“Be it Bahutu, Batutsi or Batwa, we are all Rwandans. The politics of this country is not based on ethnicity,” he told a big campaign gathering of supporters in Kicukiro, outside Kigali City.
“Whoever wants to be part of Rwanda’s development, we welcome them but those who want war, we shall take it to them,” he warned sternly.
Kagame was reacting to foreign-based critics and human rights bodies, who he accuses of slander and damaging his image and that of the country in the international media.
“We’ll continue to build our country… RPF politics have always been about nation-building for Rwandans who have great hopes for the future,” he said.
“Some people want to take us back to the politics of the past. This has to change. We have our own solutions,” he added.
There has been a sustained barrage of attacks on Rwanda’s model of democracy in the foreign media over the last couple of months in the lead up to next week’s elections.
“Development and democracy do complement each other ,” Kagame earlier told another rally in Bugesera district.
“You all know our history. Our foreign-based opponents should also tell you they a role in our country’s bad past,” he explained.
As has been with previous rallies, Kagame arrived in Kicukiro to a thunderous welcome by hundreds of thousands of supporters, most donning outfit in party colours.
The RPF and its candidate have never let Rwandans down and never will. We have achieved much together but the journey is still way far too long,” said Kagame, who is also the country’s incumbent President.
Earlier in the day, Kagame addressed a similar rally at Nyabugogo in Kigali City before heading to Ruhuha in Bugesera and finally ended with Kicukiro.