Prime Minister Dr. Justin Nsengiyumva has urged Diaspora youth to use truth and facts to refute people who spread lies about the country, its history, and current development progress.
The PM was speaking at the closing of the 15th Itorero Indangamirwa graduation ceremony where over 400 Rwandan youth spent 45 days learning character formation, ethics, history, and national values to become responsible citizens.
The PM said that with such training, the youth should be Rwanda’s ambassadors, whom he tasked to represent the country by sharing the true history of what happened in the country and its current progress.
“You must refute those who tell lies about Rwanda and convince them with the truth. Indangamirwa, in particular, you must present a good image of Rwanda wherever you are; be good people. Wherever you go, you must carry Rwanda at heart, remembering Rwandan values and being proud of being Rwandan,” Nsengiyumva said.
Prime Minister Dr. Justin Nsengiyumva
The Prime Minister said that this will enable everyone to have a say in the world and mind their own business and interests.
He said that while Rwandan youth go abroad to learn and acquire skills, they should retain their Rwandan values so that they are not manipulated in the interests of the foreign countries where they live.
“Those who live abroad know that this is not something we should accept, but you will achieve this only if you do not forget the struggle to overcome bad habits, including avoiding sexual immorality, drug use, and alcoholism among the youth,” he said.
The graduating group (Rwandan diaspora, top-performing secondary school graduates, and youth leaders) were asked to work hard and collectively in everything they do to contribute to nation-building and enable Rwandans to have pride.
“The vision for Rwanda is clear, and if we work together, we will achieve it because the country is ours, and that is what will bring us and Africa in general pride,” he said.
The participants of the 15th Indangamirwa cohort course emphasized that the training increased their capacity and understanding of their role in the development of the country but also helped them learn how to speak the Rwandan language, Kinyarwanda, which most of them didn’t know.
For example, Tamara Mukwende showed how participating in the youth civic education camp helped her as a Rwandan youth studying and living abroad to learn and speak her mother tongue, Kinyarwanda.
From struggling to speak Kinyarwanda correctly, Mitako François, a French-speaking Diaspora youth, was able to speak broken Kinyarwanda and also managed to perform part of the Rwandan National Anthem, which he learned during the course.
The Minister of National Unity & Civic Engagement, Dr. Bizimana Jean Damascène, said that the Indangamirwa cohort has become a success because since its inception, 5,561 young men and women have passed through the intensive training program.
The 15th cohort was comprised of 443 youth, including 208 girls and 235 boys. Of these, 105 are studying abroad, and 103 are studying in international schools in Rwanda.
