In 2010, when you were sworn in as president, you made some promises to Rwandans like 100 per cent access to ewater, 70 per cent access to electricity. With two years to the expiry of your mandate, how realistic were those promises in hindsight?

Most of what we promised Rwandans continues to be achieved. What we promised Rwandans were targets we would work on and achieve with them to transform the country. It is not like we promised to deliver goods or gifts from somewhere. I would say we have achieved a lot and we continue to do more.

For what we haven’t delivered, there are explanations as to why we are yet to deliver those targets and we have measures in place to make sure that we deliver them.

[Asked in French] The private sector in Rwanda remains weak’ what strategies are there to ensure that it grows to desired levels?

Where we are today and where we were yesterday are two different places; we are still weak, but this goes for most of the things in our country. People expect you to jump from nothing to everything, that you should have what everybody else has? This is not a serious way of looking at things.

We have told people that it is a work in progress, there has got to be development in everything about us, whether it is the media, the private sector... the whole economy of the country. If you look at the levels of poverty 20 years ago and where we are today, there is a huge difference, but we are still poor.

We couldn’t jump from the lowest base we had on everything and be where we want to be in a period of just 20 years. We need to keep pushing and investing in the private sector to make sure that we achieve the desired growth.

Rwanda has been a member of the United Nations Security Council for the past two years; what have you taken from that experience?

We went there, we served, we were there as Rwanda but more so an African country and we had African problems and solutions in mind. We never missed an opportunity to raise these matters in addressing African problems and problems elsewhere. Of course, we also learned a lot from the rest of the world. We took our home grown solutions to the UNSC, but we also did not shy off what else the world had to offer and we will build on lessons from that.

Angola is there in the same capacity for the next two years, as have been other countries on a rotational basis. I am sure that Angola will represent Africa well and at the end of the day act globally.

The UN force in Congo, Monusco says it is about to launch attacks on the FDLR rebels but there are some people who are still hesitant. Are you confident that the UN force will completely neutralise the FDLR?

I would be too extravagant with my confidence if I said that things are going to work out the way they should, based on the history of this problem. We have been with FDLR for decades, over a decade now and what has been playing out has not been helpful at all.

The insensitivities around this matter that relates to the heinous crimes the FDLR committed in the genocide are revealing really of the fact that this genocide was much broader than people would have wanted us to believe.

I have never understood why the same group closely associated with genocide ... and the way things have been unfolding, different groups are attacked by the same international community at short notice, the ADF, the FNL ... they don’t need to have a meeting, but when it comes to the FDLR, they say let’s wait. So what do you really want me to say about Monusco or FDLR other than what you know or what you have seen for a very long time?

And the same powers or people that have expressed outrage on genocide and who is responsible but step back when it comes to dealing with the real issue. That should tell you something too

In case the offensive against FDLR is not carried out and in case the ideology of the FDLR remains in place, what is plan B? Will Rwanda sit and wait for the UN force to act? Is there a plan, in case FDLR decides to intensify its activities on the Rwandan territory?

Plan B is as simple as this, for us as Rwanda to keep getting better at ensuring our security by continuing to build our capacities, so that nothing, irrespective of what happens or doesn’t happen on the other side of the border or on any part of our border, we cannot have cross-border activities causing insecurity on our territory, because that is where we have a say, that is where we have authority… on our territory. We don’t have a say on the other side of the border.

Those who have the authority, that is the international community, will decide what to do or what not to do. We have a limit as to how much we can do to influence others in their own jurisdiction. But we have every authority and every desire to do everything we can to make sure that things won’t cross any border to destabilise us.

What is your agenda for the EAC? What we have seen in recent days is that you have been pushing integration using the Northern Corridor. While there has been some progress, you still need the EAC as five countries, what is your priority? Since we have Tanzania, which has been dragging its feet, taking chairmanship of the EAC, what is likely to play out?

The Northern Corridor approach is only part of the East African integration. It is not outside the EAC integration. The whole idea was to accelerate certain things in the context of the East African Community as we have it — five partner states.

Otherwise the EAC remains intact, but within it, different efforts have been carried out and will continue to be carried to make sure that the overall objectives of the EAC are realised.

Well, a simple example. We talked about the EAC and declared our intentions to implement the free movement of people and goods, then came up the idea of having an identity card you can use to move around freely [in the EAC], different partner states were at different levels of implementing this, meeting certain different challenges depending on the specificity of those individual countries.

But then we said, without any prejudice, let whichever country that has advanced on this, work with any other that has advanced on this, as the others keep making progress also to reach the same level. So you can see it is doing things differently but in the same direction.

It is the right of Tanzania to assume the chairmanship like it has been for other partner states. Whatever will happen is in the context of the EAC and continued integration, I don’t know how else Tanzania’s chairmanship would affect this process.

I just think it will affect it positively because we are still five countries in the EAC and we have the same desire to achieve an integrated EAC, even though some people may be ahead or behind others.

In your New Year message, you said Rwandans should be prepared for change; what are your thoughts around that, specifically on the road to 2017?

Change happens every day and I think it also came up in a question somebody raised about the targets of Vision 2020 and he said things have been changing all these years. Yes, there will always be change.

My message to Rwandans was to mobilise them to understand that they will have to adapt to change; things change here in Rwanda, for different reasons or they change in the region or globally, so you can’t get stuck in one position, you must always be able to adapt to change. Ideas will always come.

In 2017, it is the same thing. If change is to happen, they should be able to adapt to that. Or let me put it this way, Rwandans should allow things to flow the way they should, all guided by how much they are getting out of what they want because Rwandans stand for something. They want to see stability, they want to see development and they want to see prosperity.

This is really what it is when it comes to 2017. I am sitting comfortably knowing that Rwandans will manage this with a lot of ease. What keeps me awake is about that change — not the one of 2017, I am talking about the change that happens every day. What is it that we can do to make Rwanda a better place for Rwandans? What is it that we can do to bring in the development that Rwandans deserve and want to have?

The EAC Heads of States summit is expected in February; what should we expect from that? What strategies do you have to raise more funds for EAC projects given that 72 per cent of them are funded by donors?

We have been fast tracking these infrastructure projects — the railway, telecommunications, electricity and pipelines for those who have oil or who want it and on that you are very right.

These projects require huge amounts of funds which, by the way, can never be obtained by governments alone or even by the private sector alone even if we know globally that there is a lot of money in the private sector, but you can’t rely even on them alone. Normally it has to be a combination of all.