“In our country’s governance, way of working, and politics, it is known and repeated every day by everyone, we all seem to agree that we must change our tragic history as Rwandans. We need to strengthen our governance structures, if you are elected to lead or appointed in other legal ways it is not just for people to occupy positions of leadership and think about themselves as the first thing, thinking that the benefits of their positions should start with just them, no. We should also benefit from our work and efforts as human beings, but in our responsibilities as leaders, we should first and foremost think about Rwandans. It is a terrible habit that never gets uprooted completely. There is something about positions, even in foreign languages people enjoy being called “VVIPs”; some people end up almost killing others because they don’t treat them as “VIPs”. People have become so full of themselves, so heavy, that if they pass by places and don’t leave fear in their wake, do you know how a hurricane goes? If they don’t leave fear in their wake then it becomes a problem. They look back to check if they left a storm in their wake or if people had turned up in big numbers to praise them. This is a bad habit. We have said many times that it should stop but I repeat it today and it should stop. If you want to feel important, I am not against you if that is who you are, but it should start with fulfilling your duties first. After you have completed your responsibilities, if you still feel important, I will leave you alone, it will not offend me, only that you are the one who will have to bear the consequences. Serving Rwandans is the most important thing and should be our first and foremost responsibility.” President Kagame | Swearing-in of Prime Minister and New Members of Parliament.
