Rwanda is a very open and free country. Key to our recovery as a nation has a range of grassroots, citizen-centered polices we call "homegrown solutions." The idea that Rwanda is highly controlled from the center belies the reality, which is that citizens in every village have a powerful say in how things get done. We prize accountability and Rwandans are quickly adapting themselves to the possibilities of a digital economy.
Paul KagameThe efficiency of a President at the beginning of his term depends on their capacity to get everything under control. That was my case. But once the institutions have been put in place, and the responsibilities delegated, the leader becomes a reference, a referee, a symbol and unifying figure for the nation. The issue is how and when to recognize the moment when staying in power becomes counterproductive.
Paul KagameReconciliation takes time. Sometimes many decades, as the example of Europe shows. It is hard work.
Paul KagameHuman rights groups are locked in a fierce competition for big checks from wealthy donors and they need to generate big headlines.
Paul KagameMy purpose is to develop a country, to empower its population. It's from that same population that will emerge the man or woman who will succeed me. And they will be chosen based on the consensus that they have the capacity to lead the country.
Paul KagameThe new Rwanda is about building an economy that delivers prosperity and opportunity for our citizens based on a robust private sector. Foreign adventures would be costly and counterproductive distractions from these challenging objectives.
Paul KagameHuman rights are not the preserve of Western activists: The definition must extend to encompass the right to the dignified life; the right to send your kids to school, for that child to get health care, for access for greater prosperity for generations to come and to have a say in the destiny of your community and country. Under that definition, Rwanda has nothing to learn from advocacy groups who think they own the copyright on what constitutes human rights under all conditions in every corner of the world.
Paul KagameReconciliation has taken place here in Rwanda and was successful because Rwandans reconciled themselves internally. If the tribunal had taken place in Rwanda, it might have helped. People could have watched justice being done.
Paul KagameWhen people accuse us of taking coltan from Congo, I don't understand what they mean. The quality of our own coltan here from Rwanda is much better. But still people from the UN come here, we show them our coltan mines, we show them the documents, then they go and say: Rwanda smuggles coltan.
Paul KagameIt is the first time in the history of Rwanda that political change in the highest leadership of the country has taken place in peace and security.
Paul KagameThe history and national interest of Rwanda and the Rwandan people dictate our national orientation.
Paul KagameI had to fight hard for everything. I wanted to get out. I want to take my destiny into my own hands and escape the vicious cycle of retaliatory violence. This struggle has shaped who I am to this day.
Paul KagameThe West has institutions that can punish the misconduct of individuals. What drove Rwanda and Africa into decline was the fact that certain people weren't held accountable. When we move to make corrupt mayors or officers answer to the courts, people always immediately say that we are repressive. But should we allow these people to continue to get away with it?
Paul KagameLet no one think that flexibility and a predisposition to compromise is a sign of weakness or a sell-out.
Paul KagameIn Rwanda, we have a society that has experienced a very serious rupture and you can't expect all of a sudden that things will be perfect. Even so: You cannot find any more areas where any segment of the population would be afraid to go, like we used to have before. But there is always a lot more to do.
Paul KagameMy own experience from a decade ago taught me I cannot trust the UN. But it is a world body and we have to live with it and tolerate it. But I can't hide my feelings about its inefficiency and its not being productive.
Paul KagameI grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda, and I lived there for 30 years. That shapes one's character.
Paul KagameRwanda has its own problems and never sought to blame others or cause others trouble. I advise Burundi to do the same.
Paul KagameAid leads to more aid and more aid and more aid and less independence of the people that are receiving aid.
Paul KagamePolitics is not only about personal choice. That one also needs to take into consideration what the people want because in the end, they are the ones who decide.
Paul KagameRwanda is rebuilding itself once again as one nation and that is the reason why we are making progress. Now many Rwandans are making their ends meet and others are able to do better than they have before.
Paul KagameUp to a certain extent the UN soldiers are useful. But they are consuming a lot of resources in relation to the little work they are doing.
Paul KagameAid makes itself superfluous if it is working well. Good aid takes care to provide functioning structures and good training that enables the recipient country to later get by without foreign aid. Otherwise, it is bad aid.
Paul KagameAfrica’s story has been written by others; we need to own our problems and solutions and write our story.
Paul KagameI do not want to be cynical, but if developing nations are kept backward by being told, again and again, you belong to the poor and you are there, where you actually belong, then nothing will change.
Paul KagameTechnology has brought many possibilities in education and health that are key to women.
Paul KagameWe cannot turn the clock back nor can we undo the harm caused, but we have the power to determine the future and to ensure that what happened never happens again.
Paul KagameI often wonder why the West is much more interested in aid deliveries than in fair trade, for example. The fair exchange of goods would place far more money into the hands of the affected people than relief operations.
Paul KagameThere are African leaders who have the dangerous habit of leading their people into an abyss. In Rwanda we've had presidents who killed. The one million people who died here were, to a certain extent, victims of their leader, President Juvénal Habyarimana, who died in a plane crash before the genocide began. He contributed to all that. The man who took over from him was running around ordering people to kill. If this president came back and landed in my hands, I would have him arrested and tried. Unfortunately, he died a natural death.
Paul KagameIt is the population which decides when it's time for a leader to leave, not foreign powers.
Paul KagameIt is better for a country to have a strong leader, this applies to the United States as well as to Rwanda.
Paul KagameIn Africa today, we recognise that trade and investment, and not aid, are pillars of development.
Paul KagameSuch problems are not solved in one day but there is a great step toward peace and security in the region.
Paul KagameI am not responsible for creating an opposition, neither am I responsible for appointing my own successor. My job is to allow for the opposition to exist within what the realms of the law. There is space in Rwanda for political parties - if fact we have about a dozen of them - as long as their objective is not to take us back twenty two years. On that point, we are and will always be very vigilant.
Paul KagameIsrael and Rwanda both play an active part in international organizations, including the U.N., but I think it's true that our unique experiences as nations have shaped a fierce independence that we will not relinquish.
Paul KagameThere are things I admire, for example, about South Korea or Singapore. I admire their history, their development and how intensively they have invested in their people and in technology.
Paul KagameI know that the fact that I am candidate to my own succession in 2017 can be perceived to be a bad thing by some part of the public opinion outside Rwanda and I don't mind because I know that I am doing it for a good cause. It really doesn't matter to me that my name is associated to those critics as long as I know that I am doing the will of the people.
Paul Kagame