-threatening
substances.
Yesterday, Nandi County
Kenya Airways will form a special unit to run the facility. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The Kenya Breweries Limited plant in Kisumu. FILE PHOTO | NMG
