The General said this during a dialogue with the youth dubbed “Youth know your history” in Kimisagara and attracted over 600 Rwandan youth.
Gen. Kabarebe told the youth that they should be grateful for their president who cares for all citizens and to learn from him on his leadership style.
“When he is outside the country, he doesn’t speak on his behalf but on behalf of Rwanda. Indeed, not all leaders do so, most of them speak on their behalf planning to enrich themselves after their mandate is over, but Kagame is not that kind. He is an example that all of you should follow,” said Kabarebe.
He further said that having a president like Paul Kagame is one of the greatest things that happened to Rwanda and that most of the developed countries of the world credit their development to good leadership.
He added that Kagame is an honest president working towards unity and good cooperation with other countries.
Last President Paul Kagame visited 28 countries including; Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, India, Switzerland, DRC, Belgium, America, Canada, Russia, Ghana, England, Kenya, Mauritanie, Djibouti, South Africa, Namibia, China, Armenia, France, Qatar, Argentina, Egypt, Austrich, Jordania and Ivory Coast.
Kagame made the remarks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates as he attended the Milken East and North Africa Summit that was organized by Milken Institute, a US-based Think Tank that publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based principles and financial innovations to social issues in the US and internationally.
In a one on one conversation with Milken Institute’s Chairperson, Michael Milken, Kagame said Africa is rich in natural resources but poor looking at its portion of global GDP.
“Africa is endowed with so much in terms of natural resources, the numbers are very clear. When you look at Africa’s portion of global GDP, it is very misleading when you also know what it is capable of,” Kagame said adding that the challenge has been how in the continent has always been how can Africa be so rich yet so poor at the same time.
To get out of this history, Kagame said Africa has to first seek ways to stop depending on outside factors starting from the level of African Union.
He gave as example the African Union institutional reforms which he was mandated to lead by his fellow African Heads of States. The reforms seek to make Africa a free trade market and see the African Union activities funded by its Member States.
“At AU level, we started by saying if we held Africa together, tried the best we can and make these borders that divide 55 countries irrelevant, beginning with trade, free movement of people and goods across borders, we can transform our economies,” he said.
Kagame said: “Leaders met in 2016 and we agreed we have to do reform because we can’t do business as usual, we have to change, beginning with how we conduct our affairs, including being able to finance the activity of the African Union.”
“AU activities were being financed at more than 80% from outside yet 55 countries can contribute to making sure we can run our own affairs,” he explained.
“We cannot work together without overcoming the challenge that we are so dependent on factors outside the continent. We have to build self-sufficiency and independence. This is what will take Africa where we should be,” he said.
“Knowledge and technology are things that are beginning to be so well evenly distributed across the world,” he said, adding: “If our young people are educated and they have their health then they are able to do what anyone else can do. You find them in different parts of the world doing exactly what is needed in Africa.”
“We need to invest in our people, even countries with natural resources, it will come to waste if they don’t invest in their people,” Kagame warned.
Kagame made the remarks on Tuesday as he addressed the 7th World Government Summit in Dubai.
The annual Summit has brought together over 4000 participants from 140 world countries including the Heads of States and Governments, International Organizations and different experts.
The Summit is dedicated to shaping the future of governments worldwide with a focus on how they can harness innovation and technology to solve universal challenges facing humanity.
Kagame said the United Arab Emirates is an inspiration to many countries including Rwanda, for its example of placing high value on people and the private sector to achieve remarkable result.
“You have shown the world how vision, leadership and good stewardship of natural resources transforms scarcity into prosperity,” Kagame said.
In the 7th World Goverment Summit, Rwanda was selected as the guest country.
“In the last 25 years in Rwanda, we have worked to build a new nation based on the values of unity and opportunity for all our citizens,” Kagame said.
“We have made significant progress over the years, but there is much more to do. However, none of this would have been possible without the right foundation,” he added.
Kagame explained that civic participation and the culture where leaders and institutions exist to respond to citizens’ expectations was key in this journey.
“This was complemented by a focus on civic participation and trust ensuring that everyone is included in shaping the country’s future,”Kagame said, adding that Bringing all Rwandans together in a common enterprise also meant guaranteeing the rights of those who were previously marginalised, particularly women.
“As a result of this social contract, the government has been able to simultaneously invest heavily in our human capital and also in ambitious infrastructure and technology for our future prosperity,” he revealed.
“Although the means available do not always match the scale of our ambitions, we have done our best to get the most out of the resources we do have and find creative ways to fill the gap,” he emphasized.
Kagame explained: “Good governance and accountability is central to everything we do. In Rwanda’s case, we are working to reverse a legacy of extreme corruption and division in our society that nearly completely destroyed our country.
“If there is one lesson from Rwanda’s experience, it is optimism. If Rwanda can make it to this point it means that there are no insurmountable challenges, provided that people work together towards a common goal,”Kagame said.
Rudahunga who has been for long suffering from chronic illnesses died on Monday, Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege has told IGIHE.
Rudahunga was ordained priest in 1953, being the 111th person to be ordained priest in Rwanda.
In a yet to be published exclusive interview with IGIHE, Rudahunga who held the honorary title of Bishop said he did so many works for the Catholic Church in Rwanda including Kabgayi Minor Seminar.
At 97, Bishop Eulade Rudahunga was the oldest priest in Rwanda.
It was the first time for the Presidents of the two neighboring countries to meet after Tchisekedi was declared winner of the Presidential elections held in DRC last year.
The 32nd AU two day Summit that was held in Addis on February 10 to 11th this year was the first AU Summit President Félix Tshisekedi attended after his election as President of Democratic Republic of Congo in December last year.
What marked President Kagame and Kagame’s meeting was not announced by Rwanda’s Presidency.
After he was elected to lead the DRC, Tchisekedi expressed that his country wishes to join the East African Community which is chaired by Rwanda for a year stint.
Over the last 20 years, DRC became home to groups that expressed wishes to cause insecurity in Rwanda.
Kagame made the remarks on Monday as he attended the meeting on Digital Transformation in Africa on the second day of the 32nd Ordinary Session of the African Union.
Kagame said: “Yesterday at the opening ceremony, I mentioned that “the future of the global economy is digital”. I should have added: “and government”.
“E-government is a powerful tool for improving both the quality and accessibility of government services,” he explained.
“Digital identity is the start of a long and valuable chain of capabilities that make citizens better able to participate productively in the regional and global economy,” Kagame said.
For the digital use in delivering government services, Kagame shared the story of Irembo, the online platform where Rwandan citizens access government services online.
“In Rwanda, we have used the Irembo platform to make many public records available online, such as land titles, birth certificates, visas, driver’s licenses, national ID, and even mountain gorilla trekking permits,” Kagame said.
“But digital systems can only function well when they are trusted,” Kagame said, advising that “Information must be protected from unauthorised access. It should be clear who owns the data that people generate and how it will be used.”
“Different digital platforms must also be able to communicate with each other seamlessly. Otherwise, we are merely rebuilding the same fragmentation in the cloud that we have been working to transcend here on the ground in the African Union,” he warned.
The meeting on Digital Transformation was, among other dignitaries, attended by Kersti Kaljulaid, the President of Estonia, whose country Kagame said “is among the most advanced in terms of e-government and digitalization.”
“Estonia is a leading country in IT and in technology generally which they have used for the development of their country, and we can have a few lessons to learn from them,” Kagame said.
Kagame also revealed the Smart Africa Alliance implementing technology-based initiatives on a regional basis has now grown to 24 member states with a total market of over 600 million people.
Kagame who doubles as the Chairperson of the African Union made the remarks as he chaired the African Leadership Meeting on Investing in Health held in Addis Ababa ahead the 32nd African Union Summit.
The meeting has brought together African Heads of State and Government, business leaders and global health organisations to launch a new initiative designed to help deliver increased, sustained and more impactful financing for health across Africa.
In his remarks, Kagame said, “Investing in the health of our citizens has already had transformative effects on the people of our continent. But there is much more to do. We will get better results if we work together as a continent.”
“We also have a lot to learn from each other’s experiences implementing programmes such as universal health insurance, and community-based healthcare,” Kagame said.
According to the 2018 WHO Global Health Expenditure Database, only two out of the 55 AU Member States meet Africa’s target of dedicating at least 15% of the government budget to health and do not reach the suggested threshold of US$86.30 per person required to provide a basic package of health services.
Here, Kagame called on the governments to increase domestic investment in healthcare.
“Governments should surely be willing and able to increase domestic investment in healthcare. A good indicator of this is the progress we have made toward securing the financial health of the African Union and mobilising our own resources for joint priorities, such as the Peace Fund. We should be the first ones to contribute to efforts that directly benefit our people,” Kagame said.
“We are entering a period where most of the special health financing vehicles must replenish their resources. This creates the necessity—or rather the opportunity— for Africa to increase its ownership of the process. Together we can set an even more ambitious agenda for the next phase,” he emphasized.
Kagame also called on private companies to invest more in the business of healthcare in Africa.
“The private sector is the key to success. The role goes beyond taxes and philanthropy as central as those are. We also need to see the private sector investing more in the business of healthcare in Africa as service providers,” he said.
Kagame also noted that companies can also ensure their employees have high-quality, private health insurance coverage and this creates more demand in the market, and allows governments to focus on the most vulnerable.
This Saturday, 9 February 2019, African Heads of State and Government, business leaders and global health organisations are gathering in Addis Ababa to launch a new initiative designed to help deliver increased, sustained and more impactful financing for health across Africa.
The meeting to be hosted by the African Union will be chaired President Paul Kagame who is also the current Chairperson of the African Union is themed as ‘Africa Leadership Meeting: Investing in Health’.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, the Co-Chair and Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates and Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg are among special guests in the meeting.
African countries are gradually increasing domestic investments in health with 35 out of 55 AU Member States (over 64%) having increased the percentage of their DP invested in health over the previous financial year, according to the 2018 WHO Global Health Expenditure Database.
Despite huge steps African countries have made in increasing domestic investments in health, only two out of the 55 AU Member States meet Africa’s target of dedicating at least 15% of the government budget to health and do not reach the suggested threshold of US$86.30 per person required to provide a basic package of health services.
More than half of Africa’s population currently lack access to essential health services, and millions die every year from commonly preventable diseases.
Tomorrow, Sunday, President Kagame will gather with his fellow African Heads of States for the 32nd Ordinary Session of the African Union which will be the last for him as AU Chairperson.
Kagame who has been AU Chairperson since January 28th 2018 will be replaced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
It will always be remembered that it is during Kagame’s mandate as the Chairperson of the African Union that the African countries signed the historical African Continental Free Trade Agreement among other achievements.
49 of the 55 AU Member States have signed the AfCTA that was signed on March 21, 2018.
President Paul Kagame will continue to serve as the leader of the African Union institutional reforms, a role he was mandated by his fellow African Heads of States and Government in 2016.
Gen. James Kabarebe who now serves as President Paul Kagame’s Advisor on Security Matters has held several positions in the Rwandan army where he served as Rwanda’s Minister of Defence and Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) Chief of Defense Staff among other duties.
During the liberation struggle by the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) that later changed name to current Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), Kabarebe served as the Private Secretary of Maj. Gen Paul Kagame who was Head of RPF military wing (RPA) and later became the Commander of the High Command Unit at Mulindi.
In October 1990, RPF Inkotanyi launched an armed war to liberate Rwanda after several peaceful attempts to let Rwandan refugees repatriate that had ended in vain.
RPF Inkotanyi has been at different times accused of having carried out the attack on a plane that carried President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994, a plane crash that was followed by the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi that left over a million lives lost.
Speaking to 500 youths who gathered at Kimisagara Youth Development Centre on a theme entitled ‘Rubyiruko Menya Amateka yawe loosely translating as “Youth, Know your history’’, Kabarebe said RPA soldiers were very much disciplined and had a great and genuine reason to fight which helped them win the struggle.
“RPF Inkotanyi armed forces were so disciplined that you would not imagine they were a rebel movement. You would have thought FAR [Rwanda Armed Force) which was the national army of Rwanda until 1994] was instead a rebel group due to its indiscipline and disorganization,” General Kabarebe said.
Kabarebe explained that RPF recognized the enemy of the country as the bad, corrupt and exclusive governance while Habyarimana’s regime said Rwanda’s enemy was all Tutsi.
“You can’t win a war against a force that fights to liberate Rwandans and develop the country while you fight to kill part of its citizens. Whatever ammunition you may have, whatever knowledge your army may have, you can’t win that struggle,” Kabarebe emphasized.
“RPF never fought to seize power. Some people say we won the war just because Habyarimana had died. This is false because if we wanted to take power first, we would have conquered the nation and take Habyarimana by hands. We were so strong that FAR could not stand our way,” he said.
{{Habyarimana was not a threat to RPF}}
Gen James Kabarebe told the youth RPF saw no interest in killing President Habyarimana as he was not a threat to their struggle.
“Habyarimana would come in CND [Parliamentary premises] where many RPF soldiers lived but they never shot at him despite the fact that he was guarded by his junior guards. If RPF soldiers had wanted to kill him, they would have done it at CND,” Kabarebe explained.
Kabarebe urged the youths to keep a watchful eye and fight any kind of divisionism that can take Rwanda back to dark moments it went through.
Despite allegations that the plane that carried President Habyarimana was shot down by RPF, the French intelligence document recently revealed that Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, who was Chief in Defence Ministry and Laurent Serubuga, a former Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Armed Forces were instigators of the April 1994 plane attack.
Osman Mohammed was acompanied by Sudan’s Minister of Information Bushara Juma’a Arur and the Deputy Secretary General in Sudan Presidency office, Ambassador Jamal El-Sheikh.
President Paul Kagame commended Sudan’s efforts to bring peace to Southern Sudan, and the agreement signed between the conflicting parties in Central African Republic, which was recently hosted by Khartoum, stressing his follow-up on all current events on the continent.
Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that Kagame described Rwanda’s relations with Sudan as deep and historical, expressing his country’s desire to develop it to serve the interests of both countries and people.
Rwanda holds good bilateral relations based mostly on peace keeping.
Official figures as of November 2018 indicate that Rwanda is the country with the highest number of peacekeepers in Sudan under the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) with 1629 peacekeepers followed by Pakistan with 1159, Ethiopia with 1092 while Tanzania has 805 peacekeepers as the fourth country with most UN peacekeepers in Sudan.
