AS the country celebrated 22 years of liberation yesterday, Miss Rwanda 2016, Jolly Mutesi urged the youth to put the country first and work towards developing it.

The reigning beauty queen made the call during the Inter Generation Dialogue which she organised to sensitise the youth on the values and norms of Rwandans in an ongoing campaign which she has dubbed "Agaciro Kanjye” or "My Dignity.”

The event, which was held at Rwanda National Police (RNP) Auditorium in Kacyiru was attended by the Minister of Defence James Kabarebe and the Minister of Sports and Culture Julienne Uwacu as well as other senior officials.

The dialogue, which was part of events to celebrate the July 4 Liberation Day focused on urging the youth to have patriotic values similar to those who sacrificed themselves to liberate the country from bad leadership.

"There is a lot our youth can learn from those who liberated the country and it is the reason we brought together young Rwandans to hear directly from people who took part in the liberation struggle,” Miss Rwanda said.

The dialogue which was attended by school going youth was held under the theme "What the Rwandan youth should do to accelerate the liberation process pace”

The event will be taking place annually. It was attended by over 300 students from different schools in the City of Kigali.

Minister Kabarebe narrated to the youth the liberation struggle, recalling the difficult conditions and sacrifices they had to make to liberate the country, reminding the youth that nothing comes easy and that if you want something, you must work hard for it.

He urged the youth to be patriotic and work selflessly to build on what has been achieved already because the liberation struggle is continuous.

The Minister of Sports and Culture commended the reigning beauty queen for thinking about activities that add value to the country’s youth, calling on the young generation to be focused, ambitious and determined to grow into responsible citizens.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw