Gabiro, 12 June 2015
Today in Gabiro, President Kagame met with close to two thousand executive secretaries from cells across the country as part of Meet the President series.
Speaking to the local leaders who underwent nine days of training focused on strengthening local governance and addressing the gaps in service delivery, President Kagame urged all leaders to go beyond the theoretical knowledge and focused on action:
“This training is not about words, it is about action. Our development will be the result of work, not words. Knowledge without action is meaningless. You cannot expect results without work and you cannot expect to live off the hard work of others.”
President Kagame challenged the leaders to demand more from themselves:
“Why should we accept to produce below our capacity? Why should we accept malnutrition for our children when it can be prevented? Leaders are defined by the will to improve and the discipline to work towards change. You have to be the first to have the will to be better, to do better, to work hard and free yourself from poverty.”
“No amount of resources will ever be enough if you do not change your mindset and believe that we can do and be better,” President Kagame added.
“Let us begin with the resources we have and build on those results to achieve more,” President Kagame concluded.
The Itorero for the Celle Executive Secretaries is part of the Rwanda’s efforts towards increase efficiency in local governance. Since its implementation in 2000, decentralization continues to play a central role in ensuring good governance, service delivery and national development.
Throughout their training, the executive secretaries had the opportunity to interact with national leaders as well as work together to identify and address common challenges.