Why Africa should embrace ‘Kagameism’

Editor, RE: “JKUAT commemorates” (The New Times, July 1). I am a Kenyan-Australian living in Sydney, Australia. I am an international lawyer and teacher. It is humbling to see an institution such as JKUAT remembering the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Editor,

RE: "JKUAT commemorates” (The New Times, July 1). I am a Kenyan-Australian living in Sydney, Australia. I am an international lawyer and teacher. It is humbling to see an institution such as JKUAT remembering the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

President Paul Kagame is a selfless servant leader who, when the rest of the world had abandoned his community in their hour of need, stepped in and stopped the 1994 Genocide.

President Kagame has also shown a strong determination at stopping architects of genocide ideology from plunging Rwanda and the rest of the Great Lakes into further turmoil.

I hereby call upon all Africans, especially the intellectuals, to support the President of Rwanda to achieve even greater progress for his country, the region and the entire continent.

When Kagame – who in a very short period of time has transformed Rwanda into the envy of the world – is attacked by quasi-intellectuals from the West or within the continent, we should not stand by idle because doing so would empower the purveyors of genocide ideology and their puppet masters.

Kagame’s great legacy of turning misery into hope is one of the greatest achievements in human history.

‘Kagameism’ is a new ‘ism’ but unlike the ‘isms’ found in foreign political ideologies that dominated global politics for the better part of the 19th and 20th centuries, ‘Kagameism’ is an ideal that is founded on his great love for his people, country and giving to your country more than you take from it.

Therefore, the intellectual gift of ‘Kagameism’ that the President of Rwanda has selflessly bequeathed us is worth preserving for future generations.

P. Kitonga