Rwandan Leader Says 32 Yrs. of Independence Wasted, Urges Self-reliance

Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday challenged his compatriots to increase their productivity so as to create a self-reliant and sustainable society in order to consolidate the gains of their liberation struggle.

Kagame made the statement when he presided over the national celebrations to mark 14 years of the liberation struggle that brought his ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RFF) and its armed wing to power in 1994.

He said the consolidation of the gains of the liberation struggle will be determined by an unequivocal work and patriotism on the part of all Rwandans in their daily activities.

“We must work very hard to attain a meaningful independence by expanding our revenue base and adding value to production,” Kagame advised the thousands of Rwandans who braved the scorching sun to attend the ceremony.

“Rwandans today can not afford to be subjects of any foreign power again especially the West….but our self-reliance will be achieved when all Rwandans become more patriotic and respect each other.”

He the liberation gains needed to be protected with focus and vision in order to avoid mistakes of “some countries that have been liberated, gained a lot and gone back to zero”.

Rwanda became divided and underdeveloped because the post independence governments were taking orders from the former colonizers who had no good agenda for Africa, he said.

“It is evident that the independence was misused by Rwandans and all 32 years (1962-1994) of independence were wasted with no development apart from dividing Rwandans and genocide,” he said.

Rwanda was colonized by Belgium which still maintains some presence in the country.

Source African Press Agency

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