President Paul Kagame, on Sunday, January 14, said Rwandans should own their development through choices they make and refuse global inequality and imposition.
He was addressing government officials, private sector leaders, diplomats, and senior religious leaders, among others, at the 29th annual National Prayer Breakfast held at Kigali Convention Centre.
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The prayer breakfast, an annual event organised by Rwanda Leaders Fellowship (RLF) that seeks to instill Godly values in leadership, was held under the theme: "Serving God’s people for lasting change,” serving as an opportunity to thank God for the past achievements and pray for the nation’s progress.
In his address, Kagame noted that a road towards development is a matter of choice, action, and faith altogether, adding that faith, religion, and politics have a point where they converge because the whole purpose is to serve people and build nations.
"Faith, in my view, beliefs people have of different kinds, should also serve to strengthen ourselves. They should strengthen us in determining, in choosing, in deciding what is best for us. And just refuse that people have the right to come and decide for you, and decide even what happens to you. Just refuse.
All people are the same and equal before God. No one is above the other. One has to accept it and live by it. It is what should guide your work.”
He stated that where Rwanda needs to be cannot be decided by anyone else from anywhere but by Rwandans themselves.
"When this nation was on fire, it was left alone to burn till the end. Even later on, they were not sure what happened...I don’t mind that people can decide to not help out but if you left me alone on this one, you should leave me on my decisions of how to live my life.”
Kagame urged leaders to remain together and make the right choices for the country, as he emphasised the importance of peace that is needed by everyone, meaning being strong and protecting oneself, hard work and collaboration, and refusing to be taken advantage of, as well as mutual respect.
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Lambert Bariho, a member of RFL, stated different reasons for thanksgiving as a nation, saying that 30 years now, Rwanda is no longer a synonym of death, conflict, or discrimination but of resilience, transformation, unity, heroism, and wellbeing.
"It does not mean that we have achieved all there is to achieve, but we are grateful for how far we have come.”
Thanksgiving revolved around the reduced maternal and child mortality rate, socioeconomic development, security, and countering pandemics and disasters, among others.
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In his sermon, Reverend Goodwill Shana, founder and Senior Pastor of Word of Life International Ministries, emphasised the essence of servant leadership saying that it is unfortunate that the world is increasingly being led by the leadership of self-promotion instead of serving people.
Referring to the story of King David in the Bible, he mentioned that great leaders are not identified by title, status, or position but by how they serve the people as unto the Lord.
Shana noted that a great leader is characterised by attitude, aptitude, attention, accountability, adaptability, and availability.
"Serving the intangibility requires us to serve the tangibility of men, serving the perfection of God requires us to serve the imperfection of men, serving the sufficiency of God requires us to serve the insufficiencies of men, and seeking the forgiveness of God demands us to seek and give forgiveness to mankind.”
"May God raise, lift, and anoint such leadership in Rwanda and Africa that will transform the continent.”
The organisation also holds monthly fellowships targeting different sectors to pray and reflect on better ways to deliver good governance to the people they serve.