STOCKHOLM -  Rwandans living in Sweden on Friday pledged to identify viable schemes for development at home and continue to monitor progress in their country on a regular basis.

This was said yesterday by James Gatsinzi the Chairperson of the Rwandan Diaspora in Sweden during a meeting that was attended by the Commissioner General of Police, Emmanuel Gasana, and the Rwandan Ambassador to Sweden, Jacqueline Mukangira.

"While we live away from home, we have family, friends and strong roots in our country,” Gatsinzi said.

The gathering, which is a custom during visits by senior Rwandan officials to the Nordic country, discussed developments in Rwanda.

Gasana explained various good governance initiatives undertaken by the government to create what has now been recognized as the least corrupt country in East and Central Africa and one of the top performers on the continent as a whole.

"Rwanda is going through a re-engineering process that is aimed at a total transformation of the country into a modern state,” he told the Rwandese community.

The police chief’s description of current events in Rwanda was received with acclaim from Diaspora members who recently visited the country. They singled out the improved public service efficiency, clean streets and a disciplined police force.

Ambassador Mukangira rallied the Rwandese community to participate in the governance of their country by registering in advance for the next years’ elections and participating in the reconciliation week next month. 

Sweden is home to one of the most active Rwandan Diasporas. The Nordic country made the third highest contribution outside Rwanda to the One Dollar Campaign and it has registered one of the largest delegations to the forthcoming Diaspora convention in Kigali according to figures from the Diaspora General Directorate in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Commissioner General Gasana is in Sweden at the invitation of the Swedish police as part of its cooperation agreement with Rwanda.

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