A new day is dawning in Africa. A new Africa in which peace, prosperity and progress is the order of the day and not any of the ailments that have kept the continent and her people down—conflict, corruption, exploitation, military coups, bad governance and restrictive business environments.   Leading this charge is none other than Paul Kagame and Rwanda. 

Paul Kagame talks the talk and walks the walk.  Agree with him or not, one cannot help but agree that Paul Kagame is a visionary and transformational leader. 

Kagame and his team have taken a country ripped apart by ethnic strife and genocide and turned it into a model of unity and self-determination.  After what happened to it in 1994, Rwanda easily could have turned into another Guinea Bissau or Somalia. 

Instead, it leaders guided it away from the brink and turned Rwanda around, and in less than a generation.  That is rare in the history of human development. 

The genius of Paul Kagame’s leadership is not his personal discipline and competency, of which he has proven to be exceptional in my humble opinion, but in his ability to conceptualize a vision, sell it to his people and get Rwandans fired up to make it happen.

Kagame has visualized for Rwandans, a safe, secure, well-educated, organized, disciplined and developed Rwanda free from ethnic strife, where a man is judged, not by his ethnic affiliation but by his ability.

Kagame has convinced Rwandans that they hold their destiny in their hands and are responsible not only for their own individual development but also to their nation for their collective development.

More importantly, Kagame has proven time and time again that he has nothing but the best interest of his people and his country by his decisions and undertakings.  What else can one ask of a leader? 

Kagame is not unlike the CEO of a bankrupt company who skillfully turns around the entity not by bringing in new people but solely by transforming the attitude and mentality of the employees.

Kagame has figured out what his country (and all of Africa) needs and is giving it.  He has grown in knowledge and ability as he faces new challenges, and has improved his performance with each new success.

Rwanda has a bright future today thanks in large part to Paul Kagame’s visionary leadership. Rwandans now have confidence and faith in themselves and their destiny.  Paul Kagame in large is responsible for this new turn of event. 

Kagame may not be the best leader out there but he is the best leader, to me, for Rwanda and Africa, at this moment in time.  Kagame is the perfect exemplification of a well-prepared man seizing an opportunity and making the most of it.  Rwanda is lucky to have Paul Kagame at this moment in time in Rwanda’s history.  Any country would be lucky to have Paul Kagame at its helm. 

Whatever his personal motivation, Paul Kagame is a leader who has expressed the ultimate love for his people and country, by serving them to the best of his ability.

Rwandans should take heart in the knowledge that the decisions that Paul Kagame makes, good or bad, are made in the best interest of the country.

He has proven time and time again that he has good judgment and will not let the country go astray. Nothing more can be asked of a leader.  Why should Rwanda take a chance on an unknown leader? 

As they say in the US South, "if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Why change something that is working well by all objective standards? 

A vote for Paul Kagame, to me,  is a vote for proven leadership.  A vote for Kagame is a vote for honest leadership.  More importantly, a vote for Paul Kagame is a vote for Africa. 

Given the opportunity, I have no doubt that Paul Kagame will continue to transform Rwanda into an economic powerhouse and turn it into a beacon of hope for all Africans.  If Rwanda does, and it no doubt will, why can’t the rest of the continent?  

Kagame inspires me and makes me feel proud to be an African.  Kagame is one of a select leaders of Africa that affirms my belief that there hope for Africa and an African Renaissance.
 
Edward Mendy is an African lawyer educated in the USA and is a partner in a USA based law firm with offices in Philadelphia, New York and New Orleans.