There is need for efficiency, innovation and optimal use of available resources in public service delivery to bring about positive transformation in the country, President Paul Kagame has said.

The President was speaking at the closure of the 14th National Leadership Retreat, yesterday, at the Rwanda Defence Force Combat Training Centre in Gabiro, Eastern Province.

About 300 top leaders from the central government, local government, and invited influential members of the private sector and civil society spent six days at the retreat, which focused on assessing Rwanda’s achievements over the last seven years, laying strategies for achieving Vision 2020, as well as preparing the country’s Vision 2050.

"We should be innovative, look at the resources we have, and strive to use them to achieve more than they are now,” Kagame told the officials.

He said that available domestic resources need to be well managed to achieve the targeted results in the transformation of the country, explaining that Rwanda’s experience over the last few years has shown that lack of resources does not stop Rwandans from achieving what they want.

‘No excuses’

Kagame warned the leaders against excuses for failing to deliver public services to citizens, emphasising that providing the services shouldn’t be considered as optional work but a mandatory responsibility that leaders are required to meet.

"Fulfilling your duties should not be seen as extraordinary. Using public resources to serve citizens without corruption is not an exploit. It is your duty,” the President said.

Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the chief executive of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), said Rwandans remain eager to achieve fast development and their leaders have to constantly assess how to meet the expectations.

"The momentum to do better and the will to constantly examine ourselves and take measures to improve things is one of the characteristics of this country,” he told The New Times at the beginning of the retreat last Friday.

President Kagame told the leaders yesterday that they need to always work hard to achieve the country’s ambitions, warning them that relaxing their efforts plays in the interests of their critics.

"By not doing what we are supposed to do, we are accepting the dictates of those who tell us to limit our ambitions,” he said, adding that Rwandans "shouldn’t accept to be relegated to a people who do not deserve to pursue high ambitions and a better life.”

"We are not aiming for the impossible; we deserve to lead a dignified life,” he said.

Resolutions from the retreat are expected to be announced today during a post-retreat press briefing in Kigali, officials said.

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