Paul Kagame Quotes

To our young people, we expect you to take Rwanda even further ahead, beyond what we have ever imagined.

So, Rwanda has transformed itself. Unity, being together, is the foundation of everything we try to do. From the beginning, we understood the need to cultivate and preserve a spirit of “oneness” to give us hope for a better future.

Rwandans will not accept any attempt to divide us. We had enough of it. More than enough. That will not succeed again here, ever.

It's very clear that wounds are still deep but “Rwandans, I thank all of you for refusing to be defined by this tragic history.

Our hearts are filled with grief and gratitude in equal measure. We remember our dead and are also grateful of what Rwanda has become. (7 April 2024)

Rwanda has transformed itself, unity is the foundation of everything we try to do. For the beginning we understood the need to cultivate and preserve the spirit of oneness to give us hope for a better future

One lesson that our country learnt is to transform challenges into opportunities and also use so little to do a lot. There is nothing Rwandans cannot overcome through unity, hard work, and perseverance.

But we have our lives to live, all of us, and nobody, I want to say nobody, will ever decide for us how to live our lives. We have strength, incredible strength, coming from this history that informs us, that tells us that you should never, never, allow anybody else to dictate to you how you live your life. And that is Rwanda today.

When we need to protect this country that has suffered for so long, no one is helping us, I don't need anyone's permission to do what we have to do to protect ourselves

So, it’s very clear that the wounds are still deep. But Rwandans, I thank all of you, for refusing to be defined by this tragic history, and people have managed to turn the page and move forward from grieving, from crying, and people have decided to live on. And even, people have been ready, have been willing, to do the most difficult thing, one or the other, they have decided to forgive, but we can’t forget.

In 2024, we marked 30 years since the Genocide against the Tutsi, and the liberation of our country. These dual anniversaries serve as a powerful reminder of how far we have come, driven by a shared purpose to move forward and rebuild. Together let us continue on this path.

Shortcuts and temporary fixes can not resolve this issue. There has to be a comprehensive solution that deals with root causes, in the medium and long term, which should guarantee lasting peace for all the peoples of our region. This is important for all of us, without exception.

We are polite people, we are humble people, we know where we come from, we know who we are, we listen, but at the end of the day, I want to assure you, that for as long as some of us are still here, what I’m saying is just what is going to happen, that we shall have to live our lives, live the best way we can just like other people elsewhere in the world, and they have no right, and we will not even accept, that dictating to us how we live our lives can happen.

There is no peace for some and not for others. We all need the same peace. We will continue to stand for historical clarity regarding our situation, and will never accept to be painted as something we are not.

Genocide denial is a dangerous and deliberate attempt to block the truth, we must fight revisionist and ideologist because they are easily passed on from generation to generation and that is how history repeats itself.