{"id":121990,"date":"2026-04-14T14:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T14:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:30:08","slug":"beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Game Okwi Draws Lessons from Rwanda&#8217;s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Police FC striker Emanuel Arnold Okwi has said that living and playing in Rwanda is about more than football, highlighting the profound lessons he has drawn from the country\u2019s recovery after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the occasion of the 32nd commemoration of the genocide, Okwi expressed solidarity with Rwandans and praised the country\u2019s remarkable journey of rebuilding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is proof that Rwanda deserves to be an example to other countries in the world,\u201d the Ugandan forward said in an Instagram post on Sunday, April 12. \u201cThe country has gone through a dark history but has chosen the path of unity, reconciliation, and reconstruction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that his experience in Rwanda extends far beyond professional football.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis period of remembrance reminds me that being here is not just about work and living, but also about learning, respecting, and understanding resilience,\u201d Okwi said. \u201cI may not be Rwandan, but I stand with Rwandans in remembering and in building unity for a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Okwi joined Police FC ahead of the 2024\/25 season after signing from AS Kigali, following an impressive campaign in which he scored nine goals and provided 13 assists. He previously featured for Kiyovu Sports during the 2021\/22 season.<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting on his time in the country, he described Rwanda as a place defined by resilience, safety, and a strong sense of belonging\u2014an example of how a nation can rebuild and move forward despite a painful past.<\/p>\n<p>The former Uganda international is among several athletes who joined Rwandans in observing the commemoration of the genocide.<\/p>\n<p>A number of Amavubi players\u2014including Jojea Kwizera, Abeddy Biramahire, Emery Bayisenge, and Innocent Nshuti\u2014as well as Rwanda FA Head of Women\u2019s Football Commission Nikita Valverde Gicanda, shared messages of solidarity.<\/p>\n<p>In his message, Kwizera said, \u201cAs a national team player, we take this opportunity to remember the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biramahire and Bayisenge directed their message to the youth, urging them to uphold unity and national development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs young people, as we continue to remember, we commit ourselves not to compromise on unity, peace, and development. We are the future of Rwanda, and our responsibility is to build a country free from division,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Nshuti and Gicanda emphasized the responsibility of every Rwandan to stand firmly against genocide denial and ideology.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Police FC striker Emanuel Arnold Okwi has said that living and playing in Rwanda is about more than football, highlighting the profound lessons he has drawn from the country\u2019s recovery after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Speaking on the occasion of the 32nd commemoration of the genocide, Okwi expressed solidarity with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":121989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[3572,5382,758],"class_list":["post-121990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-genocide-against-the-tutsi","tag-never-again","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beyond the Game Okwi Draws Lessons from Rwanda&#039;s Story - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Police FC striker Emanuel Arnold Okwi has said that living and playing in Rwanda is about more than football, highlighti ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beyond the Game Okwi Draws Lessons from Rwanda&#039;s Story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Police FC striker Emanuel Arnold Okwi has said that living and playing in Rwanda is about more than football, highlighti ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T14:54:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T15:30:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1776167728.469505.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Beyond the Game Okwi Draws Lessons from Rwanda&#8217;s Story\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-14T14:54:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-14T15:30:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story\"},\"wordCount\":405,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1776167728.469505.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Genocide against the Tutsi\",\"Never Again\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/beyond-the-game-okwi-draws-lessons-from-rwandas-story\",\"name\":\"Beyond the Game Okwi Draws Lessons from Rwanda's Story - 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