Rwandans are all set to celebrate the 30th Liberation Day, marking exactly three decades since the country was liberated from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The celebration will take place at the 45,508-seater Amahoro Stadium just three days after President Paul Kagame and CAF president Patrice Motsepe inaugurated the facility whose capacity increased from the initial 25,000 seats after undergoing a major facelift since mid-June 2022.
It may be one of African world-class facilities certified to host international football events, but Amahoro Stadium has a meaning which goes beyond just a stadium. It also has a script which resonates Rwanda's liberation struggle.
The stadium's transformation from the debris of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to becoming a world-class football facility speaks volumes about how far Rwanda has come from 30 years ago.
The stadium is regarded by many as the symbol of Rwanda's rebirth given the liberation story it embodies.
However, achieving such a world-class facility can't easily erase what 57-year-old Hyacinthe Umulinga went through and what she saw happening at the very same facility.
Thousands of people had been trapped and abandoned at the stadium and Umulinga saw a number of them being killed on April 7, 1994. She was at the time in her seventh month of her pregnancy of her 30-year-old son.
Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPA) came to her house at Centre Christus, Remera, and took her to the stadium to keep her safe after her husband had been killed by Interahamwe.
Umulinga had lost hope of living not just because she her husband but the people who were losing their lives at the stadium every time there was an attack despite RPA's presence at the place.
Luckily, one of RPA's four companies, known as 'Eagle,' launched a counteroffensive and defeated enemy units and managed to rescue about 5000 people at the sports complex.
Eagle was commanded by George Rwigamba.
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Unlike those who were rescued, Umulinga saw some victims killed by Interahamwe attacks.
"I fled to the stadium because I was assured that RPF army was there to protect us. But they couldn't stop the missiles fired from afar from killing people."
After capturing Amahoro Stadium, Umulinga and other thousands of Tutsi who were at the stadium were transported Byumba where they would be give better protection.
Days later after evacuation, she gave birth to a son in Byumba hospital. But the child was born in critical conditions because the mother never wanted to either eat or drink.
Pastor Antoine Rutayisire is also among genocide survivors rescued at the stadium.
Rutayisire said that, at first, he had lost hope that he would survive the killings that were happening during the Genocide to the extent that he had started to doubt whether 'God was watching'. But, as a true believer of God, he regained strength.
"When we arrived in Kabuye, heading to Byumba, Interahamwe had killed so many Tutsis. The area was smelling badly. And I started to ask God, "are even here". But, using the verse of Isaiah, He said, 'I am with you," Rutayisire said.
Down the memory lane
The world of football won't forget the golden moment produced by Rwandan legend Jimmy Gatete when he scored the lone and winning goal against Ghana that sent Amavubi to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2004, the only time the country has been to the continent's most prestigious football event.
There were tears of joys all over the stadium and history was made decade since the very same facility accommodated thousands of Tutsi who were targeted to be killed when the Genocide escalated.
Those are two moments that every Rwandan always remembers for one reason or another and for the sweet and the bitter.
For Umulinga, what she witnessed at the stadium, is a "horror movie that never erases in my memory. When I returned for the first time to the stadium to commemorate back in 2010, I left the place traumatized because of what I saw there. I swore that I would not go back there anymore."
Some remains of 38 people were exhumed from the construction site during the stadium renovation in August 2023, and this remains the reason the genocide survivors never thinks of going back to the stadium anymore.
On the other hand, qualifying for AFCON 2004 at the same stadium is another story that has a special place in the hearts of Rwandans who gathered there for the good.
"I can't find a way to describe that moment. It was super exciting, very special for me and for all Rwandans," recalls Jimmy Gatete.
In a space of 10 years, the stadium witnessed the best and worst, but they all ended with the song of victory. Mariya Yohana's iconic song 'Intsinzi' has become common during the annual celebration of Liberation Day and so does it play whenever Rwanda wins a football match.
From the debris of the 1994 to Africa's world-class stadium in 2024, Amahoro Stadium is an example of how far Rwanda has come, where it is now. It symbolized the country's rebirth 30 years after the genocide against the Tutsi and the vision of the country after 30 years of liberation.
RPF-Inkotanyi stopped the genocide against the Tutsi and it is under the ruling party and its chairman and president Paul Kagame that the country is witnessing remarkable transformation.
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ALSO READ: Kagame inaugurates new-look Amahoro Stadium
The stadium is the latest infrastructure achievement that the country is celebrating and its major transformation remains the symbol of how the country has enjoyed progress in all sectors over the past decades thanks to the leadership that prioritized unity and reconciliation.
"A stadium like this completed one is a sign of good governance and the development that Rwanda continues to achieve through people-centered leadership," said Jean Damascene Bizimana, the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement.
Seating at 50,000 square metres, Amahoro Stadium is the largest stadium in Rwanda and hosts football matches, concerts, and public events.
First built in 1986, the renovated facility has a circumference of 800 metres and the length of 30 metres. It has a parking that can accommodate 2,000 cars and 250 lighting poles at all the parking areas.
It also has 1,000 inspection chambers, 43 fire hydrants and a sewage treatment plant.
The stadium can discharge rain water and storm water with 600mm dia pipes with 6 outlets for rain collection.
It also has 156 press seats with desks, 102 wheelchair spaces, and four commentator platforms, each with three seats. Among others, each seating category will include amenities and easy access seating plus spaces for wheelchair users in accordance with recommended guidelines.
