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It is up to the continent of Africa to decide its future, and it must be powerful so it can decide its own fate, according to Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
He said Africa must take responsibility for not allowing outside influence to happen, and make sure the continent is not there for anybody’s taking.
Kagame, who made remarks in a short interview during the plenary sessions at the World Governments Summit in Dubai Monday, has been President of Rwanda since April 2000.
Asked about external influence from the US, Europe, Russia and China, he said: “This is a responsibility we carry, this is something that is urgent, to make sure we are not there to take a certain line or the other line because it has been decided so by someone else.
“Africa must be that powerful to make sure we do what has determined by ourselves to be important to us and our people.”
He is reported to have confirmed his bid for a fourth presidential term in the upcoming July 2024 election after he was able to run for his third in 2015 following a constitutional change.
“Elections are for the people to decide who is the most qualified,” he said, adding: “Voting counts, and history counts.”
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Brinda Darasha)
