President Kagame meets with members of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) – Kigali, 13 November 2013.
President Paul Kagame has lashed out at western countries pretending to be the model in the democracy which seek to impose it in full ignorance of others’ choices.
“We have been at receiving end of lessons of democracy as if it matters is choices of others not our own,” Kagame said. The President was meeting with Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) members today, at his office in the capital Kigali.
The head of state stressed that democracy is not expressed the same way in every country, and Rwandans have chosen to be themselves.
“It is the freedom to make choices, protection of those choices and people feeling secure in their choices they make.”
Rwanda came to the spotlight across the world in 1994 when over million Tutsi were killed in the 100 day killing.
However, the advent of Unity Government changed things for better. From scratch, the country embarked on socio-economic transformation and in few years later, Rwanda is globally positioned as a shining example in several sectors on the African Continent.
Addressing 17 YPO members from seven countries, President pointed out that the same people responsible for the tragedy are the same responsible for creating hope for a nation that was destroyed.
“Rwanda represents the worst but also the best of what humanity is capable of. Rwanda is no longer surviving. We have survived, we are moving forward and make things work for our people,” he noted.
The current trip by YPO members themed “the journey for change” aimed at learning about business practices in the country as well as establishing relations with local business community and policy makers.
The YPO’s interactions with the head state came after several others held in Rwanda and abroad.
For instance, Kagame participated in various events organized in Colorado, Washington and Hong Kong, among others.
Founded in 2008, YPO has five members in Rwanda and 24,000 members from 130 countries globally.