It was a moment filled with tears and sadness as the families of the deceased Marie Christine Nyatanyi state Minister in charge of social affairs and community development gathered to bid her farewell.
Hundreds of top dignitaries in the country lined up for hours in the parliamentary building to offer a state funeral to the deceased Minister said to have succumbed to abdominal complications in Brussels recently.
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony held to honor important people of national significance which usually attract religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition.
Such kinds of funerals are held in order to involve the general public in a national day of mourning after the family of the deceased gives consent.
The crowd watched as uniformed Rwandan police carried the flag-draped casket into the front doors of the parliament.
Nyatanyi’s casket was followed by her family.
In his speech to the gathered Nyatanyi’s family, relatives and friends, President Paul Kagame comforted the crowd while urging them to remember the good things, efforts and devoted time Nyatanyi sacrificed to serve her country.
“Nyatanyi had two families, the one she was born and the one she was working with, and she has equally served them. She loved her country and has sacrificed tirelessly to serve her country,” Kagame said during the state funeral at the parliament.
James Musoni the minister of local government said that Nyatanyi was a hard working staff who loved her work and devoted.
“She was a good adviser also seeking counsel among the staff she supervised even among her fellow Ministers calling upon us to be united and visiting each other, we have lost someone un-replaceable,” Musoni said.
Marie Christine Nyatanyi graduated in 1991 from the Institute of National Economy of Odessa, Ukraine (Former Soviet Union) with a Masters in Industrial planning.
She also held a Bachelors degree in Economics from Kharkiv State Economics University attained in 1987.
Nyatanyi occupied varied posts before she was appointed Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs and Community Development in October 2003.
After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, she worked in the Tracing Department of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Goma and Nairobi.
In 1997, she was assigned the role of Project Officer in the Flemish Council for Refugees in Brussels.
In 2008, she received a UN award for public service and accountability for the Ubudehe’ national program.
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