The year 2017 has been subject to a debate that is set to shape the future of Rwanda. A nation most renowned for change now finds itself at the crossroads of change, stability and continuity. Observers have chosen to frame the debate along lines most familiar to them: is President Paul Kagame joining the ranks of the African heads of state who overstay their welcome? With this question, the debate has been robbed of its substance. It is no longer about Rwanda’s unique context of a nation that within two decades emerged from a genocide to become one of the world’s most successful stories of post-conflict reconstruction.Twenty years later, the citizens of Rwanda are faced with a period of introspection. There is no blueprint to follow. There is only the context of past successes and failures to inform our choices as citizens.What is the key to our successes and the root of our shortcomings? Are we living up to the values that form the foundation of who we are and where we want to be as a nation? What will it take to sustain our progress and address the mistakes we have made along the way? It was a group of young men and women, not much older than the nation we live in today, who came together with the firm belief that the collective good was worth fighting for. That inequality and political exclusion could not define a nation. The personal differences were put aside, complacency was replaced by commitment and discipline and determination became the rule. The RPF acted as an agent and created the momentum that resulted in the Rwanda miracle.But that is not enough. The miracle will not sustain itself; it must be driven by a willingness to aim higher. One concept which recently gained traction in organizational and engineering studies is continuous improvement (Kaizen in Japanese i.e. kai = change and zen = good). In a nutshell, delivery (customer valued) processes are constantly evaluated and improved in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility. The core principle of continuous improvement is the (self) reflection of processes. To become a truly successful company, Rwanda needs to apply Kaizen in the evaluation of its processes for better service delivery to the satisfaction of the Rwandan population- its customers. At the recently concluded reflection exercise at the occasion of the 12th National Leadership Retreat, President Kagame, to use a Kaizen jargon, pointed all the suboptimal processes that must be reduced or eliminated. This was not a time for technocratic discussions which prevailed at previous editions of the NLR. This year’s NLR was about values, ideology, attitude, mindset, behavior and ethics. It was a reminder that Rwanda cannot afford to be blinded by the progress to date. A few battles may have been won but the war that must be fought is within each of us: the selfishness, the greed, the self-agrandizement and misplaced sense of entitlement that stand in the way of service delivery. Another key Kaizen principle is incremental and continual steps toward change. As Rwanda continues to undergo its growing pains, Kaizen can constitute the basis for stability, continuity and positive change. Put simply, and to use a corporate world analogy, why shouldn’t the best be an option? Why would Rwanda Inc willingly give up the leadership competitive edge President Kagame constitutes in a shifting and still unstable market? Contrary to the incessant effort to reduce Rwanda to a predictable continental stereotype, the 2017 debate is not about power, it is about choice. One deeply rooted in Rwanda’s unique context, political history and ambitions. The writer is a social commentator.
