President Kagame arrives to deliver his remarks at the outgoing Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth, October 25, 2024, at CHOGM 2024, in Apia, Samoa./File Photo.
If like a great number of the human population, you are prone to while away altogether too much time on social media, it will not have escaped your notice that three days or so ago, President Paul Kagame, of Rwanda, had a birthday. The Rwanda head of state did not just receive good wishes, but many expressed heartfelt celebration and gratitude for his life. The sincerity of the well wishers, tells us much not only about the man, but his approach to leadership.
President Kagame is a famously avid reader, and he may have a copy or two of Stoic philosophy on his book shelf. If he does, it would be interesting to know if he recognises himself, or at the very least, his approach to leadership, from the musings of say, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and their fellows. They would almost certainly recognise their philosophy in his leadership.
Let us confront the inevitable contention from some, that will greet such an assertion.
The first thing to note is that they do not count, the majority of them at least. They do not count because they have no argument. They have no criticism, they are detractors, who engage in intellectual acrobatics, to distort the truth. In their heart of hearts, not even they believe they matter, when it comes to the facts.
Many of Rwanda’s detractors, are simply adherents of the genocidal, so called HutuPower ideology, whose visceral hate of the Rwandan President, is because he is the man who led the forces that defeated them, consigning them into the shadows, to grow mold and wither away.
To the tiny minority then, who may be honest, dispassionate critics, perhaps because of what they may have read or heard, but remain open minded, it is easy to see Stoic lessons in Paul Kagame’s leadership.
Traditionally, Rwandans were defined by stoicism in their actions and beliefs even before the colonial era.
The stoics used philosophy as a practical guide to the best way of fulfilling the roles taken by the course of their lives. Listen to every speech Paul Kagame makes, there is vision, there is political philosophy, but it is all a tool to practical solutions, a call to action.
The constant evaluation and re-evaluation of how they perform their roles, is what makes Marcus Aurelius, one of Rome’s most loved and respected leaders. It is why so many Centuries later, scholars still study the thoughts of Zeno, who was after all, little more than a merchant, why among all Rome’s Senators, it is Cato’s name that resonates across centuries.
The stoics understood that in leadership, you focus on what you can control, while keeping in mind that control can be an illusion. It is a lesson for the ages, from a Roman emperor to the “serenity prayer” that for generations, has been repeated to help people recovering from alcoholism. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference,” is repeated at almost every meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Whether at the battle front or in a suit and tie, any close observation of Paul Kagame’s approach, suggests that although teetotal, he has perhaps uttered the prayer, and God has heard and answered him. How often has he said to the nation, to his immediate team, to focus on how best to make the best of the little that Rwanda has, and to fret about what they do not have. Do the best we can with what we have, he urges, and build towards getting what we do not currently have. Let us do well what is in our control, he repeatedly urges the nation, and the rest will come in its own good time.
The stoics did believe in the saying that fortune favours the brave, and were not averse to risk taking, but that was distinct from acting rashly.
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
There is a moment during the war of liberation for Rwanda, which the stoics may have used to explain the thin line between reckless and boldness. Anyone who cares about historical fact, now acknowledges that France, stood four-square behind the then genocidal forces.
Kagame, the commander of the liberation forces, was warned against moving his troops to take an area of Butare, now Huye, because the French would bring their military might against him, including helicopter gunships.
Indeed, the French commander, Colonel Didier Tauzin, had earlier issued a rather crude boast, that he would smash the faces of the RPF-Inkotanyi (Rwanda Patriotic Front) forces, if they dared go anywhere near his troops.
Well then, mused a then young Major-General Paul Kagame, do the French not bleed as we do? And with that, he ordered the liberation of Butare. When French soldiers were captured in an ambush, Kagame ordered them to be released, and sent back behind the lines of the genocidal forces.
It is an incident that shows a combination of courage, daring and clarity of thought, all under intense pressure. The French were made to realise that Tauzin’s bravado was misplaced, the genocidal forces, who all but worshipped the French, believing that the RPF-Inkotanyi forces were no match for them, were disabused of that notion, and their morale no doubt dented, while the release of the captured French military, unharmed, sent a further message to the French, that they were outside the RPF’s military objectives. Bold, courageous action, carefully considered.
Rwanda had its own version of stoics dating way back.
In civilian life, as head of state, Kagame’s leadership has been marked by a combination of high ambition for the nation, bold action, always carefully planned and considered.
The self awareness, openness to what lessons can be learned from every good, bad, or indifferent situation, is very much in the mould of the stoics’ understanding of the world, in particular for would-be leaders.
The Rwandan government has rightly been referred to as a learning government. In almost every address President Kagame gives, especially to those in positions of leadership, a common theme is the injunction to never make the same error twice, and to learn from failures in particular.
Because its head of state values merit, Rwanda can boast some of the most able government officials, not only on the African continent, but anywhere in the world. Without exception however, they find that he is least there across their brief, at least as much as they are, if not more. For the stoics, a broad grasp of different subjects meant a better understanding of the world around them, and their place in it. Such an understanding was especially recommended for leaders.
President Kagame is not only engaged with every aspect of his nation, his society, he is engaged globally. Examples of his clear 180-degree vision abound. Among many that stand out, is his early understanding of how the digital revolution would change the world.
In the 1990s, a then young Rwandan student, Olivier Mugabonake, was studying Information and Communications Technology (ICT), in Belgium, and happened to attend one of the regular meetings that President Kagame, had with the Rwandan diaspora. It was at a time when only a few individuals possessed mobile telephones, and social media was still far off in the unforeseeable future. Mugabonake had resigned himself to being one of the few people in Rwanda, who was aware of the importance of ICT.
During his address, Kagame, told his audience how important it was to be aware of ICT, because it would be of great importance to Rwanda’s economy. In the audience, Mugabonake’s ears pricked up. He was not a voice in the wilderness after all, he was matching in step with his nation’s leadership. But how, and when, he wondered, had Kagame become so ICT aware. Now a Chief Executive Officer, in his own company, Mugabonake is still wondering.
Such apparent prescience in a leader, would however, not have come as much of a surprise to the stoics. They understood the importance of reading, especially for leaders. Had Mugabonake had a glimpse of Paul Kagame’s book shelf, he would perhaps have espied a volume that would have led him to the realisation, that he had never been alone, in being on the right side of the digital revolution.
Stoic philosopher and statesman, Seneca.
One of the greatest achievements of Rwanda’s RPF led government, is the establishment of universal healthcare. The system was greatly influenced by the work of the Partners In Health (PIH) founder, the late Dr Paul Farmer, whose connection to Rwanda was through what became a close friendship with President Kagame. That friendship in turn came about, after Kagame read one of Dr Farmer’s books. The head of state then went in search of the healer, and what they achieved together, now saves lives daily. All because a man read a book.
Dr Farmer would be so taken with Rwanda, and its government’s approach, that he took up Rwandan citizenship, living the rest of a life that was cut all too short, in the country.
The stoics would have shared Dr Farmer’s high esteem for the man who would become his friend, but with their erudition, they would also have looked at the Rwandan values that in so many ways, the Rwanda leader embodies.
Kagame’s leadership, as a commitment to the service of his nation, his people, may be familiar to the stoics, but it is also steeped in Kinyarwanda culture and history. In him therefore, we find a confluence of ancient Rwanda and ancient Rome.
