President Paul Kagame has challenged senior government officials to perform to the best of their ability in it their respective duties to serve the country and deliver the transformation it deserves.

The Head of State delivered the message yesterday at the closure of the three-day 13th National Leadership Retreat, at the Rwanda Defence Forces Combat Training Centre in Gabiro, in Eastern Province’s Gatsibo District.

Emphasising that "building Brand Rwanda” can only happen with the contribution of each and every leader, the President urged senior officials to work with a greater sense of urgency.

"What we are achieving does not match our capacity. We are operating at 40 per cent of our ability. Let’s bring together the best of what we have within us. If we give it our all, we will achieve our goals,” he said, later adding that the shortcomings Rwanda has experienced are not a result of lack of efforts but of underperformance.

Bringing together about 250 leaders from the Central Government, Local Government, parastatals and the private sector, the annual retreat focused on "Reaffirming Brand Rwanda” to boost local production.

Around the focus of the retreat, three major sub-topics were discussed, including how to improve delivery towards achieving the country’s Vision 2020 targets, how to revamp the country’s manufacturing sector, as well as guaranteeing rights and social welfare for the Rwandan child.

At the start of the retreat on Saturday, President Kagame challenged senior government officials to use as few resources as possible to achieve the country’s development targets, urging them to shun wasteful spending and poor delivery of public services.

He also warned leaders against constantly apologising for failures instead of working to improve services to citizens, adding that he will not tolerate excuses for not achieving results.

"Why do we get to the point of punishment when there is a much easier way: fulfilling your duty to the best of your ability?” he asked.

Held at the beginning of every year, the National Leadership Retreat is a unique opportunity for the country’s senior leaders to discuss national priorities, affirm the country’s shared vision to become a knowledge driven, middle-income country by 2020 and renew momentum to achieve development objectives.

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