President Kagame elected Chairperson of AUDA-NEPAD Heads of State Committee

President Kagame was on Saturday unanimously elected as the new chairperson for the AUDA-NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC).

President Kagame replaces his Senegalese counterpart, President Macky Sall.

Kagame’s term, which he assumed immediately, will expire in 2022.

HSGOC is the body of African leaders that provides leadership and policy guidance to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

President Kagame who was in July 2016 appointed to lead the AU institutional reforms process that he still leads until today thanked his peers for the trust and pledged his best, while upholding the founding principle of the AU, to deliver on his responsibilities.

 “ I wish to use my first words as Chairperson of the Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee to express my whole-hearted thanks for the trust you have placed in me to lead this body. This is not the first time for this kind of trust. I can only pledge to do my best, in concert with all of you, to uphold this organ's founding principles,” President Kagame said in his acceptance speech before thanking his predecessor, President Macky Sall for the hard work he put into agency and the direction he chartered in the interest of the development of the continent.

President Kagame called upon African leaders to offer their support as he assumes the new role in the continental body.

“With AUDA-NEPAD as an integral component of the African Union, both institutions will be even stronger and more effective than before. Above all, we all have a duty to make it happen,” Kagame said.

He added; “I count on all of you. I will count on you, Excellency President Macky Sall, and I will count on you, Dr Mayaki (outgoing CEO of NEPAD), for the time you will still be there. In fact, I wish to count on both of you even wherever you will be and whatever else you will be doing. I will seek your counsel to be able to deliver on this mandate. Excellencies, Heads of State, and to those who are representing the Heads of State I wish to convey through you the message that I will need their Excellencies' support,”

President Kagame concluded that; “The next thing is to sort out what hasn't been sorted out so far. The direction has been given by previous leaders. We will be getting to work the next day,”