Editor, REFER to the letter, “Rwandans are firmly in charge of their future” (The New Times, June 19). President Paul Kagame is the answer to the current local and regional problems that affect Rwanda directly or indirectly; it would be terribly naive to think otherwise. Rwanda cannot be a laboratory where tests of so-called universal templates of democracy are experimented. What bothers me the most is, how can the entire definition and practice of democracy be reduced to simply adhering to constitutional term limits? Where does the rest of the integral meaning of democracy vaporise to? I guess it depends on who is pronouncing the definition. The citizens are looking for what they know that works with empirical proof and if it is working, why then change it? Do we change for the sake of changing or do we change because there is evidence that there are weaknesses in the leadership and we need better? Due to the unique circumstances Rwanda finds herself in, every other time, Rwanda has her own being, that is rather tender, and needs unique approaches at different times—most especially with locally devised solutions that best suit her. They may not necessarily be the universally known approaches to resolve the issue at hand, however it is also important to note that some of our Rwandan issues are not the common universal ones and thus the universal template cannot and won’t work for us. Lastly, the circumstances that Rwanda finds herself in geo-politics, economics, and the deep need to forge a national character that defines us the way we Rwandans see fit, cannot and will not be forged overnight and it will not be forged by doing things the ordinary way. Non conventional methods are required with a leader that has the spine to steer the ship in the right direction that best fits Rwandans, irrespective of the tough waves ahead. The road is not easy; those who have been around have seen so. We need that ONE who can lead us to successfully weather the storm. Charles Kamanzi
