Fellow Rwandans:

Today we mark the 19th Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 in which more than one million people perished.  At nearly two decades since the genocide happened, we need to reflect on how far we have come in building Rwanda, restoring the dignity of Rwandans and ensuring their development.

That is why this year we are holding commemoration in our communities so that every Rwandan has the opportunity to participate fully in activities of remembrance where they live.

Remembrance of the genocide is an obligation for every Rwandan. It is also falls on us to teach and pass on that responsibility to the youth so that they, in turn, can pass it on to successive generations. Sharing our history, some of which has been tragic, will help us prevent future evil, fight genocide ideology and anything that could take the country back to the bad past we have left behind. It will also help us focus on that which will advance the collective good of Rwandans.

This is the reason our history must be taught in schools so that those who were very young in 1994 or those born after will learn about the nefarious consequences of bad leadership, which led to the genocide in Rwanda.

We must therefore do everything possible to make sure that we write our own history, preserve the physical evidence of genocide, including memorial sites, so that they do not get lost, but become symbols of remembrance and prevention of genocide.

Hartford, 12 March 2013

Dr Walter Harrison, President of the University of Hartford;

Faculty, Staff and Students;

Distinguished members of the Hartford Community;

Friends of Rwanda;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

I am honoured to be here today at this great university particularly when you are launching a Genocide and Holocaust Education Initiative, and I thank the Maurice Greenberg Center for this wonderful work. Let me also thank Dr Joseph Olzacki and his colleagues for their commendable work in Rwanda in this area.

Rwandans know only too well the horrors of genocide and appreciate and support this initiative because we have a shared interest in educating others about the crime so that it never happens again.

The people of Rwanda have stood up against all forms of injustice and defended human dignity in the past and will continue to do so because our resolve is steadfast. This conviction and our history have made the combat against genocide and ideologies that support it anywhere in the world a moral obligation for us.

The tragedy our country faced revealed a character of the Rwandan people that has been essential in the rebuilding of the nation and in its socio-economic transformation – resilience, vision and ability to reach a consensus.

And speaking about vision, I notice that this is a quality we share with this university and with the wider Hartford community. This university is the product of a vision the community had for its future: to build a higher learning institution that would serve the needs of its members and propel this area forward. It served that purpose and has since grown beyond the confines of Hartford and become a world class learning centre that attracts scholars from across the world.

Kigali, 26 February 2013

I’m Collin Haba from the New Times. Mr. President there is a debate that has been going on for quite a bit about what will happen after 2017. One of the key issues here is that especially during your citizen outreach there were residents asking you to stand and yet the constitution gives a maximum of 2 terms but at the end of the day one of the key things is the strength of the institutions we have. How would you rate the capacity of our institutions to manage these transition come 2017? Thank you

President Kagame: It is good that you bring up this issue, as you rightly say, is a debate going around. Let me also say if we were to be honest and if my memory serves me well; I read on newspapers and listen to radios; to say I started the debate is half true. You actually started the debate; you members of the press, media and many others. I have been asked these questions of term limits, whether I’m going or not going. Do you know how many years it is now that I have been asked these same questions? I was asked these questions even before I finished my first term, you are aware of that and in the second term I have been asked this and other questions all the time. So I am not the one starting but rather participating in this debate.

On the 8^th of February, I invited leaders from my party at different levels many of them we call it expanded NEC; national executive committee, I think they are close to 2000 people. The intention of RPF and my intention as well, was to put this matter into some perspective because it was unnecessarily creating diversion as well as confusion as you also pointed out it has been affecting citizens. They hear questions, many times on radio being asked; are you going? Aren’t you going? When are you going? The ordinary citizens when I visit the countryside say; we hear people asking you, are you going, when are you going, where are you going? It’s like saying those telling you are the least concerned, we are the ones most concerned. I am telling you my honest views about it.

For how long do we go with this kind of confusion without putting it into some kind of perspective without managing it? I read papers every other day and recently I saw somebody who is supposed to be educated saying while the constitution says this, it is clear, why is the President be bothered, why would he be bothered.? How can the President not be bothered? The responsibility of the President is to be bothered about the rights of the citizens; the respect of the constitution, the implications of anything that touches the constitution or the rest of the citizens are absolutely the responsibilities of the President; the wellbeing, the security, and everything of the citizens of the country. So how can somebody say, why is the President bothered?  I would ask, why is he bothered himself, the one asking the question, who has far less responsibility than the President? I’m absolutely bothered about what is happening and what will happen is number, the first person to be bothered is the President. So I am bothered about where we have come from, where we are and where we are going.  That is what I have been hired for in this responsibility I have today.

Addis Ababa, 24 February 2013

• Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and Chairman of the African Union;

• Excellencies Heads of State and Government;

• Excellencies UN Secretary General and Chairperson of the AU Commission;

• Distinguished delegates:

I would like to begin by thanking the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for convening this event and all the efforts they have made into making this event happen. We particularly appreciate the personal efforts of the UN Secretary General in driving this process.

We are all here to pursue one objective: to see security, stability and peace emerge in DRC and our region. This Framework Agreement is an important step and opportunity in reaffirming our commitment to regional peace. I unreservedly welcome it.

Nothing would be of greater benefit to Rwanda than real progress toward regional peace and stability. Previous efforts undertaken with the DRC in the past decade had produced some encouraging improvements. Unfortunately what seemed like a strong basis for further progress was not sustained, with grave repercussions.

Three aspects of today’s agreement provide renewed optimism for finding a real solution.

Addis Ababa, 28^th January 2013.

Your Excellency, Chairperson of the African Union;

Excellences dear colleagues;

The debate we are having on Mali is of particular importance. We are dealing with an issue that is of concern to every African country, to every African citizen.

The situation in the northern part of Mali threatens not only the security and stability of the country, but also that of the entire region and beyond. The principles involved, in particular the respect for the unity and territorial integrity of Mali, are of paramount importance to the entire continent. Africa cannot, and should not, fold its arms when terrorist and criminal groups are occupying over half the territory of a Member State, carrying out the most atrocious crimes against innocent civilians and destroying monuments that are of great significance to Africa’s heritage and civilization.

Mali is one of the founding members of the OAU. Its commitment to Pan-Africanism is well-known. In half a century of independence, this commitment never wavered. Modibo Keita, the first Malian President, was one of the most engaged African leaders when it came to the liberation of the continent and the promotion of its unity. President Alpha Omar Konare, who chaired the AU Commission, is a deeply dedicated African. I have no doubt that President Dioncounda Traore is determined to preserve and strengthen Mali’s invaluable contribution to the advancement of our continent.

As we prepare to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the OAU/AU, we ought to extend to Mali our total solidarity and unreserved support. Solidarity and collective action were the values that made it possible to liberate Africa from the yoke of colonialism and racial domination. These very values are needed today to enable us address the daunting challenges facing us in Mali.

What are those challenges? It is about creating conditions for the speedy deployment of the African-led International Support Mission in