Umushyikirano: Young people impatient for more success

On Thursday morning, participants, in droves, walked into the wide belly of the KCC main auditorium. It effortlessly accommodated about 2,000 people who attended the 14th National Dialogue (Umushyikirano). Before 2009, the KCC was only a dream on an architect’s drawing board. In 2016, that dream became a reality; its completion meant that the country finally had a place that could serve as a central venue to host the National Dialogue. No more teleconferencing. I followed the dialogue through RTV’s live stream. Presentations and speeches on the opening day aroused mixed reactions from Rwandans on Twitter where many a tweep thought the speakers spent more time praising the government than talking about things yet to be achieved. But Umushyikirano is a moment of reflection on things we have achieved as a nation and those that are still work in progress; and I thought that is what happened during the two day event. The presentations were not only a review of the journey covered thus far but also a forecast of the voyage ahead and what it would take to get there…to vision 2050, as was hinted. It is by looking at what has been achieved in the past that inspiration will be drawn to cover more of the journey ahead. Since the last National Dialogue in 2015, two international 5-Star hotels have opened shop in Kigali and Rwanda successfully hosted the 27th African Union Summit. For a moment, think of a speeding car. It is often the people outside that will notice how fast the vehicle is moving. From the outside looking in, foreigners marvel at how fast Rwanda is developing; yet many Rwandans often don’t realize how fast they’re driving ahead. Perhaps this explains why many young Rwandans on twitter get agitated when foreign commentators like Andrew Mwenda take the stage every year, to review and often praise Rwanda’s performance. In Mwenda, you have an ‘outsider’ who sees a speeding car. But young Rwandans, impatient to move even faster, want to see more being done instead of spending a few moments to celebrate those that have already been achieved. Why? Figuratively speaking, President Paul Kagame’s leadership has, at the price of a bottle of Primus managed to deliver Champagne to Rwandans; that has naturally pushed people’s expectations in the government to even higher levels. Can our leaders keep up with the ever increasing expectations that Rwandans have in them? I have no answer to that question right now; but we can share it as food for thought this Sunday. We can also look at countries that are in almost similar circumstances; Ethiopia being an example. I recently had a chat with His Excellency Degife Bula Wakijera Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. Regarding the recent protests in sections of his country, he told me; “The growing demand for improved facilities and high expectations for provision of services among our people is a result of the government’s success in creating a strong and demanding society, which is a positive thing”. Most of the challenges faced by President Paul Kagame’s government today are also a result of his administration’s achievements. For instance, from an almost dead education system in 1994, the leadership has since invested in the sector to ensure school for every kid today. But the resultant challenge for the government is the urgent need to create high quality jobs for thousands of university graduates being churned out by both the government and private colleges. Young graduates, some having only recently returned from studies abroad on government sponsorships, have been given the opportunity of international exposure through modern education facilities and unlimited access to information through fast internet. But that kind of exposure is also the inspiration behind the demand for a better life accompanied by the modern facilities that they had become accustomed to while at school abroad. They expect the best for themselves in all aspects of life; roads, healthcare, housing and governance. These are challenges bred out of the government’s very achievements. But when one graduates from a bicycle to a car, it only means they have the means to find the fuel. What will it take for the government to fuel the engines of Rwanda’s young, energetic and demanding population? I think it is to do more of what the government is already doing; promoting local industries, investing in ICT and business incubation centers to fuel job creation. But saying so seems to suggest that the young can only wait on the government to provide things for them; how about handing them the reins to steer the country further? In many ways that is also already happening in form of the young CEOs at the helm of some of the country’s leading institutions across all sectors; these will be the pillars in the development foundation that Rwanda’s architects have been building for the last 22-years. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Umushyikirano: Young people impatient for more success