Gabiro, 1 March 2015
Opening the 12th National Leadership Retreat held at RDF Combat Training Center in Gabiro, President Kagame challenged leaders to go beyond discussions and focus on results:
“We cannot keep repeating ourselves and doing nothing about it. This time around, we have to be here for serious business, for change that must take place. We need something different that is going to work for us and deliver to our people. Umwiherero can’t be an end in itself. This has to be about results.”
Recognizing Rwanda’s progress in the past decades, President Kagame warned against complacency:
“The nation of Rwanda should be comparing itself with the best. If you want to compare, compare with those who have achieved what we are struggling to achieve. Comparing to the worst just to feel good about us does not make sense.”
“Listen more to the one who criticizes you and less to the one who praises you. Learn from them and do something about it,” President Kagame added.
Urging leaders to take responsibility for Rwanda’s development, President Kagame reiterated the importance of standing up against corruption:
“The challenges of Rwanda are different than what you see elsewhere. We have to struggle every single day to get what we want to get. No one is going to deliver it for us and to us.”
“We know what goes wrong every single day but we expect that someone else is going to do it. That somebody else is you,” President Kagame added.
To ensure sustainability and efficiency, President Kagame emphasized the need to lead by example by holding all leaders equally accountable:
“We need as individuals to examine ourselves. If we don’t do that, we transfer our problems into the system. If what you are doing is to the detriment of the people you are leading, justice must be done. Stealing resources is a crime and justice must be done. There is no hesitation about it.”
This second day of the retreat ended with a discussion on infrastructure with Minister James Musoni of Infrastructure, Engineer Nkubana Dismas, Chairman of Rwanda Engineering Council and State Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana of Finance and Economic Planning.
The 12th National Leadership Retreat is set to conclude tomorrow with discussions on the health sector, the protection of women and children and Rwanda’s strategy towards becoming a regional center for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events).