President Kagame was welcomed by more than 300,000 residents of Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts.
Incumbent President Paul Kagame & Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) candidate in the forthcoming Presidential elections, on Sunday campaigned in Nyagatare District- the first of the two stops in Eastern Province, where he promised residents of districts of Nyagatare and Gatsibo more development initiatives over the next five years, under RPF Inkotanyi.
He told the over 300,000 residents of the two border districts that the Government will continue to ensure that they have everything they need within their vicinities, so that they can stay at home in their country, instead of migrating to neighbouring countries to look for opportunities and means of survival
The two districts Gatsibo and Nyagatare, which previously belonged to the neglected eastern part of the country and were prone to drought, have tremendously developed over the past 30 years, becoming hotspots for agricultural modernisation, industrialisation and trade.
The incumbent Head of State promised residents of the two districts that under RPF-Inkotanyi, more transformative actions will be taken over the next five years, to ensure the socioeconomic transformation of all sectors and improve further the wellbeing of the people, who previously faced challenges of poverty and underdevelopment.
RPF Chairman Kagame said the region will never be isolated as it was under previous leaders.
Candidate Kagame told residents of Gatsibo and Nyagatare that the area which borders Uganda is not only symbolic because the RPF Inkotanyi struggle started there -in Kagitumba where RPF/A fighters entered from, but it is also symbolic because many refugees, including himself as a child, used the route to flee to neighbouring countries.
“Earlier speakers mentioned a few things about the history of this area, as the place where people entered through to liberate our country, but I want to tell you a bit more. For some of us, we did not only return through this route, but it is the same route we used to exit, to become refugees in a neighbouring country,” he said, emphasizing how symbolic the Nyagatare area is.
On the Umutara region being among the most neglected by past governments, where people used to live one day at a time, not sure of the future, the Head of State said the RPF Inkotanyi government has worked to ensure that such history is left behind, restored hope in the people and today Nyagatare and Gatsibo are among the prosperous districts of the country.
“There was a time when people lived in a state where they were not sure of tomorrow, not sure whether they would wake up the next day or not. I want to assure you that under RPF everyone will sleep soundly and wake up the next day and the next,” he said, adding that today’s Rwanda doesn’t discriminate between regions.
He said that the most important part is that the people of Nyagatare and Gatsibo went through all those challenges, including desolation, poverty and lack of basic needs, which made many of them move to neighbouring countries to look for means of survival. Kagame said that will never happen again.
“You will be going to other countries to visit, at your own will, and return back home and live here. You will get all those things that you go to look for elsewhere,” he said.
Excitement filled the air.
For many decades, Eastern Province residents often crossed borders to Uganda or Tanzania, to look for basic services such as medical care, education or land to farm, due to drought that often affected agricultural output. Today, irrigation and water supply channels as well as modern ways of farming have been introduced.
Reflecting on the earlier speech of Hannington Namara, the chief campaigner in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts, who highlighted several developments that have turned around the fortunes of the Eastern Province over the past three decades, President Kagame said there is more work to be done.
“The national park and the hotels it has brought, the factories, the infrastructure, all these and more will come,” he said, adding that there is much more to be done, urging the citizens to continue doing their part and what seems impossible will be achieved.
He called on the young people to learn from the history and from those who liberated the country and take up the mantle early, by making the right choices to follow in their footsteps, to become the ‘lions’ they should be and take over from those who were there before them.
“Always remember this history and strive to never betray the legacy you have. It is a responsibility you have,” he told the supercharged crowd, adding that he remains committed to be the ‘leading lion’, as long as he has the young and energetic lions by his side, to take the country to its desired levels of development.
RPF Chairman said a lot more will be done to develop the Eastern Province districts.
