[GALLERY] Kagame: True liberation means dignity, prosperity

President Paul Kagame has said that dignity and economic prosperity is the next stage of Rwanda’s liberation. The Head of State was speaking in Rweru in Eastern Province’s Bugesera District, where top government officials and other dignitaries joined residents in celebrations to mark the 22nd Liberation Day, yesterday. The Liberation Day marks the day the Genocide against the Tutsi was ended by the Rwanda Patriotic Front and the beginning of Rwanda’s journey of transformation. President Kagame addresses residents of Bugesera District during the Liberation Day celebrations yesterday. (Courtesy) President Kagame described the end of the Genocide against the Tutsi as the end of the armed struggle but described the journey ahead as another phase of liberation. “The next stage of our liberation is to shape our own future and liberate ourselves from any obstacles that stand in the way of our development,” he said. President Kagame and the First Lady Jeannette Kagame tour one of the newly-constructed classrooms handed over to a local school in Bugesera by the Rwanda Defence Forces, yesterday. (Courtesy) “True liberation means dignity, it means no one should ever decide for us who we should be,” Kagame added, emphasising that Rwandans have the right to determine their own future. “As Rwandans, as Africans, we must be the ones to own and shape our future,” Kagame told thousands of residents in Bugesera as well as government officials and councillors in local communities. “Dignity is not cheap. You have to earn it, stand up and fight for it,” Kagame added. Thousands of residents from Bugesera gathered in Rweru to welcome President Kagame on the occasion of the 22nd Liberation Anniversary yesterday. (Courtesy) In Rweru, President Kagame and officials from different government institutions, including the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) inaugurated the Rweru Integrated Development Model Village. The project includes a school with 17 classrooms, a health post, a model village with connection to electricity water and internet, a modern market (agakiriro) and a 12-kilometre road from Kagasa to Batima. The model village is now the home for 104 families that were relocated from high-risk zones of Mazane and Sharita islands in Bugesera District. Elvania Nyiraminani, who spoke on behalf of the residents recently relocated from Mazane and Sharita islets—that are deemed prone to disasters—and given brand new homes by the Rwanda Defence Forces, testifies at the Liberation Day celebrations in Rweru yesterday. (Timothy Kisambira) Referring to the model village as an example of what Rwandans deserve, the Head of State described the next stages of liberation as fighting poverty and building a nation where access to basic needs is the norm and not the exception. “Having access to drinkable water, electricity and a home to sleep should not feel like a miracle. It is your basic right,” he said. Residents of Bugesera display a placard during the Liberation Day celebrations in the districts Rweru Sector yesterday. (Timothy Kisambira) The new residents in Rweru thanked the President for the new homes and pledged to take care of them as well as rear cows and use pieces of land they were given by the government to fend for themselves. “We were living in a terribly remote place at the island. Development seemed impossible,” said Elvania Nyiraminani, who was relocated from Mazane island. Students in one of the 17 classrooms constructed by Rwanda Defence Forces in Rweru Sector, Bugesera, ahead of yesterday’s 22nd Liberation Anniversary celebrations. The facilities were inaugurated yesterday, alongside a model village, a health post, a 12-km road, a modern market and homes for some of the most vulnerable households. (Timothy Kisambira) She delivered thanks to the President on behalf of all the residents for helping them liberate themselves. The Government designated “together we prosper” as the theme for the 22nd Liberation Anniversary. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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[GALLERY] Kagame: True liberation means dignity, prosperity