Employ yourselves, German president tells varsity students

SOUTHERN PROVINCE HUYE — The President of the Federal Republic Germany Horst Köhler has urged university students and the Rwandan youth in general to aspire to become entrepreneurs to be able to employ themselves and create more jobs for others. He was speaking on Thursday at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) in Huye District, Southern Province, during a debate under the theme: The Role of the Youth in Development. Governments’ role is to provide a favourable environment for business, Köhler said. He said university students should desist from seeking government jobs since they (government jobs) are few and instead look forward to build a vibrant private sector. Köhler said the youth should be at the forefront of the country’s development, and urged the young generation to embrace modern development practices in line with the government’s development policies. The German President said that a vibrant private sector will provide the much needed jobs for the citizens. He said that a growing economy is a prerequisite for the development of the youth. President Köhler further advised that more emphasis should be put in the development of the agriculture sector so that people especially those in rural areas have enough to sustain them. He reiterated his government’s commitment to support this sector in Rwanda. The German Head of State also asked students to embrace ICT, saying that the use of Internet brings with it enormous opportunities for people in developing and developed countries alike. A strong advocate for free markets economies, President Köhler said that the decision for Rwanda to join the East African Community (EAC) was laudable because it creates a big market that can attract investment. Speaking at the same occasion, the Minister of Education, Dr Jeanne d’Arc Mujyawamariya, said that education should be a continuous process. She said that people of all walks of life should be flexible enough to acquire new skills that will make their performance better. The Rector of NUR, Professor Silas Lwakabamba, hailed the existing cordial relations between education institutions in Rwanda and Germany. He said that NUR and Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) work closely with the universities of Kaiserslautern and Mainz in Germany. The debate was moderated by Charles Haba, the co-host of Crossfire, an English talk-show on Contact FM, a local radio station. During the debate, the German President said that it is through hard work and a good education system that Germany recovered from the setbacks of the Second World War to a world economic power. The visiting President was flanked by his wife Eva Louise, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Germany Richard Gasana and a host of other high profile dignitaries from both countries. Köhler, who has been on a three-day state visit to Rwanda, left the country yesterday.Ends