President Paul Kagame on Tuesday, September 15, 2020, broke the Internet, sharing the first photos of his granddaughter, after spending a memorable weekend with her, in a tweet posted late in the evening. 

In the first photo, a smiling President Kagame, casually clad in long sleeved, black sweater, is seen holding the nearly two-months old daughter of First Daughter Ange I. Kagame and husband Bertrand Ndengeyingoma, in a family setting, with a caption revealing that he had a weekend well spent. 

“I had the most restful weekend with this little wonderful human being. Bless!!,” President Kagame tweeted, accompanying the tweet with a photo of him cuddling the baby dressed in a neon-green overall. 

President Kagame also updated his Twitter profile picture with a photo from the same weekend, but this time in a different posture with the granddaughter, who was seemingly attempting to pull his eyeglasses or stroking his cheek with her little hand. 

The photos sent Twitter into overdrive as it was the first time her photos were shared since she was born on July 19 at King Faisal Hospital, Kigali. The baby girl has been safely kept away from the limelight, with only President Kagame being the one to share updates right from birth. 

“What a beautiful picture! …very deserving of every bit of happiness she brings Your Excellency,” tweeted Clare Akamanzi, the CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) while Liliane Iradukunda added “You so much deserve this much joy and love my President”.

“The cutest pic you will see today,” tweeted Elijah Kiza while others predicted that Whatsapp statuses will be ‘lit’ for the next 24 hours. In less than one hour, the tweet had over 245 replies and had been retweeted over 860 times. It had also gathered over 4,900 likes.

On September 6, in an interview with the public broadcaster, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), President Kagame talked about his grandchild, for the first time, confirming that it was a girl and that he was enjoying being a grandparent for the very first time. 

The Head of State said that he takes time off his busy schedule to visit her, pointing out that he was promoted from being a father to being a grandfather and he was enjoying it. 

“She is a healthy girl, she is growing up fast, and when I get time after work, I rush to visit her,” President Kagame said, to which he was asked “do you go as President Kagame or as Kagame the grandparent?” and he replied that he goes ‘as Kagame’ but other things (security detail) follow him, even though it is not his wish. 

Ange Kagame and Ndengeyingoma got married in a traditional ceremony on December 28, 2018 and in a religious ceremony on July 6, 2019, before which they had a civil wedding. 

On July 20, 2020, President Kagame announced the birth of the baby on Twitter saying that “Since yesterday we are very happily and ‘officially’ grandparents. Congratulations A&B!! ..:):):) What a joy!?” 

“First time is even more exciting!” he added.

www.ktpress.rw