{"id":99376,"date":"2025-04-14T16:28:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T16:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/kwibuka-the-testimony-of-a-woman-that-even-death-refused-to-take"},"modified":"2025-04-14T16:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T16:28:56","slug":"kwibuka-the-testimony-of-a-woman-that-even-death-refused-to-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/kwibuka-the-testimony-of-a-woman-that-even-death-refused-to-take","title":{"rendered":"Kwibuka: The testimony of a woman that even \u2018death refused to take\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>When Marie-Igna\u0302ce Uwimana\u2019s entire family was slaughtered during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, she wished death would take her too. But she was left to carry the unbearable weight of survival, alone.<\/p>\n

When the Genocide began, Uwimana lived in Nyabisindu in Kigali, with her husband, Tharcisse Ayirwanda, who was an employee of the Central Bank of Rwanda, alongside their three children and one adopted child. All were murdered during the genocide, leaving Uwimana as the sole survivor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was early April, I don\u2019t remember the exact date, when a female soldier from the neighborhood, along with Interahamwe, came to our house. When no one answered, they smashed the windows and shouted that the \u2018cockroaches\u2019 had fled to the CND [the Parliament building],\u201d Uwimana, now aged 73, recalled as she shared her at the commemoration of National Bank of Rwanda employees who were killed in the Genocide.<\/p>\n

Later that night, around 11pm, more attackers arrived, this time accompanied by workers from the National Bank. \u201cThey tore down the fences, burst through windows and doors. My children and I hid in the corridor, while Tharcisse hid behind the fridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attackers discovered Uwimana and the children but hadn\u2019t yet found her husband. \u201cThey asked me where Tharcisse was. When I said I didn\u2019t know, they demanded to see the guns they claimed our relatives they called cockroaches had given us. I told them we had none, and that made them even more furious.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said how one man poured petrol on them and prepared to set them alight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe struck a match, but our neighbour, an Interahamwe militiaman himself, kicked it away before it could ignite. Then, as they went about stealing our belongings, and he covered us with a large coat and smuggled us outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uwimana added that they fled to a neighbour\u2019s house, but were turned away, and they decided to hide in banana trees.<\/p>\n

Tragically, her husband was spotted when he was in the door leaving the hiding spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey beat him with sticks, cut him, and threw him into a soak pit we were building,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe screamed from 11am throughout the night. The next morning, one of the looters said to me, \u2018you Tutsi, your husband is finally dead.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

With her children, Uwimana fled toward Kibagabaga. It was near her home, but due to constant threats and stress, it took them a day and a half. There, they encountered others in hiding, but even there danger lingered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne morning they lined us up, ready to kill us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey started slaughtering and beating people. Just before they reached us, they heard gunfire and fled. But they returned later and lined us up again and they took away one teacher, and we fled into a bush. It was too small to hide us. We were like the bird hiding the head while all the back was visible.”<\/p>\n

After enduring rain in the bush, they moved again, this time to Kimironko to seek shelter. But what awaited them there was more horrifying than what they had passed through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found a house, and then came men, about 40 years old, and took young girls outside. Among them was my 15-year-old daughter and our adopted girl. They raped them and told us, \u2018We got what we needed. We\u2019ll be back tomorrow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The next morning, Interahamwe militias arrived and forced the group to carry their belongings. \u201cThey told us we would be the sofa of Habyarimana during his burial,\u201d Uwimana said of the President who had been killed in a plane crash on April 6.<\/p>\n

They were taken to Nyanza-Kicukiro and shown a field of corpses. \u201cAs we stood there, we heard more gunfire. Someone said the Inkotanyi were at Rebero, and we hoped to escape, but we were surrounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the chaos, Uwimana lost track of her youngest child. \u201cMy daughter ran off. Later, I learned she had found my sister and gone to stay with my cousin.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, safety was fleeting. Her cousin\u2019s wife was not happy to host them and she asked them to leave. The child was eventually returned to Uwimana in the forest. They were recognised by an Interahamwe militiawoman called Dativa , who said they still had \u2018some work to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

The attackers killed others in the group, but Uwimana was spared. \u201cDativa told me, \u2018You won\u2019t die. But staying alive after your whole family has been killed is a worse punishment,\u2019\u201d she recollected.<\/p>\n

Uwimana believed her children were dead. \u201cThe killers took them away and later came back with only their clothes and shoes. That\u2019s when I knew they were no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devastated, she roamed the streets, hoping to be killed. \u201cBut even when the Interahamwe militiamen passed by, no one bothered. I was 70 kilograms before, but at that time, I had dropped to 40. There\u2019s no pain like being left alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

She thanks the RPF Inkotanyi for stopping the Genocide. \u201cI thank God for guiding them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although she got support from the central bank, Uwimana said more survivors need to be given a hand to be able to live a decent life.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. When Marie-Igna\u0302ce Uwimana\u2019s entire family was slaughtered during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, she wished death would take her too. But she was left to carry the unbearable weight of survival, alone. When the Genocide began, Uwimana lived in Nyabisindu in Kigali, with her husband, Tharcisse Ayirwanda, who was an employee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":99375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[3572,7232,7242,5767,758],"class_list":["post-99376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-genocide-against-the-tutsi","tag-kwibuka31","tag-nyanza-kicukiro","tag-rpf-inkotanyi","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nKwibuka: The testimony of a woman that even \u2018death refused to take\u2019 - Rwanda<\/title>\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\/all-news\/kwibuka-the-testimony-of-a-woman-that-even-death-refused-to-take\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kwibuka: The testimony of a woman that even \u2018death refused to take\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Rwanda. When Marie-Igna\u0302ce Uwimana\u2019s entire family was slaughtered during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, she wished death would take her too. But she was left to carry the unbearable weight of survival, alone. 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