Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced, in September, that he will run for another term in the 2024 general elections. President Kagame is pleased with the confidence Rwandans have shown in him and he does not care about the West’s criticism as long as his people want him to serve.

“Sorry to the West, but what these countries think of us is not our responsibility,” President Kagame told Jeune Afrique.

“What is democracy? The West dictating to others what they should do, but if they violate their own principles, how can we listen to them? Trying to transplant democracy is already a violation of democracy itself. People are supposed to be independent and should be allowed to organize themselves as they wish,” he added.

After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwandans had no hope. They were not sure if they would live in a secure and peaceful country.

Many never imagined having a leader who would ably transform their nearly failed state. But, in spite of all the challenges – and they were very many – Kagame did. Rwandans think that exemplary leaders like him are scarce, hence they cannot misplace an opportunity to have him as president whenever he accepts to serve them. Rwandans have their own reasons.

Peace and security

Only Kagame has made it possible for Rwanda to remain stable for almost three decades. He built strong and disciplined professional security forces, among others. Rwandans are enjoying a safe and secure country.

Four decades after independence from Belgium, Rwanda was marked by instability with its leaders promoting discrimination and division among citizens. By then, government officials were busy in power struggles based on regional alliances, and having no time to serve Rwandans.

Kagame led post-genocide Rwanda and invested all his effort in bringing peace, security and stability in a devastated country.

“Rwanda has invested much effort in its national security, by building competent and professional security organs,” read a 2022 survey by Usebounce that ranked Rwanda the sixth safest country in the world and safest country in Africa for solo travelers.

Usebounce, a luggage storage app, created the ranking by combining a crime index and a safety index to evaluate where solo travellers would feel safest.

Unity and inclusivity

Under Kagame’s leadership, Rwandans have endeavoured to leave behind the effects of successive bad and divisive politics that marred the country ever since the colonial era and which culminated into the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The current Rwandan government provides equal access to opportunities and resources for all.

For Rwanda to become a better country for its people and for it to make an important contribution in the world, Kagame once noted, “we have to protect our community, our achievements, our unity, and understanding a Rwandan and that he or she needs to be valued.”

There is no doubt that how far Rwanda has come in the last 29 years is due to the extraordinary efforts and the lessons Rwandans drew from their bad history.

Kagame has maintained that to achieve what has been achieved, and more, it calls for unity, for inclusive politics, for “the dignity we deserve,” and the politics that pushes Rwandans to strive for more.

Kagame established a sense of belonging to many Rwandans who had completely lost it. He removed ethnic categorization from identity cards, eradicated divisionism, established national unity and reconciliation, healed the wounds of genocide, and restored a proper justice system.

Convincing the perpetrators and survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to live together was next to impossible, but Kagame achieved it. Many world leaders refer to this achievement as a miracle.

A transformational leader

Rwanda's rapid transformation is fundamentally hinged on trust between the leadership and the people of Rwanda.

In 2000, when he became President, Kagame inherited a country that had been torn apart by genocide. His Western critics and others outside of Africa fail to acknowledge the complexities of governing post-genocide but Rwandans know the difficulties their society faces.

From what Kagame’s leadership achieved in transforming Rwanda from a failed state to one of the most successful stories in the world, Rwandans still want him to accelerate the country’s development.

Kagame's leadership has had a profound impact on the country. Rwanda has seen tremendous economic growth, improved infrastructure, and a dramatic reduction in poverty.

Kagame implemented a number of policies to promote economic growth. He has encouraged foreign investment, reduced taxes, and implemented a number of reforms to make the business environment more attractive to investors.

Rwanda aspires to middle income country status by 2035 and high-income country status by 2050. It planned to achieve this through a series of seven-year national strategies for transformation underpinned by sectoral strategies focused on meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Growth averaged 7.2 per cent a year over the decade to 2019, while per capita gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 5 per cent.

Rwanda is one of two countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that achieved all the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): under-five mortality declined sharply between 2000 and 2020, and the maternal mortality ratio dropped, as did the fertility rate.

The country’s strong focus on homegrown policies and initiatives contributed to significant improvement in access to services and human development indicators.

Rwanda’s economy showed resilience despite a challenging economic environment in 2022. After a strong rebound in 2021 from the COVID-19 induced-contraction in the preceding year, the economy faced multiple challenges in 2022—pandemic scars, headwinds from the war in Ukraine, climate-related shocks, and mounting inflationary pressures.

Despite these challenges, Rwanda’s real GDP grew by 8.2 per cent in 2022.

Rwandans today dream big.

In so many ways, Kagame symbolises hope for Rwandans.