Dear Rwandans,
I greet you with warmth and love, wishing you peace, unity and harmony in your communities. Keep hope alive and may God keep you and guide you during these difficult times that our country faces. I am deeply troubled by the tragic events that are taking place in the region of the Great Lakes and especially in the Congo.
For that reason, I remind and urge the leaders of Rwanda to do all they can to engage in peaceful negotiations and to work together with our neighbors to find a lasting and a peaceful solution to this problem.
We all remember the tragic events that destroyed our land over the past several years. They destroyed our families and our nation, which should serve as a very important lesson for all of us. We must therefore avoid, at all cost, engaging in activities that will lead our country back to the senseless wars that have caused so much sufferings for every Rwandan. There is not one single Rwandan family that has not lost a loved one in the violent history that our country has endured.
I urge you to put all your energy and resources together and avoid all factions that will cause you to fight among yourselves and to engage in endless wars that nobody can win. The time has come for all Rwandans to come together, to work together and honestly engage in the reconstruction of Rwanda. A true national reconciliation must be achieved at all cost through honesty, trust, forgiveness and everyone’s determination to repair all the damages that was done in Rwanda. We must avoid creating factions whose aim is to benefit small groups, whether these groups are political, regional or ethnic because that is where our entire nation’s trouble originated and created such a massive refugee crisis.
Once again I am asking all Rwandans, wherever they are, to try to put aside their differences and work towards one common goal which is to bring peace and stability to Rwanda. It has been always my main concern and my only mission, to do all I can to help to bring peace to Rwanda. We must all condemn openly those who seek to destabilize Rwanda by taking away the human rights of others and denying them the right to return to their homeland and to live free in their country.
To conclude, I wish to reassure you that if we work together peace will be achieved.
May peace and unity be with you,
Kigeri V Ndahindurwa.                                           Done at Washington DC, this 23 Aug.2013
Umwami w’uRwanda.
