First lady Jeannette Kagame has urged Rwanda’s young leaders to look beyond professional achievement and focus on building strong families, saying leadership requires more than education, intelligence and experience.
She made the remarks Sunday at the annual Young Leaders Prayer Breakfast, organized by Rwanda Leaders Fellowship in Kigali, where she challenged young people entrusted with leadership responsibilities to strengthen their character, relationships and faith.
“Rwanda has chosen to trust young people and give them responsibilities in different sectors,” Jeannette Kagame said, noting that the trust is largely based on education, intellectual ability, knowledge, experience and values.
But she questioned whether enough attention is being given to helping young people develop emotionally, morally and socially.
“Being intelligent can help you excel at work, but when it comes to your home, your relationship with your spouse, the way you raise your children and how you protect family unity during difficult times, intelligence alone is not enough,” she said.
Jeannette Kagame said the family is the foundation of the country and called on young leaders to begin by building stable homes.
“If a strong family is the foundation on which a country is built, the responsibility of this generation is to strengthen that foundation starting from our homes,” she said. “Rwanda starts in the home.”
She also addressed changing attitudes toward marriage, saying some young people increasingly delay or avoid marriage while others enter relationships without clear commitment.
She cited terms such as “looking,” “talking,” dating, exclusivity, open marriage and “situationships” as examples of changing relationship patterns that can leave people without clear responsibilities or commitments.
The first lady warned that marriages can also be weakened by seemingly small problems that are left unresolved. She cited anger, public humiliation, excessive monitoring and using silence as punishment.
“These moments may appear insignificant when they happen, but they do not always remain small,” she said, adding that unresolved conflicts can gradually affect communication between couples.
She encouraged couples to step back when emotions are high and return to difficult conversations after they have calmed down, rather than allowing disagreements to grow.
The gathering brought together religious leaders, government officials, private-sector representatives and other young leaders. Participants also heard from Eric and Bonita Munyemana, who have been married for 28 years and have four children and a grandchild.
The couple said relying on God has been central to sustaining their marriage.
Jeannette Kagame cited Psalm 127:1, which says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain,” emphasizing that families should be built on faith alongside knowledge, ability and achievement.
She urged young leaders to recognize that building healthy families is part of their responsibility to the country and future generations
