Dr. Musafiri said that under RPF-Inkotanyi, university education was opened up for all.
At the time when university education was a preserve for a few, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) opened the opportunity for many Rwandans to acquire education, regardless of the scarce resources the government had at a time.
This what was said by the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Dr. Ildephonse Musafiri, while introducing the RPF-Inkotanyi candidate, Paul Kagame, to Huye residents on Thursday, as Presidential and Parliamentary campaigns continued ahead of the July elections.
Dr. Musafiri, who was the chief campaigner in Huye, said that at the time when the country needed as many graduates as possible, after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the RPF Inkotanyi government opened up the lone university the country had at the time, the National University of Rwanda (UNR), to allow more people to acquire university education.
“The year was 1999 when you took a decision to send thousands of students, regardless of who they were, to this town. In the history of this country, 1,200 students joined the university. I was among those students,” Dr. Musafiri said.
“We came here, shared the little that was available, including infrastructure. A room which was supposed to accommodate two was now accommodating four people- two people sharing a room. We were squatters but that is when we understood what the President always said, that Rwanda is not small,” he said.
The economist and former Presidential advisor, said that they understood the importance of sharing, lived within the available means and they graduated, the majority of them going on to achieve many milestones.
President Kagame promised Huye residents more over the next give years.
The agriculture minister said that upon completing education, he went on to become a lecturer and before he knew it, was appointed to different oppositions and today he is a Minister -something he never saw in his wildest dreams.
Musafiri told residents of Huye, Gisagara, Nyanza and Nyaruguru that Rwanda is a country that gives an opportunity to everyone as long as you work hard, acquire more knowledge and show the will to work, adding that the Southern Province has been transformed tremendously over the past 30 years.
Among other things, he said the province has gained different infrastructure projects including roads, schools, more universities, a stadium and electricity plants under the RPF-Government, urging residents of the Southern Province to vote RPF Inkotanyi for continuity.
In his message, the RPF Chair promised residents of Huye, Gisagara and Nyaruguru continuity and more achievements over the next five years, with the ruling party in the driving seat.
Currently Rwanda has over 30 recognised universities from just one in 1994.
