Last week, President Paul Kagame spoke to journalists after the closing of the 13th edition of Umushyikirano — the country’s annual national dialogue — in the wake of a referendum on the Constitution to remove presidential term limits. Below are the excerpts.

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The referendum has been concluded, and voters are waiting for you to declare your stand on presidential elections in 2017. What is your answer?

We are still in 2015 and this whole talking point has a decision point of 2017. So I am really comfortable in my seat.

At least these two remaining years are not disputed, so I am really comfortable. I am not going to be distracted from what we have to do now, so we will see; we will keep debating.

What is your message to the Rwandans who overwhelmingly voted to remove constitutional term limits, and what do you tell the critics?

Rwandans chose what they wanted and they seem happy with it. Good for them. The outsiders may continue being unhappy with what Rwandans chose to do. If that is good for them, they should be happy with that too.

We all have our lives and have the right to choose how we live as a nation, society and as individuals.

Rwandans are not going to live according to the choices of outsiders.

READ: Kagame tells off law amendment critics

I read a story in Time Magazine saying that the majority of Rwandans have voted for dictatorship.

I think that is giving dictatorship a good name. If a dictatorship means the choice of the people; if producing security, stability, women’s empowerment, peace, and progress and food security amounts to dictatorship, what can I say?

Has a presidential third term become an end in itself in African politics?

Africa’s problem is governance. Africa remains the poorest continent yet it is the richest continent. How do we resolve this? Is it by serving one or two terms?

You can rule for one term and hand over the mess to another person, so longevity isn’t really the issue.

If I can do something for my country, I will always do it in or out of office. When I was in the bush fighting, I was not a president.

I gave all I had, including putting my own life at stake like many Rwandans, not because I wanted to become a president but because I wanted something else.

I can still contribute to the wellbeing of my country in or out of office if my choices were not to be affected by other people’s choices.

You said you will listen to legitimate criticism; what do you view as legitimate criticism?

Unless you tell me that Rwandans are mindless, heartless and outright foolish — if you give me that proof, then I will know that you have a point, that something wrong has happened in Rwanda.

So the criticism is not legitimate?

They say that you must listen to your people, then they say that President Kagame is a dictator, yet the people have made choices.

So I ask them, which people are you talking about?

There is a crisis in Burundi. People are dying. What should Rwanda do about it?

That is primarily a responsibility of the United Nations and the big powers. It is not Rwanda’s responsibility to address these kinds of problems even if it is with our immediate neighbours.

They have the responsibility to resolve their own problems. But if there is any intervention, it should be done in a much wider context — whether it is through the region, continent or globally. It is our concern but not our responsibility.

Do you support the African Union’s decision to send in troops to protect civilians in Burundi?

You should ask the AU. I am not the spokesman of African Union. The body made a decision in its own right and those who were there to make the decision or to work out a formula to deal with that did what they did and we respect that.

Rwanda will not be part of the proposed AU military contingent to Burundi. We have troops that can be deployed in many parts of the world for peacekeeping, but we are not going to be part of that.

We have no extra capacity to pass around to people who don’t even want it. It is not Rwanda’s duty to address these kinds of problems wherever they happen, even if it is with our immediate neighbour.

READ: No Rwandan troops for AU mission to Burundi, Kagame confirms

For me, the main idea is to find how Burundi can be assisted to find a political solution. It’s a political problem, not a military problem.

You cannot say that there is no problem. If you say you have no problem here but have thousands of refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries, I can only say you are in denial.

The fact that you have a problem and you don’t see it, is maybe the main problem.

The accusations that we are recruiting refugees are childish.

We asked them to carry out investigations and find out who goes where and how. Certain NGOs are always interested in creating problems for us. They are hoping they can use this against us.

READ: Kigali rubbishes report of refugees recruitment in Rwanda by Burundi rebels

They even talk about child soldiers.

We can contribute in anyway required. It is our concern but it is not our responsibility. Burundians have a responsibility to resolve their problems.