Editor, RE: "The President’s message on customer service is timely” (The New Times, January 3).

At the outset, please allow me to express my deep sympathy to your columnist, Sandra Idossou, for having lost a friend due to negligence and due to poor customer service from a big hospital in Kigali. This certainly does not augur well for the city nor for the country.

However, I am fully confident that the pro-active Ministry of Health will take good note of this and initiate appropriate corrective action to avoid such a sad and unfortunate incident from happening again.

Against this backdrop, President Paul Kagame’s message on customer service is most timely.

As the President mentioned in his end of year address to the nation, "it is everyone’s right to ask for explanations when you are not satisfied and to give your input on how things can be done better”.

And "everyone” would definitely include foreign investors, knowing how much the President appreciates the infusion of foreign capital into the Rwandan economy and the immense benefit to the country and her citizens, that results from such foreign investments.

Investors need to be able to commence, within an optimum time frame, their capital intensive projects, so as to start getting returns on their investments, after they have complied with all the statutory requirements rather than having to wait in "limbo”, indefinitely, for the necessary permissions.

Inordinate delays in granting of licenses will cause immense harm to the good image which this great nation has built up over the last two decades with the hard work of all Rwandans under the astute leadership of President Kagame.

Government agencies would do well to emulate the good example of the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration as well as the Ministry of Youth and ICT, to name just two, who consistently provide world class service.

In conclusion, customer service excellence and accountability will enable Remarkable Rwanda to achieve Vision 2020 well ahead of time and prove to the world, that where there is a will, there will always be a way.

Clarence Fernandes