{"id":50968,"date":"2024-07-07T16:18:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-07T16:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/kagame-challenges-electorate-to-emulate-lions\/"},"modified":"2024-07-09T15:31:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T15:31:34","slug":"kagame-challenges-electorate-to-emulate-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kagame-challenges-electorate-to-emulate-lions\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagame challenges electorate to emulate lions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBe lions, not dogs. A lion cannot become a dog. You have the responsibility and obligation to step in and uphold the legacy that your fathers have established,\u201d he said in reference to the youths, comprising the majority of those who turned up for the rally<\/p>\n<p>The Head of State was addressing hundreds of thousands of fans from Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts while canvasing votes for RPF-Inkotanyi, a political Party for which he is the flag bearer.<\/p>\n<p>Lions are fascinating creatures that inspire awe and admiration for several reasons. They are thought to be strong and courageous. Their social bonds and beauty, are of substantial ecological significance.<\/p>\n<p>It is in this spirit that Kagame implored the people to be fearless, vigilant, and hardworking \u2014 traits synonymous with lions in various cultures and contexts.<\/p>\n<p>He gave a rhetoric of how coincidentally, his family fled to neighboring Uganda through Nyagatare district in the 1950s and it\u2019s the same route he used while leading RPA in the liberation struggle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a young kid when we became refugees in the neighbouring country. Ironically, the route we used to escape is the same route we came through during the liberation struggle in 1990,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we fled for our lives, most people left behind were uncertain about tomorrow. Upon return, we have ensured that every Rwandan has hope of living beyond just today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kagame underscored that having fled and returned alive to contribute to Rwanda\u2019s development has made him appreciate how lucky he is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like the luckiest person on earth. Going through all those hard times but still survive is not because of my hard work, it\u2019s just a blessing to keep serving my people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t take this for granted, I always strive to use this opportunity to extend support to those who need my help while ensuring that those who lost their lives along this journey did not die in vain,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Kagame also addressed residents of Kayonza, Ngoma and Rwamagana districts who pledged to do anything in his reach to accelerate the continuous development strategies put in place by his government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBringing development to your area is not a favour we do for you. It\u2019s our obligation and we have to be held accountable,\u201d he said<\/p>\n<p>The president concluded by thanking other political parties that have merged with RPF in a coalition to extend constructive ideas with a major focus on building the nation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can achieve a lot together despite our differences in beliefs and ideology. Let us all be proud to be Rwandans because the country is also proud to have us together,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Eight political parties in the forthcoming election have formed a coalition with the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). They are the Liberal Party (PL), Social Democratic Party (PSD), Ideal Democratic Party (PDI), Democratic Union of the Rwandan People\u2019s Party (UDPR), Prosperity and Solidarity Party (PSP) and Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-72838 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gr4kv4hbsaar2wa.jpg\" alt=\"The Head of State was addressing hundreds of thousands of fans from Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts while canvasing votes for RPF-Inkotanyi, a political Party for which he is the flag bearer.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-72840 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gr422s1waaaqhqk.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-72841 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gr423ehx0aagavi.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-72839 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gr424pzxqaiisvf.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As President Paul Kagame concluded his campaign trail in the eastern province, he implored the electorate to emulate the strength, courage, and royalty exhibited by lions, usually seen as symbols of power and leadership, often revered and respected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000072842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[75],"byline":[3135],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-50968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-homenews","byline-sam-k-nkurunziza-2"],"bylines":[{"id":3135,"name":"Sam K Nkurunziza","slug":"sam-k-nkurunziza-2","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":3135,"name":"Sam K Nkurunziza","slug":"sam-k-nkurunziza-2","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000072842,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gr49cxdxoaesmdy.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gr49cxdxoaesmdy.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gr49cxdxoaesmdy.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gr49cxdxoaesmdy.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gr49cxdxoaesmdy.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gr49cxdxoaesmdy.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000072842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50968"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=50968"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=50968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}