On the 32nd anniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi, Arsenal FC used one of the Premier League’s biggest platforms to make sure the world did not forget. Arsenal posted a tribute on April 7, 2026, featuring some of it’s players.
The post marked the 32nd commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, during which more than one million innocent men, women, and children were killed. It was brief. It was deliberate. And coming from one of the most-followed football clubs on earth, it landed.
This isn’t Arsenal’s first time showing up for Rwanda. The club has carried Visit Rwanda branding on its training kits since 2018, and has made Kwibuka acknowledgment a fixture of its calendar. Two years ago, during Kwibuka 30, defender Jurrien Timber visited the Genocide Memorial in Rwanda and described the experience as “very educational but at the same time very sad.”
Kwibuka 32 is unfolding across the country. President Kagame lit the Flame of Hope a symbolic torch that burns for 100 days, reflecting the duration of the Genocide. The afternoon’s Walk to Remember moved from Gasabo District headquarters to BK Arena, followed by an all-night vigil featuring survivor testimonies and reflections.
On the global stage, the African Union held a commemoration ceremony at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, reaffirming Africa’s collective commitment to preventing genocide and promoting unity. The partnership between Arsenal and Rwanda has always been about more than shirt sponsorship. Every April 7, the club’s global reach hundreds of millions of followers across platforms becomes a megaphone for Rwanda’s story.
This year’s Kwibuka 32 theme is “Remember, Unite, Renew” a message that speaks to Rwanda’s journey from devastation to one of Africa’s most stable and fastest-growing nations. Arsenal amplifying that theme to its global fanbase is the kind of soft power most nations spend billions trying to buy.
The commemoration period runs through July 4. Key events include the Kwibuka International Conference at Intare Conference Arena on April 8, the Our Past event at Nyanza Genocide Memorial on April 9, and a final ceremony at Rebero Genocide Memorial on April 13, honoring politicians who were killed for opposing the genocide.
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