President Kagame greets Agriculture Minister at the launch of an irrigation project in the Eastern province as COVID-19 was around the corner
President Paul Kagame has said how he organises his normal day where he admits that he needs tips to do better because he is still struggling to do several things in their right time, especially time for meals.
The president, while addressing the youth on social media this Friday, said his schedule can change from a day to another.
“Of course there is…let me say on the side I take breakfast, I have lunch…sometimes I miss lunch. Then I have my dinner,” he said.
“Even meals I miss, sometimes it is early, sometimes very late in the night.”
President Kagame at the launch of Precast factory in Kigali, December 2017
The president spends his normal day in the community which is involved in several development activities and then finds time for office.
“In between those(meals), there is a lot of work; either in the office or out of the office; visits to different places, to the population, to places of work, to industries, and so on on and so forth.”
On top of this busy work, he has finally managed to get some time for his family, especially in week-ends, things he said he had not managed to achieve in the past
“Either around meals or in between…let me say on a weekend, it has started sometime…there is a time for family,” he said.
“That’s if they are around because sometimes they are in different places for different things. There is always one or two members of the family we are regularly together with at different times.”
The family of the President-photo taken on the wedding day of First daughter Ange I. Kagame, July 2019
When it comes to taking care of his family, president Kagame is known to have important parenting principles.
He was once quoted sharing a story about how he used to drive his children to school instead of giving them to the driver and he said “ my children are my children, not my drivers’ children.”
Back to his day, Kagame said,
“Then, I am an evening person. I do my walkouts in the evening. For walkouts I am an evening person,” he said with an expression that suggests that he does his best to make this particular point work.
President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame walking during the car-free day
As far as work is concerned, the president does not necessarily stick to the normal working hours.
“For work, I am not sure because sometimes I work very early, sometimes I work very late in the night, I can tell you I am very poor at managing my time,” he said.
“I’ve been trying but I failed.This is one area I need to be helped. For some of you who know how to organise time better for work and for meals and for sleep, I’ll need your help. So mixed up! I am still struggling.”
Besides walkouts in the evening, President Kagame loves other sports.
“I do find time for sports. Sometimes I play tennis, I do walkouts, I enjoy watching basketball, soccer, different games whenever they are showing where I can be or where I can follow them on screen,” Kagame said.
“So I really try to be all round but in a very disorganised way.”
When the president looks at his life however, he does not feel exhausted and does not fail to achieve his objective in accordance with his targets.
“But my life, despite being torn apart by so many things good and bad, overall my life is a happy one,” he said.
His favorite meal
The President was asked several questions, those touching the national matters, and those that go directly into his personal life as a human being and he was very happy to share.
Someone asked him what he would answer if a child asked him about his favorite meal.
“I will not be helpful to that young person because I am a bad eater,” he joked.
“ But I eat everything that people eat, I don’t discriminate.”
“Long ago I used to eat a lot of meat, rice, sweet potatoes, bananas, beans and greens. I take a lot of fruit…So, I take so many of them and different ones. But as a young person, if they can drink milk and get this animal protein it gives a lot. I am told it is associated with some issues but I take a lot of milk.”
The president further said: “With my age, I am beginning to reduce it, but young people should take a lot of it.”
