Kigali, 4 July 2022 (TDI): Rwanda celebrates Liberation Day or Kwibohora on the 4th of July which honors the new era Rwanda entered following the end of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.
1st July marks the independence day of Rwanda. Sixty years ago it gained independence from Belgium although the country has no national celebrations for the occasion. Instead, three days later, on the 4th of July, it celebrates Liberation Day or Kwibohora.
U Rwanda rurizihiza isabukuru y’imyaka 28 yo Kwibohora.
Umunsi wo Kwibohora uba buri mwaka ku ya 4 Nyakanga, tuzirikana umunsi RPA (ingabo za RPF Inkotanyi) yahagaritse burundu Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi.
Ibirori byo ku rwego rw’Igihugu birabera muri @NyaruguruDistr, @RwandaSouth pic.twitter.com/n36vyVVCGm— Government of Rwanda (@RwandaGov) July 4, 2022
The Liberation Day
The structural and systematic violence instigated by colonialism manifested itself in the exclusion and banishment of Tutsis from society, leading to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.
The event holds immense importance in the history of Rwanda. The Rwandans celebrate their true victory and independence the day since they regained control over their territories and achieved their self-determination.
This day is marked as Liberation Day which honors the incumbent President Paul Kagame who led the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) against the country’s former dictator Juvenal Habyarimana and the Rwandan Armed Forces. Kwibohora, as it is known locally, is celebrated three days later as the real independence day.
UK-Rwanda Agreement on Global Migration Crisis
Rwanda realizes the realities of statelessness and displacement from its history. On this independence day, the country seeks to honor an agreement that it entered recently with the UK.
Vis-à-vis the agreement it will receive 120 million pounds ($158 million) to host asylum seekers from neighboring African countries of Congo, Burundi as well as from the Mediterranean and Europe.
In 2021, the country inked a Memorandum of Understanding with United Nations Refugee Agency and the African Union to operationalize emergency transit mechanisms for refugees and asylum seekers from Libya. It also hosted refugees following the hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the subsequent takeover of Kabul by the Taliban.
This shows Rwanda’s commitment to people at risk all around the world which stems from the country’s history and experience.
