Former Citizens Coalition for Change legislature Fadzayi Mahere attended a high level leadership forum in Rwanda.
The forum which was attended by public leaders from across the continent, was hosted by President Paul Kagame in Kigali.
The forum was convened by Her Excellency, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former President of Liberia.
Mahere said:
🟣Over the last few days, I have been in Rwanda attending a high level leadership forum with public leaders from across the continent. The forum was convened by Her Excellency, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former President of Liberia. President Sirleaf is a formidable champion of women in public leadership and a worthy model of competence and transformational leadership on the continent.
We were hosted in Kigali by His Excellency, President Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda.
We had conversations that ranged from governance, security, development co-operation to the future of the Continent, the importance of accountability, truth, justice and reconciliation in taking a nation forward.
In our conversation with President Kagame, he emphasized the following:
1. As African leaders, we must change our mindsets. We must set ambitious goals and implement them. There’s no point talking about Africa’s problems and crafting solutions if we do not work just as hard on implementation. If we want things to be different, we must govern differently.
2. Accountability is critical. Integrity and competence matter. Those in positions of leadership must be accountable and deliver for their citizens and communities. There must be a cost for failing to deliver. The nation must work for everyone not just one person. Leadership is about the people not the leader. The people must be inspired to play their part in building the nation.
3. Dependency syndrome must stop. We must not continue to rely on aid and handouts but we must work hard, innovate, trade and be productive to take our nations forward.
4. Visionary inclusiveness and national unity are at the heart of the nations that succeed. No group must be left behind. Women must not be left behind. Children’s welfare and their education must be safeguarded. Respect for rights, championing justice and gender equality are central if we hope to make progress.
Most important of all, he said, the politics must be right.
We must not rest until the politics in our respective jurisdictions is right. Rwanda js a beautiful example of how visionary leadership can make a nation rise from the ashes. The job is not yet done, as President Kagame emphasized. However, there’s no doubt that the nation is on a path of progress.
Thank you to the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development for the kind invitation and to all my fellow leaders from all corners of Africa who gifted us fresh energy and inspiration as we work to take Africa forward to a future of shared prosperity, tangible development and opportunity for all.
We need new leaders.🇿🇼
