Rwandan youth can give hope to anyone, said Paul Kagame, the presidential candidate of RPF-Inkotanyi and its allied political parties, as he took his electoral campaign to Huye District, on June 27.
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He was speaking before a crowd of more than 300,000 members of RPF Inkotanyi and allied parties from Huye, Gisagara, Nyanza, and Nyaruguru districts, gathered at a public parking area in Huye District.
As seen at various campaign venues elsewhere ever since campaigns started on June 22, young people and senior citizens marched as early as 1 a.m. in the morning to the site to wait in cheerful celebrations and show support for Kagame.
In Huye, avid football fan Madeleine Mukanemeye, 102, told a local media outlet that she will vote Kagame in the upcoming presidential election, stating: "There is nothing I will not do for him, and there is nothing he will not do for me. I will vote for him 100 percent."
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RPF member Gloria Ishimwe, 27, who was born and raised in Huye District, thanked Kagame for building a country where the post-Genocide generation is able to study and grow in a society without discrimination. Ishimwe said Kagame instilled a mindset of being smart, resilient, and thinking big.
She started her bakery business and through various youth-empowerment competitions, won funding that allowed her to scale up her business, create more jobs, and empower more young people to pursue advanced education, all thanks to Kagame’s leadership and inspiration.
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Addressing the supporters in gathered Huye, Kagame said the past 30 years were a culmination of many things. He noted that voting for RPF and its candidate means that the bad history will never repeat itself.
Building development on this foundation becomes faster, he said, along with strengthening national security to protect established good policies and the desired development.
"Concerning the candidate you will choose, I accept it [being the candidate] and this is because all things that will push you to vote me will be done by you.”
"My job is easy. It is leading the way and working together with you to build our country and the development will keep on growing as years go by,” he added.
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"The youth I see here and from other places I went to give hope. I am not among those who get discouraged and it is the same for you.”
On the other hand, the incumbent President expressed his condolences for the lives lost in an accident that took place on Thursday morning as hundreds of people were traveling to the campaigning site in Huye District.
He pledged support to the bereaved families and all the injured people. Kagame also encouraged people to be vigilant and avoid accidents in the most possible ways throughout the campaign trail to be able to be present and participate in the development journey after the elections.
Kagame is competing with former lawmaker Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate, in the presidential and parliamentary elections set for July 14-15.