Rwandan president accuses 'outsiders' of harming progress as country marks 30th Liberation Day

By Anadolu staff

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused “some outsiders” of spoiling what Rwanda has built over the last three decades, as the country celebrated the 30th anniversary of the country’s liberation on Thursday.

The Liberation Day marked every July 4 is the day when the then-rebel group under Kagame captured the capital Kigali and stopped the genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in 1994.

“A few people outside still do not understand Rwandans. Some of them even try to spoil what we are building, and we see it. But all those negative efforts produce no results. They are just words on the internet, or statements somewhere from different high offices, with no power over us at all,” Kagame told the audience at a newly renovated national stadium in the capital Kigali.

He said Rwandans' values have become ingrained in them and nothing can take that away from them.

Kagame has been credited with fostering Rwandan unity and peace, as well as establishing Rwanda as one of Africa's fastest-growing economies.

However, his administration has faced criticism from Human Rights Watch over its human rights record and crackdown on opposition, which the government denies.