Rwanda has overcome insurmountable challenges to become the country that it is today, and there should not be any excuse for failure for the young generation as they take on the mantle from the generation of liberators.
That is one of the messages that young Rwandans based in abroad heard from different senior government leaders during a meeting that brought them together in Kigali on Friday, July 9.
A total of 60 youth from various European countries are currently in Rwanda for a one-week-tour aimed at helping them understand the country, where it is coming from and its aspirations.
Among other things, they were given a full account of the liberation struggle, unity and reconciliation, and the transformation of the economy.
The tour which started on July 6 and will end on July 13, is an opportunity for them to visit several places of historical importance, for example areas where the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) fought heroic battles during the liberation struggle.
On Friday, the youth interacted with officials including Dr. Vincent Biruta, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rosemary Mbabazi the Minister of Youth and Culture, and General James Kabarebe, the senior security advisor to the President.
Kabarebe, who was among the RPA forces, has also previously served as defence minister among other duties.
During their interaction with the youth, they discussed different which centred around the preparedness of the youth to carry the country forward, building on what has been achieved.
Kabarebe narrated the hardship that characterized the liberation struggle, and the post-genocide Rwanda, as he challenged the youth to pick a leaf from the resilience of their leaders who refused to give up.
"You have no excuse whatsoever for failure. I think failure is not something that you should even think about because, looking at the insurmountable challenges that the country has gone through and overcome, this should give us great courage and the impetus to work even harder,” he said.
He tipped them on the values that form the basis of the country’s success.
"The values of high level patriotism, sacrifice, selflessness, discipline and bravery, resilience, economy of effort – using so little to achieve so much, were central in guiding the RPA from 1990 until today,” he said.
"So, 27 years down the road, we talk of Rwanda being the second easiest place to do business in Africa, the safest place in Africa, the 9th best place to be a woman globally, among the five topmost countries to contribute peace and security through peacekeeping missions. These are achievements that have been reached within just 27 years after the genocide. So it means that with what has been built and what foundation that has been put in place, moving forward is not difficult,” he added.
In his speech, Biruta told the youths about Rwanda’s future aspirations,
"Our Vision 2050 aims at transforming Rwanda into a high income country by 2050. In 2035, we are aiming at transforming Rwanda into an upper middle income country,” he said.
"We need to work and implement our strategies, as we look towards these milestones that we have in our vision 2050,” he added.
Minister Mbabazi reminded them about the importance of keeping connections with their country,
"When you connect with your country and your culture, you always see a lot of opportunities and areas of improvement. We can’t say we have achieved it all. We have done our part and we are still doing it, but you can also contribute with your expertise and knowledge, and bring a lot of value addition to our own country,” she said.
Aline Byusa, a Rwanda living in Belgium spoke about how important their tour to Rwanda has been, and why they initiated it.
"We wanted to come and visit our country to see have a look at the real picture,” she said.
"For some of us, it was the first time to come here. After this tour we saw that Rwanda is a country that makes us proud, and so, our mission is to continue promoting it especially countering those that speak ill of it,” she added.