IGIHE

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  • International Roadside Station to be Built in Kayonza

    {{The Governor of Eastern Province Uwamaliya Odetta has laid a foundation stone at a site that will host an international standard vehicles parking yard named Roadside Station.}}

    The new Park will be built in Kayonza district as a means of addressing various road accidents that result from fatigued drivers plying internationl routes in and out of Rwanda.

    Governor Uwamaliya noted that the parking yard will help such cross-country drivers to recuperate before continuing to their final destinations.

    On a daily basis, over 2500 vehicles go through Kayonza most of which are from Uganda and Tanzania.

    Several cargo trucks have been involved in various accidents along routes connecting to neighbouring countries.

    Gakuba Francis construction firm will construct the RoadSide Station which will be a storied complex with over 20 rooms. It will be built in a period of 12 months.

    Kayonza District Mayor Mugabo John said the project will provide jobs and will help conduct mechanical tests on the veehicles.

  • Pyramid Scheme Members Stranded as BNR Freezes Account

    {{Members of Diamond Holiday Travel, a pyramid business in Rwanda say they are concerned after their Company account was allegedly frozen by the central Bank of Rwanda -BNR.}}

    The bank declined to comment as the matter is under investigation.
    Diamond Holiday Travel, is a Hong Kong based company engaged in pyramid business in Rwanda and tour and travel services.

    It has about 3,500 members in its pyramid business. However, to become a member you have to deposit Frw250,000 on the company’s account.

    A member who brings in new members is given, onset, Frw500,000 and as the team builds she/he is rewarded a bonus of Frw5 million. This translates that she/he moves to a second category.

    Climbing in steps comes with benefits such as getting a discount on hotels and air tickets to the registered members when they travel.

    Long queues can be cited at the offices of DHT, members coming to get their cash. The organization’s activities were registered by Rwanda Development Board last September.

    Some of the members ORINFOR crew talked to said that they are greatly concerned by the freezing of the company’s account by the Central Bank.

    They said they are making losses as some had deposited as much as Frw1,000,000.
    On its part, Diamond Holiday Travel said that the central bank informed them that the company’s account in ECOBANK had been frozen; without providing reasons for such a decision.

    Mrs. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, speaking to Radio Rwanda declined to comment on the matter as investigations are underway.

    DHT began operations in Rwanda in September last year. It has branches in 18 countries in Africa.

    {Orinfor}

  • South African Teen kills dad in front of sister, 8

    {{in South Africa, a teenager has allegedly stabbed his father to death in Hartbeespoortdam and wounded his 8-year-old sister who tried to intervene, North West police said on Sunday.}}

    Captain Pelonomi Makau said the 17-year-old arrived late at home and his father questioned him about this, with an argument ensuring between the two.

    “The suspect, who was allegedly under the influence of drugs, stabbed the victim on his back and chest and the victim died on the scene,” she said.

    Makau said the teenager’s 8-year-old sister tried to intervene, but she was also stabbed in the throat and waist. She was taken to hospital.

    The teenager was later arrested and would appear in the Brits Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

    In another incident, a teenager has been arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing a man in Bodibe village near Itsoseng.

    Makau said a 17-year-old boy and a 32-year-old man were at a local tavern where they had an argument.

    “According to the information, they both later went to the suspect’s house, where the suspect allegedly stabbed the victim with a garden fork, and the victim sustained multiple stab wounds on his body,” said Makau.

    Community members alerted the police and the teenager was arrested.

    He was expected to appear in the Itsoseng Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

    In another incident, police in Klipgat were investigating a case of murder and also opened an inquest docket following the death of a woman after she was allegedly strangled by her boyfriend.

    The man allegedly went to his girlfriend’s house at Bheki township on Friday about 9pm where an argument took place between the two.

    The man then grabbed the woman by her throat and strangled her.

    “The mother of the victim tried to stop the suspect from strangling her daughter but without success. The victim was taken to hospital where she later died, and the suspect fled the scene,” Makau said.

    On Saturday, police were informed that the man had committed suicide at another house in Bheki section.

    In Motswedi, near Zeerust, a 41-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stabbing another man with a knife in Borakanelo village on Sunday.

    The men were at a local tavern where they got into a fight.

    “The suspect took out a knife and stabbed the victim on his chest. The victim died on the scene,” Makau said.

    Police were called and the man was arrested.

    He was expected to appear in the Motswedi Periodical Court on Tuesday.

    – SAPA

  • Mandela is Getting Stronger–Grandson

    {{Former president Nelson Mandela is getting stronger, his grandson Mandla Mandela said on Monday after a weekend visit.}}

    “The visit left me with a warm feeling, because my grandfather is getting stronger and stronger every day,” he said.

    The improvement “is particularly heartening, because it flies in the face of those who have been busy spreading lies that Madiba is in a ‘vegetative state’ and just waiting for his [life] support machines to be switched off.

    “Madiba has defied these hurtful statements and continues to prove his fighting spirit that has defined him over the many years of his life,” Mandela said in a statement released on his grandfather’s 44th day in hospital.

    Mandela was admitted to the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, in Pretoria, on 8 June with a recurring lung infection.

    Security at the hospital remained tight on Monday, with police stationed at both of its entrances. All cars entering the hospital were being searched.

    {agencies}

  • Ex-President Rawlings says Ghana Supreme Court must satisfy all parties with their ruling

    {{Ghana’s Former President Jerry John Rawlings has urged the Supreme Court justices sitting on the 2012 election petition to deliver a judgement that will inspire the confidence of both all parties.}}

    For him, such a ruling would further strengthen and protect Ghana’s political process, national cohesion and self-belief.

    “Justice is perhaps one of the most essential and intrinsic contributions to the internal equilibrium of the soul”, Mr Rawlings said when he addressed participants at a high level summit in Accra organised by the National Peace Council and the Manhyia Palace last Friday.

    According to the former president, there were serious battles ahead of the country, including corruption and economic battles as well as the burning down of markets and crime, and stressed that, “let us get this one out of way and take on the others. We need to move on.”

    The summit, which was on the theme “ Justice, Peace and Reform will Strengthen Ghana”, brought together clergymen, political leaders, members of the diplomatic corps and traditional authorities.

    The summit was convened to get the commitment of the citizenry and especially supporters of the two political parties in the litigation to preserve the current peace in the country after the court delivers its verdict.

    Mr Rawlings submitted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have a patriotic duty to protect the sanctity of the democratic process by properly educating their followers on the role of the judiciary, and the fact that decisions “may not automatically go in favour of their party.”

    The media was not left out in the peace process when he called on journalists to revise their approach to reporting electoral disputes and be guided by the principle of their agenda-setting role by always protecting the national interest “and not be tarnished by the petty, biased and parochial political agenda some of them pursue.”

    He explained that many Ghanaians had access to various social media and thus his admonishment did not only go to the mainstream media but also to all those who had taken it upon themselves to pursue their freedoms in charged rooms by engaging in vitriolic political agenda that have the capacity to negatively influence unsuspecting users of such forums.

    “Hiding behind the internet to pursue a dirty political agenda is cowardly. And this is no less cowardly than those journalists who boldly fabricate stories as a way of protecting their paymasters,” Mr Rawlings added.

    He chided the press for not objectively disseminating news about the ongoing petition which contributed to unduly raising the political temperature.

    He said political, traditional and opinion leaders had a part to play in ensuring peace and unity for the country and cautioned against relegating that responsibility to a select few.

    “At the end of the day our response to the ruling will indicate how mature we are as a people and how our political process has evolved. We cannot afford to fail this test,” the former Ghanaian leader stated.

    Mr Rawlings identified a weakness in the political system which had to do with the impression the political leadership often created that an individual party had to win at all costs and failure to do so meant something untoward might have taken place.

    Such attitudes, for him, could not be allowed to affect their supporters’ perceptions in the run up to the Supreme Court ruling.

    {myjoyonline}

  • Mushikiwabo to Discuss Rwanda’s role in Implementation of DRC Peace Framework

    {{The Minister of Foreign Affairs has noted that Rwanda has made progress in the implementation of the Peace, security and cooperation Framework recently signed by regional leaders in Ethiopia.}}

    Louise Mushikiwabo’s remarks come ahead of the July 25, UN Security Council Debate on ‘Supporting the Great Lakes Framework’.

    The Minsiter was quoted by a local daily saying, “We have made progress towards the Framework but we need to see the situation on the ground changing beyond the frameworks and the documents.”

    Mushikiwabo will participate in the debate chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
    Her presentation is expected to focus on what Rwanda has done towards the implementation of the framework.

    The debate will focus on building on several events that have brought renewed efforts to establishing lasting peace that tackles the underlying causes of conflict in the region.

  • Iranian ships still flying Tanzania flag

    {{Tanzania could find itself in an awkward diplomatic position again following revelations that Iran is now using the country’s national identity to evade sanctions imposed on its oil tankers.}}

    Shipping intelligence data indicate that Iranian vessels and other ships blacklisted by the US are using signals assigned to Tanzania. Under this cover, the tankers no longer fly the Tanzanian flag.

    But the ploy has been exposed by their continued use of the signal that identifies Tanzania in international shipping traffic.

    “They (Iranian ships) now appear as flag “unknown”, but they have continued to identify themselves in shipping traffic as flagged to Tanzania,” noted Ms Claudia Rosett of the US-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies in an article published in Forbes magazine last week.

    “The tell-tale sign is a nine-digit number known as a Maritime Mobile Service Identity number, or MMSI, part of the on-board signalling system that transmits the registered identity of a ship as well as its location.

    The MMSI number is unique for each vessel, but the initial three digits identify the ship’s flag state (677 for Tanzania),” explained the ship-tracking data analyst.

    {NMG}

  • Investment in Tanzania Mining Drops 20%

    {{Tanzania is worried of a double digit drop in mining sector fearing that it could hit the country’s goal of having the sector contributing at least 10% of GDP by 2025.

    New statistics indicate that Investiment in the mining sector has dropped by 20% .
    The mining industry in Tanzania contributes 3.7% to the national economy currently.}}

    PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says in a new report that big mining companies worldwide have this year decreased their capital expenditure by 21%. This had led to projects being deferred or scaled back.

    The top 40 mining companies by market capitalisation last year spent $140 billion on capital projects, but the figure has dropped to $110 billion this year.

    Mr David Tarimo, PwC Partner, Tax Services, says, Tanzania was likely to see few or no new projects in 2013, and existing ones could be scaled back or scrapped altogether, adding that this could have a great impact on the economy.

    He said resource nationalism continues to pose a big threat to mining as governments seek greater shares of profits.

    “Governments are now looking at different strategies to extract a greater share from mining operations. These strategies range from increasing taxes and royalties to restricting foreign ownership,” Mr Tarimo said.

    This could increase the cost of minerals which could, in turn, reduce economic growth in the jurisdictions that are driving demand for minerals.

    The impact of reduced spending had in recent months been seen through the industry’s value chain after many suppliers announced lower than expected profits, Mr Tarimo said.

    The future is also not very rosy for smaller miners, who are struggling to raise capital. Even those who are prepared to pay high interest rates on loans cannot get credit.

    “If funding does not improve soon, this will have a dramatic impact on new reserves,” Mr Tarimo said.

    The PWC report titled Mine: A Confidence Crisis says being tough with mining companies might look good to stakeholders at home in the short run, but governments should consider a broader view of returns from natural resource development.

    {Additional reporting NMG}

  • UN voices Fears over Somalia Media Law

    {{The United Nations has raised concerns about a new media law in Somalia only days after UN experts sounded the alarm over corruption in the African country’s new government.}}

    The UN Human Rights Office has urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government to review a new law that would require journalists to reveal sources and prevent them spreading information against Islam or Somali traditions, said a statement released on Sunday.

    Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the legislation was “vague” and “could easily be used to curtail freedom of expression”.

    The draft legislation, which could become law within two months, requires journalists to reveal their sources if published information stirs up public sentiment.

    It would suspend journalists accused of violating the media legislation.

    ‘Slush funds’

    A group of UN sanctions experts said in a report released last week that “irregularities” remain rife with the central bank acting as a “slush fund” to hand out the government’s meagre resources to individuals who do not have to justify use of the cash.

    “During the period of the current government, between September 2012 and April 2013, 72 percent of withdrawals were made for private individuals,” said the report.

    Because of the country’s strife and the limited scope of the government the 2013 budget was estimated at only $84m, but nearly a third of that comes from international donors.

    The UN report said Finance Minister Mohamud Hassan Suleiman “has made every good faith effort to reduce the scale” of the payments but they are “so pervasive as to be beyond his control without a fundamental restructuring of the system”.

    The report said Central Bank of Somalia governor Abdusalam Omer, who has a US passport, was “key to these irregularities.”

    The UN experts said production of the Somali port “continues to be fraught with fraud and corruption” and that fees from Mogadishu port, a key source for the government, were being diverted.

    It said a monthly average of “at least” 33 percent of the port fees cannot be accounted for.

    The experts also said that large amounts of humanitarian aid was diverted but that aid groups, including UN agencies, had developed “a culture of denial and secrecy” so the extent of the problem is not being made public.

    {Agencies}

  • Kigali to Host 7th Ordinary Session of Executive Committee of FP-ICGLR

    {{Legislators from member states in the region will converge in Kigali on July 24-25 for that the 7th Ordinary Session of the Executive Committee of the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FP-ICGLR).}}

    The (FP-ICGLR) is an inter-parliamentary organization of African Parliaments in the Great Lakes Region.

    The 7th Session of the Executive Committee seeks to organize the 4th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly of the Forum of Parliaments of ICGLR.

    This session will discuss the following issues: Present and discuss the activity report for the first half of 2013 including the financial situation and challenges of the Forum; Draw up recommendations on political and security situation in the region ahead of the drafting of Resolutions to be submitted to the 4th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly; and Adopt the draft agenda of the 4th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly to be held in November in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi.

    The meeting will attract representatives from 12 countries members of ICGLR that will convene at the Parliamentery Buildings, Plenary Hall of the Senate.