Gako, 6 March 2012
President Kagame told delegates at the closing of the 9th Leadership Retreat that they must communicate and coordinate better in order to solve problems that stand in the way of Rwanda’s development.
Pointing out that every retreat since 2004 has been better than the previous one because of the continuous progress registered every year, President Kagame cautioned that better management was required if the rapid advancement is to be achieved;
“We are not going to succeed and continue to make progress if we do not master a number of processes we are involved in as we go about our work. This involves coordination of people and of institutions. We must talk to each other; put our energies and resources together in order to make a breakthrough in the factors the hinder our development. It must be understood that the cost of not communicating and not coordinating is huge.”
President Kagame called on leaders attending the retreat to look beyond whatever differences they may have and work on ensuring that they all emerge as winners for Rwanda’s development. He commended delegates on the good work done so far and encouraged them to focus on and address real issues in order to create the good story that Rwanda deserves.
Earlier in the day delegates discussed job creation and energy generation, with a focus on setting targets and adjusting strategies for Vision 2020 based on lessons learned from EDPRS 1.
On the last day of the retreat, ministers and ambassadors signed performance contracts with President Kagame, pledging specific targets to be reported against at the end of the financial year. This new exercise follows a resolution of the last National Dialogue. Presenting highlights of the pledges from the different ministries and ambassadors, Prime Minister Habumuremyi committed to provide oversight over the new performance contracts to ensure that targets are met on time.