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SALUTE PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME!

03/03/2019 03:17:00 BY MANCOBA MABUZA

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We, the people, do not care about abstract things, we often hear of words such as freedom of expression, assembly and movement.

Often times we are told about ‘limit to terms of office for leaders’, we are schooled about many other things including the importance of change of faces for leaders, we are told about big words that need dictionaries.

Well and fine; but what is (more) important to us, ordinary folks, is quality of life. We want food – a fresh, decent, hot and balanced meal with clean water on a daily basis, we want affordable electricity, we need proper houses with running water and toilets, we are looking for jobs with good working conditions and decent salaries, we want access to resources to start businesses that will give us income.

great health facilities

We the people, want free, quality and relevant education, we want great health facilities, we want proper roads and convenient modes of transport, we want to be able to take our children to school and to have time and money to take them to the movies on weekends, to be able to play with them in a safe environment where there is peace and political stability, we are looking for basic things like bread and cooking oil.

If we can be able to have good space for our livestock and a market to sell them, we will be happy. At the end of the day we must have a radio and television set for our family evenings; we must have good quality clothes, vegetables and fruits. We want an environment that will allow us to unleash our potential and to be able to do the things we dream of. In a nutshell, we want a prosperous and happy life and to die in dignity.

a leader with a vision

Now, with that preamble, let us get into today’s business. I want to introduce a leader with a vision; a man who has transformed a country to be an envy of the world; he is daily moving his nation to be a centre of excellence.

This is none other than Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. Some prefer to call him a dictator who has compromised democracy for the sake of (economic) development – it is okay for us to express opinions especially regarding those in political office - but today I want to salute this African leader. From a horrific genocide Rwanda, under his leadership, has achieved political stability and economic development.

The man found a deeply divided nation and started a reconstruction programme, and his country achieved an economic growth rate of 8.0 per cent between 2001 and 2013; poverty rate dropped from 44 per cent in 2001 to 39 per cent in 2014 (World Bank, 2018), life expectancy moved from 34.2 years in 1990 to 67.5 years in 2017 (UNDP, 2018). During the World Health Organisation (WHO) assembly last year, he reported: “More than 90 per cent of Rwandans are enrolled in health insurance today.”

Quite recently, and this was shared in this column; the Rwandan Parliament passed a new legislation aimed at protecting the people from crooks who disguise themselves as pastors by regulating faith-based organisations in the central African country. Among other things, the new law requires pastors to have a Theology qualification before they can start their own churches.

It also requires faith-based organisations to declare grants to the regulator, Rwanda Governance Board. Under the new law, any financial support to a faith-based organisation must be channelled through the organisation’s account in a bank or a financial institution in Rwanda. Again here, we are seeing action and not words!

RWANDA’S RANKING ...

When you look at the safe childbirth rate, free education programme, increasing number of women in politics and the nation’s industrialisation programme; you become envious. Rwanda is ranked the highest country in the world with most women in parliament. In his own words, “What we are doing here in Rwanda is not a miracle, nor is it impossible elsewhere, it is simply the commitment of an entire nation, especially Rwandan youth and women, but also political will.” Clearly, this is a man on a mission and I cannot ask more from a leader! Salute President Paul Kagame. Talk all what you want, after all talk is free, but Mr Kagame is transforming his nation.

He is what we want – no stories and endless conferences or ceremonies that achieve nothing – he is a man of action. I think it is only fair to measure the success of a leader by the quality of life of his/her people. How else could we measure the success of a leader? As mentioned earlier on, the other things are abstract to us ordinary men and women. While Rwanda has also come under scrutiny on human rights related issues including being accused of extrajudicial killings and cracking down on the press, the country is doing relatively well in socio-economic terms.

vision, clear programme
Poverty and unemployment remain, but there is a vision and clear programme – they are making huge progress in many areas and for this we must appreciate the leadership of President Kagame, because as John C. Maxwell puts it, everything rises and falls on leadership. We need to be critical and speak out when our leaders mess up and we must also acknowledge good efforts.