[/media-credit] Rwandan mayor Justus Kangwagye at CCA
Justus Kangwagye is not a football, basketball or soccer star and so you may not have heard his name before. But if you came across him in the streets you would think he is a star of sorts because of his height and appearance. Kangwagye is tall, soft spoken and also “a man of impeccable wisdom,” according to the people who know him. He is also a former teacher.
Today, he is the mayor of the Rulindo district in Rwanda who came to Colorado recently as a guest of Denver-based Water For People and Africa Agenda. The Rulindo district is the most business-friendly district in all of Rwanda, according to Monica LaBiche Brown of Water For People.
At Africa Agenda, the subject of discussion was about progress in the Rwandan homeland.
While he took the time to discuss changes in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide, the mayor said success in Rwanda today is now being measured by what the country is capable of achieving going forward.
“When you are coming from very far and you are on move, the measure of your success is in the changes you are making,” he said.
For the nation of Rwanda, those changes are enormous. It’s a laundry list of things that Rwanda has accomplished and is accomplishing.
“I believe it is an obligation to talk about the good stories of Rwanda,” he stated.
The examples that Kangwagye cited include efforts by the Rwandan government in using “water to end poverty,” and the many works being done by his government through partnerships with the Chinese and Japanese governments and his own government’s vision 2020.
Besides Nigeria, the nation has the most peace keeping forces serving throughout the African continent, the mayor revealed. These programs are part of a larger effort of what he described as “governance for production.”
Part of “governance for production” in Rwanda includes the Imhigo award, instituted by the nation’s leadership to encourage those leaders who meet the majority of their performance contracts.
For the year 2010-2011, Kangwagye was the recipient of that award. The imhigo idea is a tool that is more than 200 years old, the mayor said, and it bears lots of commonality with management principles.
Watch the video clip to find out more…
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