Ugandan legendary journalist and political analyst Andrew Mwenda, a long-time admirer and close observer of Rwanda’s post-genocide transformation, has often expressed deep respect for President Paul Kagame’s leadership and governance philosophy.
Over the years, Mwenda has been one of the most vocal regional figures defending Kagame’s record in rebuilding Rwanda from the ruins of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi into a model of stability and progress.
On the occasion of Kagame’s birthday, Mwenda shared a heartfelt message celebrating the Rwandan leader’s resilience, integrity, and transformative vision, describing him as a “towering political giant” who turned what seemed impossible into reality.
This is the Birthday message:
Today, October 23, is President Paul Kagame’s birthday. We join his family and all Rwandans to honor this towering political giant on our planet, a leader who made what was seemingly impossible, possible.
The reconfiguration of the Rwandan state, the reconstruction of the Rwandan economy and the reconstitution of Rwandan society that had been tone asunder by the most horrific genocide in history.
More than that, we honor a leader who pulled a country out of obscurity and oblivion into a shining star on our continent, an example of what good leadership can do for a people.
He did this because he stuck to his ideals and tenaciously defended the goals he sought for his country when it would have been much more profitable to compromise them at the altar of political convenience.
President Paul Kagame inspires hundreds of millions across our planet because he has defied the odds, because he has held his ground, because he has kept his word, because he has persisted and endured in the pursuit of the Rwandan dream where many would have given up.
I have been traveling across Africa and witnessed so many post-colonial hopes dashed because leaders, in seeking to hold power and reward friends, abandoned the goal of building the nation and serving its people and where the sacrifices of the many were turned into the benefits of a few.
In Rwanda, Kagame said NO. I have watched him, at very close range, lose friends and antagonize allies who stood in the way of developing Rwanda. Today we celebrate this moral clarity and the integrity of his personality. Happy birthday my friend and hero.
May you live to be 150 years and thereby defy biology the way you have defied political and military realities. A word to the haters of Kagame. I know you will come here and hurl insults and abuses at me.
I forgive you because I know you envy his achievements and are tortured by his greatness. I am sorry I cannot help you out of your misery!
