COURAGE, JUDGEMENT, PURPOSE: WHAT PK TAUGHT AT NYAKINAMA — AND LIVED FROM 1990
At the 14th RDFCSC Graduation Ceremony in Nyakinama on 12th June 2026, President Kagame outlined three qualities he considers essential for elite senior military officers, qualities he did not merely lecture about, but has personally embodied.
1. COURAGE
Leaders will not always have guarantees. The risk of paralysis is real. What separates decisive leaders is courage, the ability to act despite uncertainty and competing pressures.
This took me back to October 1990. The Rwanda Patriotic Front dispatched its armed wing, the RPA, across the border from Uganda through Kagitumba. They were taking on Habyarimana's Forces Armées Rwandaises, better armed, more numerous, backed by regional allies and France, a permanent UN Security Council member.
Maj. Gen. Fred Gisa Rwigyema led that courageous advance. Within a day, he was gone. The lower-ranking commanders who stepped up faced a stark choice: retreat to Uganda, or press on. Courage dictated they press on. 🎖️
2. JUDGEMENT
As responsibilities grow, so do the consequences of decisions. Good judgement is built through experience, collaboration, and the humility to learn from mistakes, and adjust.
By the time Major Paul Kagame arrived from the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the RPA had also lost Majors Chris Bunyenyezi and Peter Bayingana. The force was weakened. Return to Uganda was not an option. Yet continuing on the same trajectory risked annihilation.
Kagame made the call: relocate from Umutara to the Virunga mountains. Abandon conventional engagement. Return to guerrilla warfare, swift, devastating strikes followed by retreat into impenetrable mountain defences.
It could have looked like a gamble. In hindsight, it stands as one of the most genius strategic military decisions in modern African history. That judgement was not accidental. Kagame had fought within the National Resistance Army from 6th February 1981 to 26th January 1986. Experience was his foundation. Humility to learn from the early mistakes, and readiness to own consequences, was his character.
3. PURPOSE
Purpose comes from knowing precisely what you are fighting for. Without it, no plan is complete, no skill sufficient, no execution coherent. A destination not clearly visualised cannot be effectively led toward.
Every setback the RPF/A endured, and there were many, failed to break its back, because purpose remained unshaken. Kagame does not simply speak about purpose. He has lived a purpose-driven life, from the forests of the Virunga to the presidency of the nation he fought to liberate.
Living in Rwanda, being its citizen, and serving it at any level, when you truly understand the purpose behind it all, is the greatest fulfilment. For me, and for many Rwandans. 🇷🇼🙏🏾
STRATEGIC RETREAT: A COMMUNICATOR'S DAY AT THE 14TH RDFCSC GRADUATION
Today's RDFCSC graduation gave me a story worth telling, about my institution, my country, and a profession I love.
True to the spirit of the course itself, strategic thinking was required. Phones, today, were barred where the national principal is present. That is a security protocol I fully respect, with or without knowing every detail behind it.
But my role at UR is to report live, as it happens. My photo-videographer colleague Ntivuguruzwa's cameras were allowed in; my phones were not. Without my mobile devices, his images alone couldn't reach our audience in real time.
So we adapted: I retreated to Musanze town, followed proceedings via the RBA live stream, while Ntivuguruzwa fed me images from the ground in line with my briefing. Together, we delivered real-time coverage, the way it should be done.
This is also why I most enjoy following the President live, listening and relaying his message as he delivers it, word for word. Today, that included his remarks on humility, which I'll share in full shortly.
As a co-implementing partner in this academic milestone, UR's communication needs deserve direct consideration in such arrangements, rather than relying, as I did today, on the goodwill of RBA, valuable as their visibility support is.
Thank you to everyone who made the 14th RDFCSC Graduation memorable. And thank you, Mr. President, for gracing it. Your presence, and the lessons in it, never go unnoticed. 🇷🇼
This isn't a complaint. It's a reflection that may help shape better event communication arrangements going forward.