President Ruto, in a press statement on Thursday night said, Ogolla was among nine people killed in the crash that occurred at around 2:20 pm. There were two survivors in the crash.
“I am deeply saddened to announce the passing on of General Francis Omondi Ogolla, the Chief of Kenya Defence Forces,” President Ruto said.
“The Chief of Defence Forces onboard the Kenya Airforce helicopter had left Nairobi in the morning to visit troops deployed in the North Rift under the operation Malisha Uhalifu and to also inspect the ongoing school renovation works in the region,” he added.
The chopper crashed before bursting into flames, killing Ogolla and the eight military personnel shortly after takeoff from Chesegon in West Pokot for the Recruits Training School in Uasin Gishu County, where he was scheduled to inspect ongoing construction works.
“This is a very sad moment for me as the commander in chief of defence forces. It’s a tragic moment for the KDF fraternity and it’s a most unfortunate day for the nation at large,” President Ruto stated.
He said a team of investigative officers from the Kenya Air Force has been dispatched to probe the cause of crash, even as he announced a three day of national mourning in honour of the fallen General.
Other soldiers who perished in the crash include Brigadier Swale Saidi, Colonel Duncan Keittany, Lieutenant Colonel David Sawe, Major George Benson Magondu (Pilot), Captain Sora Mohamed, Captain Hillary Litali, Senior Sergeant John Kinyua Mureithi, Sergeant Cliphonce Omondi, and Sergeant Rose Nyawira.
“I convey my deepest condolences to all families that are grieving this untimely loss, and our mourning nation as well. I also wish quick recovery to the two injured soldiers in this accident who are now in accident,” stated the President.
Gen. Ogolla’s death comes nearly a year after he was sworn in as Kenya’s military boss on April 29, 2023.
He took over the CDF mantle from Gen. Robert Kibochi whose term ended after 44 years in the military.
Prior to assuming the CDF role, Ogolla served as the Commander of the Air Force and Vice Chief of Defence Forces.
Gen. Ogolla joined the Kenya Defence Forces on April 24, 1984. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on 6 May 1985 and posted to Kenya Air Force.
He trained as a fighter pilot with United States Air Force (USAF) and as an instructor pilot at the Kenya Air Force (KAF).
The late military boss also trained in other fields including imagery intelligence, counter terrorism and accident investigation.
He rose through the ranks to become a Major General and was appointed as the Commander of the Kenya Air Force on July 15, 2018, a post he held for three years before former President Uhuru Kenyatta promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed him as the Vice Chief of Defence Forces.
Previously, he held various appointments in Training, Command and Staff including Deputy Commander Kenya Air Force, Base Commander Laikipia Air Base, Commanding Officer of Tactical Fighter Wing, Chief Flying Instructor at Kenya Air Force Flying Training School and Operations Desk Officer at Kenya Air Force Headquarters.
He also served in the former Yugoslavia as an Observer and Military Information Officer from 1992 to 1993, as chairman of Military Christian Fellowship from 1994 to 2004 and co-Chair of Association of African Air Chiefs between 2018-2019.
The late army General is survived by his wife Aileen, two children and a grandson.
The minister lamented that, while boda boda riders in the neighboring country have shown utmost discipline in compliance with safety rules, recklessness on the part of Kenyan counterparts is to blame for the rising carnage.
“If we are going to sort out the accident issue, we have to sort out the boda boda sector. We should ask ourselves how come to our neighbouring country has managed to organize the boda boda sector that everyone dutifully wears a helmet including passengers,” Murkomen said in an apparent reference to Rwanda which is widely regarded as a shining example for compliance of safety rules not only in the East African region but Africa and beyond.
Murkomen also blamed residents for contributing to the deterioration of the boda boda sector in Kenya, stating, “When you tell our Nairobi slay queens to wear a helmet, they will tell you it is smelling or it’s messing my hair.”
He posed, “Which one is more important: your hair or your safety?”
Comparing past and present statistics, the CS said the boda boda sector is the leading cause of road accidents in Kenya.
“From 2000 to 2008, it used to be public service and private vehicles. But today, 38 per cent of the people we lose are pedestrians, 32 per cent are boda boda riders, and 26 per cent are lost through public and private vehicle accidents,” he added.
The CS spoke during the launch of the National Road Safety Action Plan 2024 – 2028 in Nairobi on Wednesday, April 17.
To tame the menace, he called for strategic partnerships between the national and county governments to ensure that all the 47 devolved units in Kenya are empowered to manage the motorcycle sector in Kenya.
Meanwhile, while the boda boda sector continues to give leaders in neighboring countries a headache, Rwanda continues to stun the region with how it got everything right in managing the sector, popularly known as ‘Taxi Moto’ among the locals.
In Rwanda, stringent rules set by the Transport authorities require a rider to carry only one passenger at a time. Additionally, the rider and their customer must wear helmets at all times. The helmets must be stamped with a unique identifying number, which has to be printed on the driver’s jacket and bike as well.
The sector is also governed by cooperatives which work hand in hand with traffic police to enforce compliance to the set laws.
Unlike in Nairobi, Kenya, Kampala, Uganda, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, it’s not uncommon to find boda boda riders stopping at pedestrian crossings to allow pedestrians to pass in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.
The boda boda operators in Rwanda are also required to use designated stages to pick up passengers, promoting discipline and order in the sector.
Yesterday, members of the House of Lords backed plans to remove exceptions to the scheme for children and ensure it adheres to international law, despite the House of Commons voting to reject previous amendments to the Rwanda Bill.
At the same time, the Lords renewed their support for the Labour Party’s proposal to exempt agents, allies, and employees of the UK overseas seeking asylum in the UK from being removed to Rwanda.
The peers also maintained their demand that the Bill must have “due regard” for domestic and international law, including human rights and modern slavery legislation.
The Lords also agreed to crossbench peer Lord Hope’s measure that requires Rwanda to undergo independent verification before it is considered safe.
The Bill returned to the Lords for further scrutiny after MPs rejected all their amendments to the legislation.
MPs are scheduled to deliberate on the new developments before taking a vote later today.
The Bill will not become law until both the Upper and Lower chambers agree on its final wording.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had earlier indicated that he hopes the legislation will be adopted this week, paving the way for the first flight to depart to Rwanda.
The scheme, first announced in April 2022 by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government following a deal with Rwandan authorities, seeks to act as a deterrent to people arriving in the UK on small boats across the English Channel.
{{Unlawful }}
The Bill was introduced to Parliament after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the government’s scheme was unlawful.
The judges argued that genuine refugees being removed to Rwanda faced the risk of being returned to their home countries, where they could face harm.
The UK government says failed asylum seekers would be offered £3,000 (Rwf4,866,727) to move to Rwanda under the new voluntary scheme.
Israeli authorities said on Sunday, April 15, 2024, that the Iron Dome had intercepted 99 percent of more than 300 drones and missiles fired by Iran on Saturday night, resulting to minimal damage on the country with a population of more than 9.5 million people.
Iran’s unpresented retaliatory attack followed Israel’s armed attacks against the diplomatic premises of Iran in Damascus, the Syrian Arab Republic, which killed seven senior military personnel.
In reaction to Saturday’s attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israel’s defense system capabilities in a post on social platform X, saying “We intercepted. We blocked. Together, we will win.”
The Iron Dome also stunned the world in October last year after intercepting hundreds of missiles fired over Tel Aviv by the Hamas militant group.
It’s estimated that the Iron Dome has intercepted thousands of missiles and drones since its launch in 2011, mainly in response to the 2006 war that ended with Hamas taking control of Gaza the following year.
{{How the missile defense system works}}
The all-weather air defense system was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries with financial support from the United States, which has so far contributed more than US$1.6 billion to develop and improve the system.
The system was designed to protect Israel against incoming short-range weapons and is powered by mobile missile-defense batteries.
Each of the batteries is fitted with three to four launchers that can fire 20 interceptor missiles.
The system usually activates upon the detection of an incoming rocket by the Iron Dome radar units. These units then relay information about speed and trajectory to the control center of the batteries.
The control center’s operators calculate whether the rocket is going to hit a populated area. If so, a missile is fired from the launchers, destroying the incoming rocket by exploding near it.
To reduce the chances of damage on the ground, each missile receives constant guidance updates from the control center.
The US uses a similar technology dubbed MIM-104 Patriot to protect its territory against short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and advanced aircraft.
The US also uses the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system for defense against long-range ballistic missiles, particularly intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) launched by adversaries.
Russia, on its part, uses S-400 system to protect itself against external attacks.
Unveiled in 2007, the defense system is capable of eliminating a wide variety of aerial adversaries, such as stealth fighter jets, bombers, cruise and ballistic missiles, and even unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It carries two separate radar systems that can detect aerial targets up to a range of 600 kilometres and can simultaneously engage 80 aerial targets.
In a report released last week, Britain-based charity Debt Justice found that African governments owe three times more debt to Western banks, asset managers, and oil traders than to China, and are charged double the interest.
The report said 12 percent of African governments’ external debt is owed to Chinese lenders compared to 35 percent owed to Western private lenders, adding that the average interest rate on private loans is 5 percent, compared to 2.7 percent on loans from Chinese public and private lenders.
The new finding came after Harry Verhoeven from the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and Nicolas Lippolis from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford published a new study in May, which said the rise in African debt due to Chinese lending pales in comparison with the debt burden created by private creditors of other countries over the last decade.
The new findings lay bare the absurdity of the so-called “debt-trap diplomacy” that has been for too long touted by Western politicians and propaganda machines in smear campaigns against China, experts have said.
{{Debt trap?}}
The so-called debt-trap narrative exploited by the West against China is untrue, African scholars and economists told Xinhua.
Charles Onunaiju, director of Nigeria-based Center for China Studies, said Western private creditors not only account for a third of Africa’s external debt, but also charge higher interest and offer a shorter period for repayment, describing them as manipulating and strangulating.
“The debt trap issue has always been political slander …,” he said, adding that the narrative is nothing but a distraction to absolve the West of its responsibilities.
Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, professor of public policy at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said Western administrations and media have been unable to adopt a rational perspective on China’s growing influence in Africa.
“They depict China as a predatory lender that is weaponizing capital in order to practice a new form of colonialism in Africa. However, such accusations have little factual basis,” said the expert.
Beatrice Matiri-Maisori, a senior economics lecturer at Kenya’s Riara University, said the figures and percentages revealed by the studies clearly indicate that Africa’s external debt is largely owed to private financial groups, Eurobonds, and oil creditors.
“The debt trap diplomacy … has got nothing to do with the reality of the debt structure in Africa,” she said.
“Western lenders for long have not been put on the spotlight for debt relief because they successfully managed to dupe the world that it’s only Chinese lenders that pose a threat to Africa,” Uganda-based Vision Group journalist Mubarak Mugabo said.
{{West urged to do more}}
Campaigners have been calling on Western countries, particularly Britain and the United States, to compel their private lenders to do more in helping address the debt burdens of emerging and developing countries including those in Africa.
Emerging and developing countries have been experiencing sustained capital outflows for four months in a row, said International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at a recent meeting, adding that more than 30 percent of emerging and developing countries, and 60 percent of low-income countries are at or near debt distress.
China has extended debt suspension to other developing countries during the pandemic, but private lenders in the West did not, said Tim Jones, head of policy at Debt Justice.
“Western leaders blame China for debt crises in Africa, but this is a distraction … The UK and U.S. should introduce legislation to compel private lenders to take part in debt relief,” he said.
Official data showed that China ranked first among the Group of 20 members in terms of debt deferral amounts. “China has done quite a lot in terms of agreeing to come to a common agreement with over 19 countries in Africa, reaching a common understanding on how they are going to pursue debt relief for the same,” Matiri-Maisori said.
Onunaiju said China has demonstrated what a responsible major country should do in this regard, adding that Africans want to see more of such examples.
At a news briefing last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called on developed countries, their private lenders and multilateral financial institutions to take more robust actions to give developing countries funding support and relieve their debt burden so that the world economy will achieve inclusive and sustainable development.
{{Concrete support from China}}
Over the years, China’s financing support for Africa, particularly in the field of infrastructure investment, has won wide applause from African governments and people, especially at a time when the ambitious African Continental Free Trade Area is being promoted.
“We are seeing connectivity, we are seeing airports remodeling, and we are seeing ports remodeling,” Onunaiju said, adding that China’s support for Africa can be clearly felt in different areas.
Referring to the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos State, Nigeria’s economic hub, as an example, he said the China-funded port project will create up to 170,000 jobs and bring billions of U.S. dollars in revenues to the government through taxes, royalties and duties after being in operation.
“These are not propaganda. These are reality,” Onunaiju said.
Over the last more than two decades since the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, a bulk of Chinese financing has been quickly translated into infrastructures in Africa, which can be seen with countless connectivity projects, such as railways, roads, dams, and telecommunications, said Matiri-Maisori.
“This is very important for us in terms of pursuing our aspirations to be an integrated Africa, the Africa continental free trade area, and all the countries in Africa trading with one another,” she said.
“What is really happening is that this connectivity is aiding the future and long-term growth of Africa, so that Africa can begin to participate in the global supply chains,” added the expert.
China has provided African governments with access to good funding to support development, said Peter Kagwanja, CEO of the Africa Policy Institute based in Kenya.
Speaking of the Chinese-built Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, he said the railway “opened our country Kenya, and we have started to see industrialization growing around there, business growing around the railway line, the value of land increasing greatly around that, and people getting employment around the railway.”
“And these are things we could never, ever have dreamt about before China came into the picture as Africa’s partner,” he said.
{{(Xinhua reporters Cao Kai, Li Cheng, Bai Lin, Li Hualing in Nairobi, Guo Jun in Abuja, Zhang Gaiping in Kampala, Wang Ping in Addis Ababa, and Xu Zheng in Accra also contributed to the story.) (Video reporters: Li Cheng, Guo Jun, James Harry, Adewale Amzat; video editors: Liu Ruoshi, Cao Ying, Zhao Yuchao)}}
Scheduled to open within the next six months following a re-branding, the hotel introduces Radisson Hotel Group’s premium lifestyle brand to Africa.
Building on the recent announcement of its reinforced African development team structure, the announcement of the six new hotels further demonstrates the Group’s commitment to the continent.
Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: “We believe in the vast potential of Africa. The addition of the six hotels, following the announcement of Radisson Hotel Saint Denis earlier this year places us firmly on track to reach over 150 hotels in operation and under development across the continent within the next five years. The new hotel announcements include our debut in new markets, the introduction of additional brands and the strengthening of our presence in cities we’ve identified for scaled growth. We thank our hotel partners for their invaluable trust in Radisson Hotel Group and its people”
Further commenting on this achievement, Ramsay Rankoussi, Vice President, Development, Africa & Turkey, Radisson Hotel Group, stated, “Our growth has been well balanced between greenfield projects and strategic take-overs of existing hotels. We aim to further accelerate our presence across the continent through conversions, especially as liquidity remains a critical challenge. We have revisited our brand architecture to enable us to quickly integrate existing hotels to our network. This strategy will be reinforced as our brands continue to demonstrate a better value proposition to our owners. Following our revised strategy, we believe we are now geared in providing solutions to the investment community for every type of asset, every segment and at every stage – from funding, to construction and repositioning.”
The six new hotel deals include:
{{Radisson Collection Hotel Bamako, Mali}}
Scheduled to open within the next six months following a re-branding, the hotel introduces Radisson Hotel Group’s premium lifestyle brand to Africa, as the first Radisson Collection hotel to open in the continent.
The operational hotel is currently rated number one on TripAdvisor for its prime location in the heart of Bamako and proximity to the city’s diplomatic district and great accessibility. The 200-room affordable luxury hotel will offer exceptional dining experiences across its five food and beverage outlets, from an all-day dining restaurant and a specialty restaurant to a café, a bar and an executive lounge. The hotel also offers an expansive 1,200sqm meeting & events area consisting of a ballroom and seven conference rooms. For the ultimate contemporary living, guests can stay fit in the hotel’s fully equipped gym or unwind in a serene setting within the spa or alongside the pool.
With the introduction of Radisson Collection in the city, the existing Radisson Blu Hotel, Bamako is expected to commence a full renovation program towards year end.
{{Radisson Blu Hotel Abuja City Centre, Nigeria}}
The Radisson Blu Hotel Abuja City Centre, scheduled to open in 2024, is the Group’s first hotel in the city, complementing the existing nine hotels in operation and under development in Nigeria.
Located in the heart of the central business district of Nigeria’s Federal Capital, the 258-room hotel will boast five different food and beverage outlets from a specialty restaurant and all-day-dining restaurant to a Lobby Bar & Café, a picturesque pool terrace and a premium business class lounge. The leisure facilities will include a 555sqm wellness spa, a gym and a swimming pool to maintain guest’s wellness.
{{Radisson Hotel & Convention Centre Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo}}
Scheduled to open before year end, the hotel will introduce the Group’s upscale Radisson brand to Johannesburg. Located on a private estate in Bredell, Kempton Park, the hotel has easy access to major highways joining Johannesburg and Pretoria and is approximately 10 minutes’ drive away from O.R Tambo International Airport, Africa’s biggest and busiest airport, facilitating over 21 million passengers in 2018.
The newly built hotel will offer an array of dining options, including four restaurants, three bars an entertainment deck and an executive lounge.
The hotels 289 modern and timelessly designed rooms comprise of 248 which are newly built and 41 which have been converted from an existing hotel. In addition, it has a large MICE facility, which includes a significant conference centre with a 1,260-seater auditorium and five conference rooms. The leisure facilities will include a gym, spa & wellness centre as well as three outdoor pools.
{{Radisson Hotel Addis Ababa}}
Radisson Hotel Group’s fifth hotel in Ethiopia, scheduled to open in 2021, is located just 4km from Ethiopia’s newly expanded Addis Ababa Bole International Airport terminal, now the biggest airport aviation hub in Africa, expected to accommodate 22 million passengers a year.
The 114-room hotel will boast a wide variety of food and drink outlets, the hotel will offer guests a truly local experience in a traditional Ethiopian specialty restaurant and bar and appease international taste buds in a bespoke all-day-dining restaurant which leads out into a pool bar. In addition, the hotel will also have a third bespoke panoramic bar.
{{Radisson Hotel & Apartments Accra, Ghana}}
The hotel, scheduled to open in 2023, is a full renovation of an existing 121 room hotel and construction of an additional tower which will offer 54 hotel apartments, creating a mixed-use development. The hotel is located on Tema Highway, Ghana’s largest port located to the East of Accra. Within a 3km radius of the hotel is the Kotoka International Airport, Accra Mall and the Airport City complex, a mixed-use development with several Grade AAA office towers and retail outlets.
From an all-day dining restaurant, lobby bar and rooftop restaurant, bar and pool terrace, every culinary preference will be catered for. The versatile meeting and events facilities are made up of 12 different venues with an area of 1,173sqm. The hotel will also include a gym, spa and swimming pool.
{{Park Inn by Radisson, Durban Intl. Airport, Dube, South Africa}}
The new-build hotel introduces the upper midscale Park Inn by Radisson brand to Durban and strengthens Radisson Hotel Group’s current portfolio of 15 hotels (3,007 rooms) in operation and under development in the country. It will also complement the national business circuit with a Park Inn by Radisson in each of the three major cities of South Africa (Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg).
Claiming its foremost milestone, it is the first hotel within Dube Trade Port Special Economic Zone, which forms the heart of the first purpose-planned aerotropolis in Africa, around King Shaka International Airport. The 168-room hotel scheduled to open in 2022, will have a lobby bar, rooftop all-day dining restaurant and rooftop pool terrace with eight different meeting & event venues.
Today in 1994, Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame who was the leader of the RPF waged war against the government of Habyarimana after they failed to respect the 1993 Arusha Accords. The agreements envisioned a transitional government including the RPF and five other parties in Rwanda at the time.
As reported by the National Commission For The Fight Against Genocide ( CNLG ), the liberation war started in Byumba and Ruhengeri.
In Nyaruguru district, Tutsi families who had sought refuge at Mata tea plantation were all massacred in cold blood.
Tutsi families who attempted to escape to former Zaïre (DRC) were intercepted by Interahamwe militia and gathered to be killed in Rusura, Bugeshi sector in current Gisenyi.
French and Belgian military officers began a rescue mission to bring back home their citizens who resided in Rwanda in 1994 in missions dubbed “Operation Amaryllis” for the French and “Silver Back” for the Belgians.
Tutsi who were hidden in Mwiri and Nyawera in Kayonza district were found and killed.
Interahamwe militia and members of Habyarimana presidential guard massacred Tutsi who had sought refuge at Saint Karoli Lwanga Parish and at the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Joseph in Nyamirambo.
Tutsis who were hidden at St André in Nyamirambo were also killed.
Between April 8th, 14th and 25th, 1994, Tutsis who were hidden at Ruhuha parish were killed.
On April 8th, massacres began in other parts of the country including former Rutsiro commune in Kibuye.
RPF soldiers arrived in Kigali and Kagame Paul informed the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (MINUAR) he was sending a batallion to stop the killings of Habyarimana army.
In Kinigi, Musanze district, Col. Setako Ephraim ordered the slaughter of Tutsi who resided there. Fortunately, the RPF intercepted the massacre and managed to save a few Tutsi.
Up to 5000 Tutsi who had sought refuge at Cyambara Adventist Church in Bigogwe sector, current Rubavu district were massacred.
Tutsi families inside Shyira hospital in former Ruhengeri prefecture, current Nyabihu district were killed.
Tutsi who were hidden at Mudende Adventist church and at Bweramana Adventist church in Bweramana, Rubavu district were slaughtered.

At ADEPR church in Kabumba, former Gisenyi prefecture and at Mudende Adventist University in Rubavu district, hundreds of Tutsi families were killed.
Thousands of Tutsi were killed in several other parts of the country including:
Kesho Hills, Rubaya, Ngororero district
Kavumu, former Ramba commune
Gakenke district center
Bukeri, former Ndusu commune, at Mukungwa river and in Vunga area Busengo subprefecture
In various institutions and public spaces, preventive actions are being implemented including the distribution of hand sanitizers and access to clean water and soap. To help prevent the spread of the virus, Rwandans are recommended to avoid shaking hands, hugging or kissing.
In the event cases of the Coronavirus are detected in Rwanda, MINISANTE has prepared quarantine units where the patients will be treated.
So far, Kanombe Hospital has availed 25 quarantine rooms, Kabgayi Hospital, 120 rooms and 50 rooms at Kanyinya dispensary. 80 other health facilities across the country have each prepared two quarantine rooms and MINISANTE reported it has provided training to 430 health care providers regarding Coronavirus.
Dr, Mutaganzwa Avite, Kibagabaga Hospital Director said that no case of the virus has been detected in Rwanda so far but that the general public is continuously sensitized to adopt the appropriate preventive measures.
“We have distributed hand sanitizers around the hospital and continue to educate the public on proper sanitary measures.”
Dr. Zuber MUVUNYI, Director General of clinical services in the Ministry of Health said that the ministry ensures that proper hygiene is observed especially in public places.
“In all public places including bars, restaurants, public and private institutions as well as health facilities, we have provided hand sanitizers and eased the access to clean water and soap.”
Symptoms of the Coronavirus include cough, high temperature and shortness of breath. As many other respiratory diseases, the virus is spread through direct contact with an infected person, sneezing and coughing.
MINISANTE confirmed that no case of the Coronavirus has been detected to date.
Preventive measures include washing your hands with soap and water often or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, covering your mouth and nose while sneezing or coughing, avoiding shaking hands or direct contact with a person who shows the aforementioned symptoms.
People who might think they have been exposed to the virus are required to immediately seek medical care and stop all travels in case they have any of the symptoms.
Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has recently issued a notice urging all service providers including hotels, restaurants, bars, night clubs and tour agencies to provide clean water and soap to all customers they receive.
Coronavirus commonly known as COVID-19 originated from Wuhan, Hubei province in China. The first case was detected in the end of 2019. Currently, 90,000 people have been infected while 3000 died from the virus.
The duo has been elected today at the headquarters of the forum out four contesting candidates.
Uwamurera Salama from PDI obtained 34 votes; Nkusi Juvenal from PSD got 33 votes, while Mugisha Alexis from Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR) and Nahimana Athanase from PS Imberakuri got the support of 12 and 6 votes respectively.
Uwamurera was the executive secretary of PDI. She assumed different functions in Rusizi district for 10 years.
Nkusi Juvénal was the chairperson of Public Account Committee (PAC) in the outgoing parliamentary chamber of deputies of which tenure ended last year.
Nkusi joined parliament in 1994 of and was the speaker of parliament during the interim government between1994-1997.
The chairperson of PDI, Sheikh Musa Fazil Harerimana said they expect them to work for common interest.
The spokesperson of NFPO, Mukabunani Christine urged the new representatives to demonstrate dynamic performance with indiscriminate advocacy for all Rwandans.
Newly elected representatives need approval of the Supreme Court to take on duties.
He made the call today at Amahoro Stadium as he joined thousands of Rwandans, friends of Rwanda, Presidents of Sierra Leone, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Namibia, Togo, VP of Nigeria, PM of Tanzania, Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda among others for celebrations of the 25th Liberation Anniversary.
Over the 25 year journey, new infrastructures were set up, roads were constructed and expanded electricity to rural areas among other activities promoting social wellbeing and economic transformation.
The then RPF Inkotanyi soldiers now Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) liberated the country from bad leadership which had deprived hundreds of Rwandans of their rights leading some of them to fleeing the country and the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Rwanda is currently among largest contributors to different peace keeping missions and has become a role model for incredible resilience over the past 25 years promoting inclusive development, unity and reconciliation among Rwandans as opposed to the genocidaire Government.
President Kagame has said that for three long months in 1994, Rwanda’s survival was in doubt where a segment of the population was being hunted while more than a million people were murdered.
By July 4th, RPF Inkotanyi forces which had started the liberation struggle earlier in 1990 brought the killing to an end.
Kagame said that ‘the vision of unity and justice attracted broad support, because it resonates so strongly with the human spirit. But the proof was in actions, not words’.
For the last twenty-five years, Kagame said, Rwanda has been governed according to the liberation ideals fought for. He highlighted that the conduct of our forces, the bravery of those within Rwanda who opposed divisive politics or the energy that Rwandans give every day are among forces that lead to transforming the nation as we have seen in the past 25 years.
“As a result, the impossible has become manageable, and even natural. Achievements like restoring trust and peace, or working together, for example. But we cannot take anything for granted,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of every Rwandan to extend the gains we have made. Rwanda appreciates the profound link between our liberation journey, and the wider African quest for self-determination,” added Kagame.
Held under the theme “Together We Prosper,” this year’s celebration is an opportunity to recommit to Rwanda’s vision for a peaceful, united, prosperous and self-reliant nation.
