Latest Paul Kagame Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• When people accuse us of taking coltan from Congo, I don't understand what they mean. The quality of our own coltan here from Rwanda is much better. But still people from the UN come here, we show them our coltan mines, we show them the documents, then they go and say: Rwanda smuggles coltan.

  Paul Kagame

  Mean, People, Quality

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• My own experience from a decade ago taught me I cannot trust the UN. But it is a world body and we have to live with it and tolerate it. But I can't hide my feelings about its inefficiency and its not being productive.

  Paul Kagame

  Feelings, World, Body

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• The situation in Congo shows nothing for which you could hold Rwanda responsible.

  Paul Kagame

  Responsible, Situation, Congo

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Up to a certain extent the UN soldiers are useful. But they are consuming a lot of resources in relation to the little work they are doing.

  Paul Kagame

  Soldier, Littles, Resources

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• There are African leaders who have the dangerous habit of leading their people into an abyss. In Rwanda we've had presidents who killed. The one million people who died here were, to a certain extent, victims of their leader, President Juvénal Habyarimana, who died in a plane crash before the genocide began. He contributed to all that. The man who took over from him was running around ordering people to kill. If this president came back and landed in my hands, I would have him arrested and tried. Unfortunately, he died a natural death.

  Paul Kagame

  Running, Men, Hands

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Reconciliation has taken place here in Rwanda and was successful because Rwandans reconciled themselves internally. If the tribunal had taken place in Rwanda, it might have helped. People could have watched justice being done.

  Paul Kagame

  Taken, Successful, People

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Rwanda is rebuilding itself once again as one nation and that is the reason why we are making progress. Now many Rwandans are making their ends meet and others are able to do better than they have before.

  Paul Kagame

  Progress, Rebuilding, Able

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• In Rwanda, we have a society that has experienced a very serious rupture and you can't expect all of a sudden that things will be perfect. Even so: You cannot find any more areas where any segment of the population would be afraid to go, like we used to have before. But there is always a lot more to do.

  Paul Kagame

  Perfect, Population, Would Be

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• I am not responsible for creating an opposition, neither am I responsible for appointing my own successor. My job is to allow for the opposition to exist within what the realms of the law. There is space in Rwanda for political parties - if fact we have about a dozen of them - as long as their objective is not to take us back twenty two years. On that point, we are and will always be very vigilant.

  Paul Kagame

  Jobs, Party, Years

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". Interview with Jeune Afrique, umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• Rwanda has its own problems and never sought to blame others or cause others trouble. I advise Burundi to do the same.

  Paul Kagame

  Causes, Blame, Problem

  "Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy". Jeune Afrique Interview (Issue #2882), umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• A strong leader is not necessarily a bad leader.

  Paul Kagame

  Strong, Leader, Strong Leaders

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". Interview with Jeune Afrique, umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• It is better for a country to have a strong leader, this applies to the United States as well as to Rwanda.

  Paul Kagame

  Country, Strong, Leader

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". Interview with Jeune Afrique, umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• It is the population which decides when it's time for a leader to leave, not foreign powers.

  Paul Kagame

  Leader, Population

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". Interview with Jeune Afrique, umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• The efficiency of a President at the beginning of his term depends on their capacity to get everything under control. That was my case. But once the institutions have been put in place, and the responsibilities delegated, the leader becomes a reference, a referee, a symbol and unifying figure for the nation. The issue is how and when to recognize the moment when staying in power becomes counterproductive.

  Paul Kagame

  Responsibility, Issues, Leader

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". Interview with Jeune Afrique, umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• My purpose is to develop a country, to empower its population. It's from that same population that will emerge the man or woman who will succeed me. And they will be chosen based on the consensus that they have the capacity to lead the country.

  Paul Kagame

  Country, Men, Empowering

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". Interview with Jeune Afrique, umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• I know that the fact that I am candidate to my own succession in 2017 can be perceived to be a bad thing by some part of the public opinion outside Rwanda and I don't mind because I know that I am doing it for a good cause. It really doesn't matter to me that my name is associated to those critics as long as I know that I am doing the will of the people.

  Paul Kagame

  Names, Long, People

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy.

  Paul Kagame

  Democracy, Monarchy, Rwanda

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• Politics is not only about personal choice. That one also needs to take into consideration what the people want because in the end, they are the ones who decide.

  Paul Kagame

  People, Choices, Want

  "Paul Kagame Interview in Jeune Afrique: 'Rwanda is a democracy not a monarchy'". umuvugizi.wordpress.com. April 9, 2016.

• I grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda, and I lived there for 30 years. That shapes one's character.

  Paul Kagame

  Character, Uganda, Years

  "We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.

• I had to fight hard for everything. I wanted to get out. I want to take my destiny into my own hands and escape the vicious cycle of retaliatory violence. This struggle has shaped who I am to this day.

  Paul Kagame

  Struggle, Fighting, Destiny

  "We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.

• Reconciliation takes time. Sometimes many decades, as the example of Europe shows. It is hard work.

  Paul Kagame

  Hard Work, Europe, Example

  "We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.

• Democracy holds little appeal for people who are struggling to survive.

  Paul Kagame

  Struggle, People, Democracy

  "'We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential'". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.

• The West has institutions that can punish the misconduct of individuals. What drove Rwanda and Africa into decline was the fact that certain people weren't held accountable. When we move to make corrupt mayors or officers answer to the courts, people always immediately say that we are repressive. But should we allow these people to continue to get away with it?

  Paul Kagame

  Moving, People, Answers

  "'We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential'". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.

• I do not want to be cynical, but if developing nations are kept backward by being told, again and again, you belong to the poor and you are there, where you actually belong, then nothing will change.

  Paul Kagame

  Cynical, Want, Poor

  "'We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential'". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.

• There are things I admire, for example, about South Korea or Singapore. I admire their history, their development and how intensively they have invested in their people and in technology.

  Paul Kagame

  Technology, Korea, People

  "'We Are Far from Exhausting Our Potential'". Interview with Horand Knaup, www.spiegel.de. July 6, 2010.