Editor,The President is very right. You cannot attain development when people are not behind you. In every process, you have to engage people; know what they want and not impose things on them.

For instance, Rwanda has been able to attain impressive reconciliation levels simply because the process was not only pro-people, but also people-driven. The government allowed ordinary people to take charge and they owned the process.I think when you give people a chance and empower them to participate in nation building they will feel partly to blame in case of failure. Well done Rwanda.Teta, Nyagatare

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Editor,Rwanda’s strategy to foster economic development is bearing fruit and worth emulating. Indeed, whatever achievements are down to clear leadership by President Paul Kagame.I urge our local leaders to borrow a leaf from him. Economically, the country has achieved a lot within eighteen years and nobody expected such speedy transformation from a country shattered by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The performance contracts signed by senior government and district leaders, as a way to guarantee results, have achieved quite a lot also.The performance contracts should be encouraged because they encourage leaders to deliver to the ordinary people. Those who cannot deliver should take responsibility.(Reaction to a story titled "Leadership is about ensuring people’s participation – Kagame”, The New Times, September 10).Bateta, Kigali