In his address to the participants of the prayers for the country, President Paul Kagame expressed that the combination of beliefs, politics and culture is one of the things that helped Rwanda to overcome the bad history it went through, and today it is on the right path.
On this Sunday, September 15, 2024, in Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast, President Kagame pointed out that Rwanda is a country with a unique history because it has been recognized as a country that has reached the worst possible situation, adding that it is also known as an example of good things that can be achieved when people change their actions and direction, saying:
"We have two images, the first picture of a very bad history, and we have a second picture of how people can come out of that history and make it very bad, considering that we are an example of two things that characterize a person, that characterizes a human being. One thing is that it shows how people can do atrocities, they can do bad things, otherwise they are not done."
He told the participants of these prayers that in all activities, people should combine beliefs, politics and culture, so that none dominates the other because when it happens, it affects: "Leave me in history and politics, that’s my work, I’m my work it is not teaching the gospel [...]
In the history of people, there are many things, there are religions, beliefs, beliefs and politics that I am responsible for, there is also culture, the culture of people. Each of them has its own characteristics and what it offers and often things are not complete if these three are not combined."
He went on to explain: “If you don’t match religious beliefs, political beliefs and cultural beliefs there is a problem[...] so it must match. Let’s give the example of Rwanda, these two, all three of them are rebuilding us, rebuilding Rwanda that was destroyed and almost disappearing, so that Rwanda can come back to life and reach where we are now. These are the three things that we have joined together. The way we worked together was good, if we didn’t work together we wouldn’t have reached where we are."
President Kagame said that religion also teaches people good manners, so that "If it is followed properly, it should be used properly, it should give people good behavior, so things related to values, religion would help".
He said that the politic provides laws, broad guidelines "that help to increase good behavior so that people have the protection they should have, beliefs and politics complement each other."
These prayers were attended by those in high government, religious leaders and various churches, other civil servants, private sector and others. It was held at the Kigali Convention Center with three objectives: To thank God for protecting Rwanda during the last presidential term, for the success of the presidential election and for the current term that will end in 2029.
