Rwanda owes development registered over the past few years to God who has availed the country with visionary leaders and bestowed a spirit of nationalism upon citizens, Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has said.

The premier was yesterday speaking at the National Leadership Breakfast, an initiative by Rwanda Leaders’ Fellowship (RLF).

"Rwanda made numerous strides, especially in 2015. We owe all the progress to God,” Murekezi said before he listed the various milestones the country achieved last year, which were recognised through global studies.

Among them include the recent World Bank report released in December that put Kigali among the top six cities with sustainable development, the 2015 Global Competitiveness Report that ranked Rwanda among the most efficient governments, and the 2015 World Bank Doing Business report that ranked Rwanda second-best in Africa.

"All these achievements, and many more, were made possible by God who has always been close to us; availed us with good leadership and helped Rwandans to work together with unity and passion aimed at bringing the best of out self and national dignity,” Murekezi said.

Initiated in 1995, the Rwanda Leaders Fellowship is a prayer meeting that brings together leaders in top positions for fellowship aimed at praying for the national leaders and the nation at large.

The prayer meeting attracted members of the Cabinet, Parliament, Judiciary, Police, military, private sector and civil society, including Church.

‘Servant-leadership’

Delivering his sermon, Bishop Edward Muhima, from Uganda, said Jesus Christ, throughout His time on earth, demonstrated the spirit of excellence in his leadership style by being humble, which he said should be embraced by leaders to bring about desired development and lasting peace.

"If we are to perfect the spirit of excellence in our leadership, we should emulate Jesus because he was a great and admirable leader. Jesus demonstrated the quality of servant leadership; He was not a ruler but a leader and through His servant leadership, He left a lasting legacy.

"In His leadership, He desired to fulfill people’s needs rather than His needs; as a servant leader, Jesus always wanted to serve than to be served, He demonstrated this through washing and wiping the feet of His disciples on the Sabbath. He asked His disciples to do the same to others,” said Muhima.

Pastor Antoine Rutayisire, the chairperson of the Rwanda Leaders Fellowship, said Rwanda is fortunate to have visionary leader, which he said inspired the initiation of the Young Leaders’ Conference—a discussion which he believes will benefit Rwanda’s next generation to carry on with the visions of the current leaders.

Rutayisire said the conference will be held annually as the prelude to the national Prayer Breakfast, and the conference will be an act of "sowing seeds of excellence in young leaders’ generation.”

The maiden youth conference was held on Saturday and it was presided over by First Lady Jeannette Kagame.This year’s fellowship also attracted several international delegates.

"We had about 30 international guests, who joined us to thank God for what Rwanda went through in 2015, as we dedicate our country and ourselves through this New Year. This is a sign of unity,” Rutayisire said.

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