Rwandans cement concept of servant leadership

This end of the year period in Rwanda is packed with important political events. Yesterday President Paul Kagame presented to the country the state of the nation, which is by and large a healthy one.On Sunday he presided over the biennial congress of the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) where he was re-elected chairman.This came barely a week after the National Dialogue Council, better known as Umushyikirano, was held.And then there is the ongoing Ndi Umunyarwanda initiative.Early next year there will be the National Leadership retreat.You might say there is nothing new in all this. These are routine events. Most are constitutional requirements while another is dictated by the realities of the day. So what is there to say about them?That may be so. But there is a common strand that runs through all of them that merits attention and that marks Rwandan politics apart. They talk about the quality of leadership that can move this country forward and transform the lives of Rwandans. It is what President Kagame has always urged – a leadership marked by humility and modesty. He returned to that theme at the RPF Congress on Sunday.It is a tough ask for politicians to be humble. For most, humility is not one of the virtues for success in politics. Politicians can’t stop thumping their chest and trumpeting their great deeds even if only they can see them. They can’t resist listening to their own voice. One who does not brag and talk about himself, is no politician. These are considered essential qualities for their trade and requiring them to abandon such vital characteristics is asking them to give up their lives.In many places, politicians love giving sermons to ordinary people, advising on this, chastising on that and exhorting on the other. They actually think it is their prerogative and often stray into the territory of professional preachers. I have not seen many who have the patience or good manners to listen to advice let alone accept it.Except in Rwanda. Here politicians must eschew narcissistic tendencies and be prepared to put others first. They are advised to remain close to the people they lead and not be above or far removed from them. They are urged to cultivate the trust and confidence of those they lead and not demand respect from them. This is only fair because ordinary people have already given them their trust and expect that it will not be betrayed.These cannot be done unless leaders are humble and modest. In Rwanda, that is an essential qualification for leadership. Here the concept of leader as servant is taken seriously. The president certainly does and expects that other leaders do. Ordinary Rwandans have also come to expect that their leaders must behave in this way and perform to their expectations.The same standards of personal conduct for Rwandans are at the centre of the Ndi Umunyarwanda initiative to restore the Rwandan spirit. . Its success is predicated on honesty, openness and telling the truth.Again the conduct of leaders is key because of the responsibility they carry and expectations people have in them. They have the opportunity to do good and build as well as the potential to destroy. Which is why the initiative started with them.Being forthright is also the spirit of the annual National Dialogue Council. The Dialogue is one huge parliament where all Rwandans participate in discussions that affect them. Leaders are made to account publicly before Rwandans and explain where and why they have fallen short.Meaningful dialogue means openness, honesty and being forthright. Real accountability rests on readiness to make oneself open to scrutiny even by those one leads. Both require a high level of humility and modesty – qualities that today’s Rwanda demands of its leaders.Both are essential for democracy.The events at the end of the year, coming one after the other in quick succession, are therefore not just cyclical events that we have come to expect every end of year. They offer significant definitions of the relationship between the leaders and the led; what each expects from the other and what, together, they owe the nation. They define Rwanda’s concept and practice of good governance. That is what makes the profile of the Rwandan politician and leader different from others elsewhere.

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Rwandans cement concept of servant leadership