Ruyigi August 21st (ABP) – The province of Ruyigi hosted the ceremonies of the celebration of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, on Friday, August 18, 2023, under the theme that calls on young indigenous people to be agents of change for the self-determination.
The ceremonies were honored with the presence of the President of the Republic, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who took the opportunity to call on all Burundians to make that Day a benchmark for abandoning all forms of discrimination amongst the different Burundian communities.
In his speech, President Ndayishimiye focused at length on the evils linked to social discrimination which have their roots in the country’s past. He called on all Burundians to no longer consider that there are social skills that make one community (ethnic group) smarter than another.
He underlined that self-determination comes first from the assurance of everyone and the assurance in oneself while having a vision of the precise objective that one wants to achieve. He also showed the assembly present a group of 80 Batwa students from different universities in the country, another group of young military and police officers, that of MPs and Senators. Thus, he asked the other Batwa not to be afraid of the future or to believe that they are unable to develop.
He also asked everyone to redouble their efforts in self-development so that the objective of a developed and prosperous Burundi is achieved and that no one has the right to ignore such an appeal.
The Minister of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, Imelda Sabushimike, specified that this celebration takes place in the province of Ruyigi, since it has very few indigenous Batwa intellectuals. She deplored that most fail to complete the basic level, and they make allegations of living in extreme poverty.
She also underlined that it is an opportunity for the indigenous peoples of all the provinces of Burundi to meet in Ruyigi province to encourage their Batwa brothers and sisters to pursue advanced studies in order to get rid of any handicap to development linked to ignorance, a check by ABP revealed.
Mrs. Sabushimike thus joined representatives of Batwa students from all over the country and awarded President Ndayishimiye a certificate of honor for having served as an example in the promotion of indigenous peoples and for having chosen a Mutwa woman in his government.
In his welcome speech, the governor of Ruyigi, Mrs. Emerencienne Tabu, indicated that his province has Batwa communities in all the communes and that most of them are currently on a good path of development and tend to settle down. They tackle development work like Hutus and Tutsis without discrimination. She expressed her thanks to the Ministry of Solidarity and the President of the Republic for having chosen Ruyigi province for the celebration of that Day at the country level and expressed confidence that this occasion will be a good memory in the development of the natives of that province.