Strong economic growth, and especially a significant increase in private sector investment, is the only sustainable path forward for Rwanda.

Let no one think that flexibility and a predisposition to compromise is a sign of weakness or a sell-out.

I 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.

I grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda, and I lived there for 30 years. That shapes one's character.

The 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.

My 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.

It is better for a country to have a strong leader, this applies to the United States as well as to Rwanda.