Rwandan youth have been urged to be more active in learning leadership and good governance principles as the country’s future leaders. The call was made on Wednesday by Justus Kangwage, the head of central government decentralisation at the Rwanda Governance Board, during training of university students on leadership and governance principles. The training was organised by Rwanda Good Governance Promotion and Youth Development Organisation (RGPYD), a nongovernmental organisation with a mission to promote good governance and civic education, strengthening citizen participation and supporting debates. It is made up of university graduates from various universities, most of whom served as student leaders at university. The training aimed at creating awareness about good governance clubs, their roles and responsibilities. It was organised under the theme “Empowering university students, a cornerstone for building future responsible leaders.” “The idea shows that Rwandan youth are patriotic and committed to promoting good leadership and its principles. The good news is that despite the colonial propaganda that manipulated politics, current youth understand that politics is about good leadership,” said Kangwage. He challenged the youth, through their various, clubs to learn how good leadership is applied. He also urged them to acquire more skills which will not only be used while at school but also in their future leadership positions. “Rwandan youth need not to be discouraged, they still need to keep moving and keep the momentum. They are studying to become either public or private servants but they still need to keep acquiring leadership skills as future leaders,” said Kangwage. ‘‘The future looks brighter with current youth ready to create their own jobs,’’ he noted. Claudius Karahamuheto, the director general of RGPYD, said they aim to prepare university and secondary school students to become future leaders starting from their learn ing institutions. He said they work with various clubs and train them in leadership. RGPYD works in 32 universities and 15 secondary schools across the country and plans to go all the way to the sector level to meet the youth there. “I am grateful for the training, we always receive training in various leadership skills but we still need to deepen our understanding of leadership,” said Karahamuheto. RGPYD is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, a Washington-based international nonprofit organisation. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
