Quotes from Paul Kagame

Africa should not just wait to be exploited or influenced. No. We should be part of the conversation. We should raise ourselves to a level where there are certain terms we dictate in the conversation because we have a lot to offer.

It is the first time in the history of Rwanda that political change in the highest leadership of the country has taken place in peace and security.

Such problems are not solved in one day but there is a great step toward peace and security in the region.

The history and national interest of Rwanda and the Rwandan people dictate our national orientation.

Aid leads to more aid and more aid and more aid and less independence of the people that are receiving aid.

The U.N. must be a good steward of the funds entrusted to it. Abuse and waste are therefore not a mere public relations problem. Institutional reform is not a one-off event, like applying a fresh coat of paint.

We cannot just be a corridor to smuggle minerals out.

Let no one think that flexibility and a predisposition to compromise is a sign of weakness or a sell-out.

I get newspapers from Britain and other countries twice a week and read them almost page to page. Sometimes I find I'm reading things I don't even need to read, because my mind is still hungry.

You can be up there, talked about, appreciated all over the world, with people singing a lot of songs about you. But if you don't measure up and you are not really connected with your people... it will explode in your face, no question about it.

Listen more to the one who criticizes you and less to the one who praises you. Learn from them and do something about it.

I'm not British. I'm not American. I'm not French. Whatever thing they practise, that is their business. I am an African. I am Rwandese.

I don't think anybody out there in the media, U.N., human rights organisations, has any moral right whatsoever to level any accusations against me or against Rwanda. Because, when it came to the problems facing Rwanda, and the Congo, they were all useless.

In a state of poverty, illiteracy, people just remain exposed to all kinds of manipulation. That's what we have lived. It's easier to tell a poor person, 'You know what, you are poor, you're hungry because the other one has taken away your rights.'

I try to look at problems very clearly and think, 'How do we get out of this? What will work? What will be the consequences for the people involved?'

Some are short, others are tall, others are thin, others are stocky. But we are all human beings. Can we not live together and happily within one border?

I grew up in a refugee camp. Thirty years. This so-called human-rights world didn't ask me what was happening for me to be there 30 years.

There are things I admire, for example, about South Korea or Singapore. I admire their history, their development and how intensively they have invested in their people and in technology.

It is the population which decides when it's time for a leader to leave, not foreign powers.

The political, the economic, the social are tied together like the strands of a rope. The social and economic, if they are firm, tend to strengthen the other.

Our world faces difficult challenges, but no more so than in the past. Working together in a constructive spirit, we can assure our children the future they deserve.

I have no regrets about being who I am and being what I am in my country for my people. No regrets at all.

To be effective at delivering a decent life for all, the U.N. must treat all the people it serves with impartiality and respect.

You requested me to lead the country again after 2017. Given the importance and consideration you attach to this, I can only accept.