“This is a very wide debate across the world about term limits, about democracy, the definition of it, and all kinds of things. In one form, it’s lopsided because one message about what people should do in politics or democratic governance is always carried by one group of people from one part of the world to the other part of the world, it’s never the reverse. To the point that sometimes people forget they want others to be like they are but sometimes what they are is not going to be other people’s choice. Or maybe it’s actually not very nice. But democracy I prefer to see it as governance, democracy means governance and means choice, it means choice of people. People choose what they want, what they want to do for themselves. So if the people of Rwanda, their choices and ways of life are not to be respected but rather must conform to other people’s choice, then we are not talking about democracy really. Because if it is democracy, then you allow people to make their choice. We’re not shy about playing our part, bearing in mind where we come from, who we are, what we want to be, and that we want to stick to that. At the same time, you want to be part of the world where many things you do are not going to be questioned or you can actually explain them to people and they understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.” President Kagame | Meeting with Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) | Kigali, 3 August 2022.
