Members of Unity Club on Friday met officials who served in different capacities of leadership in Nyagatare District for the past 23 years and tipped them on unity and reconciliation.

Unity Club is an organisation that brings together former and serving national leaders and the meeting aimed at encouraging those that served in the district to form a similar organisation.

Addressing the officials, the Minister of Infrastructure, James Musoni challenged them to expeditiously form that body through which they can contribute towards the development of the district.

"Unity is key. We all want to pass on a safe country to our children; the country where they’ll live with confidence and there is no way we can achieve that if we’re divided.

"The fact is, if the former and the current leaders can’t have their ideas together; and if Ndi Umunyarwanda isn’t our foundation, then we can’t move this country anywhere,” the minister said.

The minister also highlighted the recent National Unity and Reconciliation Commission barometer in which Nyagatare District was among the five worst performing districts, saying that there is a lot that these leaders can do to ensure the district improves.

"We hope this umbrella will, together with other stakeholders, bring Nyagatare into a better position in terms of unity and reconciliation,” he said.

Casien Sabiti, who was the Bourgmetre (mayor) of Commune Muvumba in 1994, explained the conditions under which they served the country and said he was very happy at what the country had achieved, saying that there was much former leaders could do to improve things.

"In our time, we were being paid Rwf23,000 as mayors but that was no big deal for me after all I was serving my country and I pity some individuals today, who have all the privileges we only dreamt of, but still don’t serve well,” he said.

He added that having an education is not enough to make someone an able leader, saying that patriotism is key and without it, any level of education cannot help shape one into a good leader.

Unity Club, which has First Lady Jeannette Kagame as its patron, has on top of serving and former senior leaders, their spouses.

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