No one is indispensable at RPF, Kagame tells party delegates

KIGALI - President Paul Kagame has said that everyone is accountable at the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi). He said this while opening the seventh delegates’ congress of RPF political party, which was held yesterday at Jali Club in Kigali. Kagame who is also the party chairman said that there is no room for indispensability at RPF. Telling thousands of delegates who turned up for the meeting, the chairman emphasized that the party will always be above any one single member, no matter how important that member may be. He said that much as the RPF has respect for its members, their loyalty to the party should always come first. The congress coincided with the party’s celebrations for twenty years of existence. Chairman Kagame further reminded delegates that there are a few people who have left the party over years because of indiscipline, yet the RPF has only grown stronger.He said that it is discipline that has made RPF the formidable party that it is today. Kagame called upon delegates to double their efforts in working for the party, saying that there is still a lot to do. Also at the well attended meeting were various leaders of other political parties in the country. Among them was Senate president Dr Vincent Biruta, who is also the president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The meeting was also attended by Anicet Kayigema, Executive Secretary of the Forum for Political Parties (FPP), an umbrella organization that brings together the country’s political parties. Liberal Party president Protais Mitali said they were happy to be working with a party like RPF which also embraces PL’s objectives. He said those who say that there is no political space in the country still have a lot to learn about Rwanda. He added that unless those who make the claims want the staging of violent demonstrations, he could otherwise not figure out what more they wanted. Mitali concluded by saying PL was happy to provide complimentary input to RPF efforts.Other speakers from different parties also praised RPF for championing the rule of law in the country. Kagame said that it is the partnership with these other political parties that has put the country where it is currently. He pointed out that the vision to develop Rwanda is one, despite the fact that different parties may have different methods of realizing that vision.Kagame also said that after the near 14 years RPF has been in the leadership of the country, a lot has been achieved, including maintenance of national security, good governance and the restoration of Rwanda’s right image at the international scene, which had been destroyed by the previous regimes. He proudly stated that actually the RPF-led government had achieved more than it had projected and this should motivate members to even work harder.He urged RPF delegates to take advantage of the meeting to speak out on what they feel might not be right within the party. Ends