President Kagame was today presented with the
African Peace Personality Award 2012 which he won after an online voting process
by youth across the continent, organized by the Miss University African
Pageant.
President Kagame reading the dedication on the African
Peace Personality of the Year Award – Kigali 29 October 2012
President Kagame was declared the winner with
817, 201 votes, with the highest number of votes coming from Rwanda, Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria. Other contestants for the award
included President Ernest Bai Koroma, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and
former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Accepting the award, President Kagame expressed
his gratitude and told Miss University Africa:
“We want to look at Africa as our bigger
family. The youth must take responsibility for themselves and for each other.
Let everyone join in the fight to elevate Africa to the level it should be. It
all starts in the mind.”
The members of the delegation presenting the
prize later asked President Kagame whether Rwanda’s development model was based
on the East or West experience.
President Kagame said:
“We must first define ourselves…you must strive
to be yourself and work to become a better version of yourself but not somebody
else.”
Speaking to the press after presenting the
award to President Kagame, Mrs. Yemisi Dooshima Suswam, First Lady of Benue
State who was part of the delegation said:
“This award is important because it’s the voice
of the youth of Africa. President Kagame’s work to unite the people and set the
country on the road to progress is recognized all over the continent. We are
training African youth to be great leaders and to achieve this, they have to
keep an eye on great African leaders and what they are doing. This award shows
that the youth are watching and analyzing what their leaders are doing. This
shows that the young people of this continent recognize and appreciate what
President Kagame is doing.”
The Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria, Joseph
Habineza reiterated the importance of the award in the context of inspiring the
youth. He said that apart from presenting the award, the delegation had an
interactive discussion with President Kagame where they discussed a range of
issues related to continental affairs.
Taylor Nazzal, President of Miss University
Africa Organization said the pageant aims to promote the African culture among
African women as well as appreciate African leadership. He said unlike other
beauty pageants around the world, Miss University Africa promotes self
respect:
“We want to build self respecting mothers of
tomorrow.”
Rorisang Molefe, reigning Miss University
Africa Queen and UN student ambassador said:
“As the youth of Africa we recognize the energy
that President Kagame has put into healing this country. We visited the Kigali
Genocide Memorial and it was touching and paining to know what happened in this
land that we are standing on. It is equally surprising to see how far this
country has come in a short time. I am convinced that the President was quite
deserving of the award.”
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