No shortcut to success – Kagame

President Paul Kagame yesterday called on Rwandans and Africans in general to make the necessary sacrifices to overcome the challenges ahead of them. The Head of State made the remarks at the joint celebration of the 50th Independence Day and the 18th Liberation Day at Amahoro stadium in Kigali.“As we look to our future, we must recognise that, independence, like liberation, is a process and with it come obligations and responsibilities across the board,” he said.“We must build on the lessons of our forebearers across Africa that demonstrated the values of sacrifice, courage and resilience during their quest for independence. Today, new ways of perpetuating the old order have emerged in a subtle manner, often disguised as defence of human rights, free speech, and international justice,” said President Kagame.He added: “While our determination to build an independent country should not be compromised, we recognise that we can guarantee our independence better with cooperation based on mutual respect and benefit. Today, Rwandans are addressing our own challenges even as we sought and received support from others.”President Kagame pointed out that as Rwanda celebrated 50 years of independence, there was need to look forward to the next 50 years from today to ensure a safe and more developed nation. He challenged the African youth to stand up the plate and move the continent forward.“Looking over the next fifty years, we must acknowledge the role of our young people as the new drivers of our transformation. It is our duty to pass on to them a better Rwanda and Africa than we inherited. But our young people must also understand that they have a responsibility to take our countries to the next level,” he said.He added: “Our independence will be guaranteed by our own efforts but we will always be happy to cooperate with others, mindful that the primary responsibility lies in our hands.”The President said that many challenges remained unsolved and that Rwandans and Africans “must be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices because there is no shortcut to success. I am confident that we will overcome them because you have already shown your capacity to do so.”“In Rwanda as we begin the next stage of our journey, we will continue to entrench the values that have brought us this far – unity, hard work, mutual respect and shared responsibility,” he said.He said that, for over a century, Africa lost “immense opportunities largely due to unbalanced relationships within the global community that were often predatory and even abusive in nature”.These relationships, built on injustice and prejudice, were possible because some among our citizens, and even leaders, accepted and accommodated such bad practices, and in so-doing, betrayed and undermined what should have been Africa’s independence, he added.“Some of these weaknesses are within our means to correct. But we will only succeed if we are brave and honest enough to accept responsibility of our actions and reject the convenient attitude of playing the victim and blaming others. Incidentally, being brave and honest are qualities that seem to have lost value these days,” he said.President Kagame castigated what he called “the victim attitude”, saying that it “prevents us from seeking our own solutions to the challenges we face.We must overcome these tendencies and confront our problems directly.”He added: “For many years, our people were told and made to believe lies and myths manufactured from within and outside, distorting everything about who we were, who we should be and what we should do for the healthy development of Africa, and specifically Rwanda.“Even as we speak today, we continue to see problems caused by a combination of insensitive actions of interference and double standards, as well as lack of domestic ownership to address these issues in the manner required. This form of injustice should not be tolerated if we are to learn from the experience of the last 50 years,” Kagame noted.The event was attended by Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, and Uganda and Burundian vice presidents, Edward Ssekandi, and Therence Sinunguruza, respectively.Others present were AU Commission Chairperson Dr Jean Ping; Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba; Nigerian playwright and winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, Wole Soyinka; former US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Dr Jendayi E. Frazer; Executive Secretary of International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Alphonse Ntumba Luaba; cabinet ministers from different countries; among others.We have decided to look back and examine the road travelled, to cut down on celebrations and reflect,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government Spokesperson, Louise Mushikiwabo.The post-independence Rwanda was characterised by divisionism, prejudice and hatred among the citizens, leading up to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, during which over a million people died in a period of 100 days. Rwanda is a former Belgian colony.July 4, 1994 marked the beginning of a new chapter after the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA), now Rwanda Defence Forces.

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No shortcut to success – Kagame