{"id":54765,"date":"2025-07-04T19:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T19:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/kagame-reflects-on-31-year-liberation-journey-as-tough-but-inspiring\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:31:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:31:20","slug":"kagame-reflects-on-31-year-liberation-journey-as-tough-but-inspiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kagame-reflects-on-31-year-liberation-journey-as-tough-but-inspiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagame reflects on 31-year liberation journey as tough but inspiring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Speaking during a conversation with members of the press on Liberation Day, President Kagame shared personal and national insights, emphasising the sacrifices of the liberation struggle and Rwanda\u2019s commitment to self-reliance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For me, at a personal level, it&#8217;s been a very tough but enjoyable journey,&#8221; the president said in his opening remarks.<\/p>\n<p>He highlighted the significance of the struggle, noting, \u201cThis is the best thing one can do to be part of the many years of struggle to put things right for our country, for our people, for ourselves all together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the personal convictions that drove him to fight for Rwanda as part of the group of refugees who formed the Rwanda Patriotic Army, which liberated the country and ended the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, President Kagame offered a deep reflection on the challenges and rewards of the liberation struggle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tough side was what was confronted and dealt with, being of such a magnitude that for the half-hearted, they would just collapse under the weight of its first day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, he found inspiration in the collective effort: \u201cThe enjoyable part\u2026 is understanding the story itself, where you are coming from and where you are going, and then finding yourself in the middle of it, being one among many to be looked up to\u2026 It gives a sense of pride, inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kagame paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives, acknowledging the unexplainable nature of survival. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot account for why I\u2019m still alive. I could have easily gone the way of the others who didn\u2019t make it,\u201d he admitted, adding, \u201cWe remember them. We honour them. We respect them for what we know they are associated with or they did when they were still there.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that the struggle\u2019s purpose was to create a better future, stating, \u201cWhat comes out in the end must reflect that difference between what you really fought against and what you are creating. They have to be different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president also addressed Rwanda\u2019s progress toward self-reliance, responding to a question about a 2012 speech where he criticised Western powers for scapegoating Rwanda. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRwanda has constantly been changing, but those powerful countries and how they see us or maybe see other Africans has really not changed,\u201d Kagame said, asserting, \u201cWe don\u2019t owe our living to anyone. Never will it happen again.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not bragging. It\u2019s an act of survival,\u201d he declared, encapsulating the spirit of a nation forged through struggle and determination.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-90364 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oe.jpg\" alt=\"President Paul Kagame on Friday reflected on Rwanda\u2019s 31-year journey since the 1994 liberation, describing it as \u201ca very tough but enjoyable journey\u201d that has shaped Rwanda\u2019s resilience and identity. \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-90365 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gvbrqjoxiamxdl6.jpg\" alt=\"Speaking during a conversation with members of the press on Liberation Day, President Kagame shared personal and national insights, emphasising the sacrifices of the liberation struggle and Rwanda\u2019s commitment to self-reliance.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-90366 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/gvbrqjexiam9wif.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Paul Kagame on Friday reflected on Rwanda\u2019s 31-year journey since the 1994 liberation, describing it as \u201ca very tough but enjoyable journey\u201d that has shaped Rwanda\u2019s resilience and identity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000090367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-54765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","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":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","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":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000090367,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oenew.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oenew.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oenew.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oenew.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oenew.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gvbrqjbxiaqa0oenew.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54765","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=54765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000090367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54765"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=54765"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=54765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}