Rwandans should make own choices, says Kagame

President Paul Kagame has said that Rwandans have a right to make their own choices in life and chart ways they believe are in their best interest. He was presiding over the closing ceremony of the 12th annual forum of Unity Club Intwararumuri, an association of current and former cabinet ministers and their spouses. The Head of State cautioned those who attempt to destablise Rwanda against doing so, saying no one can impose their own way of doing things on Rwandans. “Those who claim they want to fight for the country, I don’t see what they want to fight for. Their intentions are simply to destroy what we have built. What’s more interesting is that Rwandans know what they want,” he said. Kagame said that Rwandans need, among other things, security to conduct their businesses, access to electricity, healthcare services, education and the right to choose their leaders from the bottom to the top. “Those who think they can fight to impose on Rwandans the life they want better than what Rwandans themselves want or what they have that they obtained through the right ways, you can’t win that fight,” he said. “As a human being, you have the right to live the way you want. If it’s bad, it will have an impact on you, and if it’s good, it will be in your own interest. What politics does, however, it makes a distinction between which choices are made. That cannot be a basis to choose for other people,” he added. Kagame told the leaders that people should “oppose anything that is wrong; if you oppose something that is right then you must have a problem.” During the closing ceremony, three individuals who did outstanding work in society were awarded, with the Abarinzi b’Igihango. These are Daphrose Mukarutamu, Serge Gasore, and Carl Wilkens. Daphrose Mukarutamu established an association called Duhozanye as a platform that brings together genocide widows to chart ways for their development. In 1996 she collaborated with the Government to construct 60 houses for genocide widows with each house accommodating three survivors. Mukarutamu created unity and reconciliation groups that essentially promoted unity. She was also one of the women representatives from Rwanda who attended the Beijing Conference on Gender Equality. Gasore, a resident of Ntarama, built a daycare for street children, those left by their parents and others after the Genocide. He established a hospital that provides free medical care. He put up a centre that trains women in tailoring, handcraft and others. He also formed an annual cycling competition which seeks to raise awareness about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and went ahead to set up a counselling centre. Wilkens, is an American aid worker who refused to be evacuated during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, even when his family, relatives and other thousands of expatriates were leaving Rwanda. He is the only known American who stayed in Rwanda during the Genocide. The then head of ADRA in Rwanda offered money to Interahamwe militias to not kill the Tutsis he was hiding during the Genocide. He later adopted a kid whose parents had been shot during the Genocide. That kid is now a doctor. President Kagame pledged Rwf10 million to each awardee, including previous recipients. So far, 40 individuals have received similar awards since 2016. editor@newtimesrwanda.com

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Rwandans should make own choices, says Kagame