Speech Delivered by

HE Paul KAGAME,

President of the Republic of Rwanda

At Oklahoma Christian University

 

 

Oklahoma City , Oklahoma Wednesday 26 April 2006

Dr Mike E. O'Neal, President of Oklahoma Christian University ;

Faculty and Students;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

I thank you President O'Neal for those warm and kind words of introduction, and indeed for welcoming my delegation and I to Oklahoma Christian University, or OC, as this great institution is fondly called.

I am humbled by the honour you have conferred on me – the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws. And it is a privilege to join the community of the Oklahoma Christian University – an institution known for its academic excellence, and anchored in Christian faith, leadership and service to its students, its community, its state, its country and indeed the international community, including my country – Rwanda .

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

It is in this context, as a new member of the community of Oklahoma Christian University , that I reflect with you on the developmental path we in Rwanda have chosen for ourselves – as we continue to reconstruct our social, economic and political fabric, some 13 years after the 1994 genocide.

We have, in the first instance, provided the foundation for reconciliation, peace, and security upon which to become a country of laws – a country that respects human dignity, private property and human rights. One may highlight the following modest accomplishments in this regard:

•  The Government of National Unity, which was based on a power-sharing formula involving eight political parties, that actively fostered unity and reconciliation up to 2003;

•  Rehabilitation of the justice sector with a goal of replacing the culture of impunity with rule of law;

•  Establishment of national commissions in three key areas: Unity and Reconciliation; Human Rights; and Legal and Constitutional Commission;

•  Creation of the participatory form of justice, GACACA, aimed at supplementing the conventional justice system that cannot cope with the pending caseload of genocide suspects;

•  Successful Presidential and Parliamentary democratic elections in 2003 – the first ever in Rwanda ;

•  Active engagement in political economy of Africa – in African Union, and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD); in the case of the latter, Rwanda was among the first countries to subject ourselves to the review of our peers in terms of good governance;

MR PRESIDENT

We have also sought to reform our economy by creating, among other things, a stable macro-economic environment. In this context, we have liberalized our market and foreign exchange mechanisms; we actively encourage domestic and foreign investment and trade as part of our strategy for employment-creation and anti-poverty policy measures.

Most importantly, in an exercise that involved a national consultative dialogue on the future of our country, we have a strategic vision of what we want to become – and are determined to become. The pillars of our vision include the following:

•  Transformation of agriculture into a productive, high value, market oriented sector, with forward linkages to other sectors;

•  Development of an efficient private sector spearheaded by competitiveness and entrepreneurship;

•  Comprehensive human resources development, encompassing science, technology and ICT skills;

•  Infrastructural development, entailing improved transport links, energy and water supplies as well as ICT networks;

•  Promotion of regional economic integration and cooperation.

As is evident from the above, a substantial component of our vision is investment in Rwandan people. Indeed, as is readily observable, at the core of our development vision is what constitutes our country's principal assets – its people. We believe that human resources development – both in terms of wealth-creators, skilled technicians of all types, as well as a critical mass of a professional cadre, is what will propel us towards our desired status of a knowledge-based economy.

That is a journey that we have embarked upon – investment in Rwandan people with a goal of creating a prerequisite skilled human resources base.

Admittedly, we started from a low base – not only due to the 1994 genocide that decimated especially professional categories, but also due to the fact that our professional classes were never significant to begin with.

Nevertheless, from 1994, our education policy has been not only to drastically increase access to primary education as a basis for our human resources objective. We have also sought to broaden access to higher education, including support to private sector investment in the latter.

Let us consider some of our accomplishments in this regard. While for example primary school enrollment was 860,000 in 1994, the number had increased to 2 million in 2005. We have also begun to confront the challenge of secondary education as well as that of tertiary institutions with equal determination.

With regard to higher education in Rwanda , the following results may be cited:

•  In 1996, there was only one institution of higher learning;

•  By 2003 the number had increased to 10;

•  In 1996, the total enrollment in the one institution of higher education was 2,942;

•  By 2003, the enrollment in the 10 institutions of higher learning had increased to 20,393;

•  Of the total enrollment in 2003, some 8,182 were in private institutions of higher learning – which previously did not exist.

These are but modest accomplishments. Nonetheless, our strongly-held view is that we must invest in education across the board, including higher education.

From the above discussion, it is becomes evident that the tendency to opt for a bias towards primary education, while neglecting higher education sectors – as has been the case on our continent in the last two decades – is most certainly not our approach in Rwanda.

Education for development must encompass all levels of education – from provision of educational foundation at primary and secondary school levels, through tertiary training aimed directly at equipping individuals with knowledge and skills for middle and higher level artisans for performing tasks and functions in the work place.

To put this into the United States context, can you imagine this country in the 19 th century, without public universities charged with teaching and research in agriculture, engineering, and agricultural extension services in this vast land? Would the United States have been able to continuously align demand and supply of knowledge and skills that largely accounted for the transformation of agriculture and industrialization? Would this great country have become a world leader as we know it today?

We are confronted with the very same issues in my country – we must think also about curriculum content – bearing in mind that in Africa and in Rwanda the teaching of sciences, technology, engineering, and sector-based research have in the past decades suffered considerable neglect – along with higher education in general.

FACULTY AND STUDENTS:

We need therefore to implement an integrated educational policy that incorporates all levels – including tertiary sector – the sector that directly brings on to the national labour market skilled human capital.

It is in this context that I commend the work of this great institution – Oklahoma Christian University in Rwanda .

Let us recall that at the core of our development vision is what constitutes our country's key asset – Rwandan people. We strongly hold that this is the key ingredient in our social and economic transformation.

Oklahoma Christian University has sought to actively support our drive towards our vision – by providing educational opportunities for qualified Rwandans to obtain Bachelors and Masters degrees.

During his visit to Rwanda in 2004, President O'Neal and his colleagues Richard and Pat Lawson rightly analyzed our needs. They understood our strong belief that to truly become a strong nation, we need in Rwanda a critical mass of qualified citizens. To this effect, this University has developed a shared purpose with our Ministry of Education based on a long-term action plan on how it will contribute to human resources development in Rwanda .

This University has also sought to make our partnership a two-way track; accordingly, members of your community will visit and gain Rwandan experience, while Rwandans visit and learn about Oklahoma and the United States . Fifteen students from this University have already visited Rwanda under this program. We thank them and many more are welcome.

DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

We value this creative contribution, especially in that you have chosen a vital field to support us at the core of our vision – human resources development.

On behalf of the people of Rwanda you have so generously begun to support – I salute and thank you. We trust that this is only the beginning of a journey that we are to travel together with mutual benefits to both our Oklahoma and Rwandan communities.

I THANK YOU ALL.