On Friday, July 4, 2025, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda once again emphasized that witchcraft and bribery of referees have no place in advancing sports in the country.
During a press conference with the media, Ruth Rigoga, a journalist from the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), asked President Kagame why values such as discipline, sacrifice, vision, and integrity, so crucial to Rwanda’s development, seem to diminish when it comes to sports.
President Kagame responded that sports development depends on three major elements: the value placed on it, preparation, and talent. He said, “You can look at sports through two or three key aspects. First, what value do you attach to it? Second, how do you prepare so that this value can grow and be realized? Third, the talent you see in people, lack of talent is not something you can blame someone for.”
He further stressed the importance of culture in sports development, lamenting that some individuals, though skilled, fail to progress due to practices such as witchcraft. He said, “Another key factor is culture. Respecting culture is important. When I talk about culture, I mean this: Some people know football, and even those leading know it, but their mindset is wrong. You find footballers who, instead of focusing on training and working hard, start thinking about odd things to put in the goal, like charms or spells. When you go down that road, everything you had is reduced to nothing.”
President Kagame continued, “This even affects people’s character. Why would someone believe this while another doesn’t? Or why would someone be more focused on who will officiate the game and how to manipulate them? When this mentality takes over, even the talent you had is wasted.”
He also pointed out the importance of accepting defeat as part of the growth process in sports: “To develop in sports, you must accept that it involves both winning and losing. Within winning and losing, there is progress. You try, do your best, and if you lose, you learn a lesson, you figure out what went wrong. But when you lose, you don’t go off and kill yourself. Teams or individuals shouldn’t resort to witchdoctors or concoctions that demoralize players before a match.”
President Kagame concluded by stating that many Rwandans possess sporting talent, but self-awareness and discipline are essential: “I believe many Rwandans have potential in various sports disciplines, and we must seek that potential everywhere. But it starts with accepting who you are.”
He reiterated that sports growth doesn’t happen by chance and repeated his long-standing criticism that witchcraft and corruption are key reasons Rwandan sports continue to struggle.
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