April 9th 1994 was the day that I saw the first person being hacked to death in front of my eyes.

26 years ago today the #GenocideAgainstTutsi of Rwanda was on its second day & it was the day the first victim was killed in my neighbourhood of Nyakabanda near Gisimba orphanage.

A man called TIFU who was my neighbour was picked up from his house by 2 men who accused him to be Inyangarwanda & an accomplice of the RPF, purely because a few months earlier he had been seen wearing a T-shirt with a picture of RPF founder & former commander late Fred Rwigema.

Earlier that day Tifu was at my parents house sharing a beer with my dad that he had managed to get somewhere on his way back from a tour of different neighbourhoods in Nyamirambo area...

whilst most Tutsis were now running & hiding because of the fear of being killed, fearless Tifu was visiting different places & homes of his friends!
I remember how he was recounting the stories of the places he had been to that morning & how serious the situation was becoming.

Tifu was a man of rebellious character and a fearless type of a man who was well known and liked by many in the neighbourhood.

Later that afternoon Tifu was marched passed everyone in the neighbourhood and none said a single word to try and come to his defence...

the entire quartier stood by and watched in horror and shock while our neighbour, friend and an innocent man being marched to his death like a domestic animal.

My friend and neighbour Tifu was butchered to death right in front of my eyes and in front of the whole neighbourhood - what was his crime? Wearing a T-shirt with a picture of his hero and being a Tutsi! That was the madness of my Rwanda 26 years ago today. #Kwibuka26