Umushyikirano 2026: Kagame Remains Bold on Regional Security, Criticizes International “Hypocrisy”

KIGALI – Delivering the State of the Nation address at Umushyikirano 2026, President Paul Kagame offered a sharp rebuke of the international community’s handling of the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), asserting that Rwanda refuses to be a scapegoat for the failures of global institutions.

Speaking to a gathering of leaders and citizens, President Kagame emphasized that despite Rwanda’s small size, the nation must stand up to external pressure. “It doesn’t matter how powerful you are… from a small country like Rwanda, we should be able to stand up to that,” Kagame declared. He rejected the notion that Rwanda should “sit back and be run over” simply because it is not a global superpower.

The President dismantled the concept of the “international community,” describing it as a vague entity that amounts to “everybody but at the same time it is nobody”. He argued that this lack of specific accountability leads to a search for a convenient target to blame for regional instability. “The convenient path is to find… a carpet, to find somebody who is responsible, and that becomes Rwanda,” he stated.

Kagame expressed frustration that Rwanda is held responsible for two sets of problems: its own, which the country owns up to, and those of the DRC. “We cannot carry our own problems and carry Congo’s problems,” he said,.

Addressing the persistence of the FDLR and other militia groups in the DRC, Kagame questioned why diplomats continue to ask Rwanda about the number of insurgents remaining. “Why don’t you ask the UN forces you put there? You sent these forces to go and deal with this problem,” he argued.

He dismissed dismissive claims that the militia are merely “90-year-olds,” warning of the intergenerational transfer of genocide ideology. He noted that if children are trained with this ideology, the age of the older generation becomes irrelevant. Furthermore, he highlighted that official hate speech from Congolese leadership recruits “millions” into the threat facing Rwanda, making the specific head-count of militia fighters secondary to the broader ideological threat,.

“Spoiled Child” Diplomacy

The President accused international actors of emboldening the Congolese government by shielding it from accountability. He likened the treatment of the DRC’s leadership to that of a “spoiled child,” noting that the very people who created the problems face no blame.

Kagame revealed that he faces daily threats from international partners demanding compliance, but remained unbowed. “Instead of being choked by all that, I will be choked by just being defiant,” he told the audience. He argued that appeasing these threats only prevents the DRC from finding genuine solutions to its internal issues.

On the contentious issue of Rwanda’s alleged military presence in the DRC, Kagame argued that the world focuses on the wrong question. Rather than asking if Rwanda is in Congo, observers should ask why Rwanda would be there. He cited “defensive measures we took to deal with that threat coming from Congo” and the security concerns Rwanda has voiced for 30 years.

He noted that the debate has “trivialized the real issue” of root causes. While expressing a desire for a holistic resolution, he affirmed Rwanda’s resolve to defend itself: “For protecting our people, that one… there’s no question”.

Despite his stern criticism, President Kagame insisted that the regional conflict is not unsolvable. He suggested that for some, the conflict might have become an “industry” with benefits to keeping the war going. However, he concluded that if the “root causes” are addressed and responsibility is placed where it belongs, the crisis can be resolved,.

“I hope we have started the year everyone on a good note… now we are back to business,” Kagame concluded.