May 15, 2024 – First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame lays wreath at the Bisesero Genocide Memorial Site in Karongi District during the commemoration of the tens of thousands of victims laid to rest here
Kigali, Rwanda — The First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame has said that parents have a central role in preparing young people to confront and counter genocide denial.
She is urging families to raise children who can think critically, question information, and defend truth with evidence.
In a personally written message addressing Rwandan families during the ongoing Kwibuka 32 period, Mrs. Kagame described the spread of false narratives as persistent and evolving, driven by actors who “continue to invent new tactics adapted to the times” in order to mislead the public.
“These voices do not stop,” she writes, warning that their methods are becoming more sophisticated and their impact more severe.
Her remarks placed particular emphasis on the responsibility of parents, whom she described as essential to shaping a generation capable not only of remembering the past, but of understanding and defending it.
She said that remembrance must go beyond ceremony and become a foundation for intellectual discipline.
“We must raise young people who are able to ask questions, to analyze, and to verify the origin of the information they receive,” the First Lady writes. “They must be able to speak with confidence, supported by facts.”
Rwanda’s history, she added, makes that responsibility urgent. The country’s recovery and progress, she said, rest on an unaltered commitment to truth about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and that truth must be consistently protected.
“We know where we have come from,” she noted. “The distance between that past and the future we are building depends on our commitment to truth — to protect it and to speak it as it is.”
Mrs. Kagame also pointed out that periods of commemoration often bring a resurgence of divisive rhetoric and denial. But she suggested that Rwandans are increasingly prepared to recognize and respond to such narratives.
“When those voices rise again, we hear them, we recognize them, and we do not remain silent,” she said.
Instead, the First Lady called for a deliberate response rooted in unity and clarity, encouraging citizens to counter falsehoods by promoting verified information and reinforcing shared values.
Her message concluded with a broader reflection on national responsibility, framing the defense of truth as an intergenerational obligation.
“This is a promise we make to our country,” she said. “That our children will inherit a Rwanda grounded in truth, peace, and dignity.”
