Nshimirimana, Desiré

Nshimirimana, Desiré

Desiré Nshimirimana

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Interviewee Age

Born in 1965

Interviewee Gender

Male

Interviewee Level of Education in 1972

Studied until the sixth grade

Geographical Location(s) during the genocide

Nyagatovu Village, the commune is Vumbi, the province was Muyinga

Current Geographical Location

Nyagatovu Village, the commune is Vumbi, the province Kirundo

Interview Date

2-25-2022

Interviewer Name

Philippe Mukamarakiza

Summary of Oral History

Desiré Nshimirimana was born in Nyagatovu village, Vumbi commune and Kirundo province in 1965. He studied until the sixth grade in elementary school. His father, Kamana Raphael, was the headmaster of the elementary school; his mother, Gahigi Goderiva, was an elementary school teacher.

In 1972, when his father was coming from work in the afternoon, they saw a truck coming; It came right when he was going to eat lunch. When he got to the table, the servant brought food to him. He didn't eat it, they suddenly saw a truck coming, and soldiers entered the house. They lifted him up and tied him up. After they tied him up, they threw him in the truck. After they threw him in the truck, they came back later to search things in the house. He had papers in a cupboard, he had safes where he could keep medicine and money, they scattered everything and left it open. His family didn't know what they took away, but they robbed medicine and money. His family members thought that he would come back but the only thing that made them suspicious is that they just laid him down and put a tire on him, and sat on him in front of his family. They transported him and later his family heard that they brought him to Vumbi. They waited for him to come back for a long time and they lost hope. After losing hope, his children grew up and learned that he was killed because they charged them( his father and other victims) of stealing the government's treasury, they heard it as rumors.

They later harmed his family member, the same people who took him away, including the local authorities of the commune, including the administrator named Gahima and another local Authority of Nyagatovu called Ivo Barampama raped their mother after the death of their father because their father was a Hutu and their mother was a Tutsi woman. Then they both married her and those children, orphans, remarked that their mother conspired to kill their father.

After that, Desire and his siblings started having a lot of problems, they plundered their properties, there were properties that their father had bought, the authorities of the time, Ivo and the administrator of Vumbi commune sold the property that he had bought on Nyamyumba hill. When they filed a lawsuit, they told them that it was not possible because the property was sold by those Authorities together with their mother, they then gave up and they lived badly in extreme poverty and traumatism. There was a time they arrested Desire in the following years; they accused him of being involved in political affairs of political parties. After they imprisoned him. It was in ...86, they locked him up and it was seen that he was accused of his ethnic belongings because at that time it frequently occurred. He couldn’t talk to the administrator who was ruling there, he was also a Tutsi, he saw that he was falsely accused, and he released him. When Desire arrived at home, he saw that the consequences were bad and their life was very bad.

When they arrested their father, they didn't bring food to him because their Grandmother and Grandfather warned them that if they went there, they would be killed like their father. Ivo Barampama was the one who raped their mother, he was the Authority, he was the head of their village. At the beginning the administrator Gahima used to spend nights with her but after he left and the head of the village replaced him. He was also the one who sold their property.

When his father was alive, he helped sick people and took them to the doctor. He also had other boys who lived in their house, like Sekerabandya Reveriyano, whom he had been supporting. After he died, they dropped out of school. Reveriyano was their neighbor and he was in the eighth grade.

When Kamana was still alive, his family was really comfortable, they didn't lack anything: clothes, drink, food etc. After he died, they all lived a bad life. Her brother Ndayisenga Jean Pierre who was a student failed in 6th grade, their grandmother took her to Muyinga to help him in school life but he didn’t succeed. Their mother had financial means because he was a government employee, but she didn't want to help them because she engaged in loving men, those men came to sleep with her and she minimized her children’s school education. Desire and his siblings could even go to sleep on an empty stomach, though  she was paid money. Their Grandmother tried to support them, she offered them school materials, school fees and clothes. Desire also recounts how they went with the former governor of their province Nankwahomba Melchior, he was his classmate; they went to sit for the test and they saw that they passed it but because there were ethnic divisions, they told them that they failed. They attributed their grades to other tutsis.

For the 1972 killings, it was truly strange, perpetrators targeted a given ethnic group. The wish of Desire is that ethnicities should be abolished completely. Those who still have that ethnic spirit, the tendency to do harm to their fellows should stop because these things are worthless, many of the people who committed them are dead. Things like shed blood don't make a person live longer, they only cause enmity against people.

Named Persons

Kamana Raphael: his father; Gahigi Goderiva: his mother; Ntahomenyereye Donavina: his grandmother; Bararwandika Daniel: his grandfather; Ndayisenga J Pierre, Bigirindavyi Evariste: his brothers; Gahima; administrator; Barampama Ivo: tutsi involved in 1972 killings; Pfayongo: servant who worked in kamana’s property they looted after his death; Sekerabandya Reveriyano: student who dropped school because of Kamana’s death; Nankwahomba Melchior: governor and his classmate;

Named Places

Nyagatovu, Murehe: villages; Nyamyumba: hill where was kamana’s property looted; Vumbi: commune; Kirundo: province

Length of Oral History

00:33:49

Language(s) of Oral History

Kirundi

Language(s) of Transcripts

Kirundi, English

Translator for Transcripts

Pasteur Niyomwungere

Field Folder Number

40

Rights

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Download Desiré Nshimirimana - Oral History Transcript and Translation (Kirundi and English) (180 KB)

Nshimirimana, Desiré

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