Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently granted an extensive interview to Jeune Afrique magazine, where he confirmed his intention to seek another term as Rwanda’s leader in the upcoming presidential election next year.
“I will always serve (the Rwandans) as long as I can. Yes, I am indeed a candidate,” President Paul Kagame declared in his interview with Jeune Afrique. He dismissed critics, stating, “Attempting to transplant democracy onto someone else is already a violation of democracy itself.”
Regarding the situation in eastern DR Congo and allegations of support for the M23 rebel group, Kagame once again criticized UN experts, accusing them of bias: “They only publish information that is incriminating against Rwanda. Most of the reported facts do not align with what we know.” He also accused Kinshasa of “rejecting” the political process in the region.
Kagame issued a stern warning to opposition figure Paul Rusesabagina, who has been in exile in the United States since his release in March this year: “Regardless of any agreements we may have had behind the scenes, this individual, wherever he is now, has returned to his old methods. We will see how to address this later.”
Lastly, President Kagame acknowledged the economic incentives for deploying Rwandan troops to the Central African Republic and Mozambique, stating, “These countries have told us: ‘Since no one has the means to pay you… let’s find a different approach. We have internal resources, so we can figure out a way to compensate your investment.’ You can make it a problem or say what you want, but these are the facts,” Kagame concluded.