Rwandan president Paul Kagame met with a number of co-operators to discuss the role of their enterprises in empowering people across the state. Mr Kagame, who was taking part in the country’s celebrations to mark the International Day of Co-operatives, thanked co-operators for their contribution to fighting poverty.
“As we celebrate 20 years of liberation, it is essential to recognise cooperatives and your role in our liberation from poverty. Co-operatives means working together, joining hands and achieving more together than we can achieve individually,” he told the 2,5000 co-operators that attended the discussion forum in Kigali.
The Rwandan president also said the government was committed to supporting co-operative enterprises, which he said were key to achieving self-reliance and economic transformation. The Rwandan government is also looking at the possibility of establishing a Co-operative Bank to enable co-operative members to gain access to finance.
While he encouraged co-operative managers to improve their turnover, he said this had to be achieved by honest means and for the benefit of members.
“Those who take advantage of co-operatives for their own benefit at the expense of other members should be held accountable,” he said, urging co-operative members to fight against corruption.
In 2000 President Kagame launched vision 2020, a development programme that aims to help Rwanda achieve middle-income status by 2020. The government sees co-operatives as important contributors to sustainable development and achieving the Vision 2020.
Over 2.7m people are members of co-operatives in Rwanda. One of them is Narcisse Karengera, a member of KAIMU, a wheat growing co-operative in Nyaruguru District, the Southern Province.
He said: “I was the poorest person in my village, but now I am among the top five richest people in the area. Working together is the answer for development. You look at others and you want to be like them”.
As part of its strategy to promote co-operative enterprises, the government has set up the Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA) in 2008. According to Damien Mugabo, director general of RCA, co-operatives have helped Rwandans not only raise themselves out of poverty, but also reconciliation by working together.
“There is still a long way to go but we appreciate the good things we have achieved so far,” he said.
Nineteen years after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda continues to be one of the poorest states in the world.
A keen supporter of co-operatives, President Kagame has on numerous occasions spoken highly about the important role played by co-operatives in promoting unity and reconciliation.
Photo: President Kagame addressing the crowd in Kigali.
