Photo: Urugwiro Village/Twitter President Paul Kagame on Thursday paid homage to Rwandans who fought for freedom and equal rights of all citizens as the country marked the 25th Liberation anniversary.
He also called upon all Rwandans to keep working together to sustain the gains made so far, explaining that the main challenge at the moment is to ensure sustainability.
The Head of State delivered the message at a national ceremony in Kigali to mark the silver jubilee of the Liberation Day.
"The logic of liberation is to turn bad things into good things. What Rwandans have achieved is undeniably real. But we must stay humble enough to know that our main challenge is sustainability," he said.
He added: "We left the past behind us and embraced the future by coming together as a family. We must remain solid in defence of these values through each and every generation. We will not lose our way again".
Rwandans across the country and around the world celebrate Liberation Day to reflect on the time when the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 was stopped and citizens embarked on a long journey to transform their country and lives.
Stopping the genocide was spearheaded by the then Rwanda Patriotic Army, which was under Kagame's command, as many Rwandans both inside and outside the country coalesced around the struggle to unseat a genocidal government that was dividing and killing its own people.
President Kagame thanked everyone who fought to stop the bad governance and genocide, including those who are still alive and still serving the country as well as those who paid the ultimate price during the struggle and are only kept in memory.
He said that the values that they fought for, such as unity, freedom, equal rights, and national sovereignty, remain relevant today and need to be further promoted and protected.
"This fight was necessary and indeed unavoidable. If there will ever be necessity for more fight, we will be there," he said. "For decades and decades, Rwandans were treated as objects, to be used and discarded by anyone, especially the powerful. It won't be any more".
