IGIHE

Author: admin

  • New RDF Chief of Defence Staff, EAC Minister Swon in

    {{President Paul Kagame presided over the swearing in of the Minister of the East African Community, Jacqueline Muhongayire, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Patrick Nyamvumba and Dan Munyuza, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations in the Parliament building.}}

    Speaking to the newly sworn in officials on July 12, President Kagame promised support and asked them to work hard so that Rwanda can progress.

    “We have to be serious about our responsibilities. Where our country stands today and where we are going does not allow any of us to work at same pace as those more advanced,” said President Kagame.

    “Achieving our goals will require a change of mindset, an understanding of our challenges and what we need to be able to face our challenges. We also have to be ready to work hard to meet our challenges and we have to strive for efficiency.

    Rwanda cannot be changed by words alone, we need action and we need to work together,” he concluded.

    Jacqueline Muhongayire replaces Monique Mukaruliza, who had been minister since March 2008. was a Member of Parliament in the East African Assembly.

    In the Rwanda Defence Forces, General Patrick Nyamvumba (pictured above) replaces Lt. General Charles Kayonga.

    Gen. Nyamvumba previously served in Sudan where he was the force commander of the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and Dan Munyuza was transferred from the Military to the Police as Deputy Inspector General in chaarge of Operations.

    MOD

  • CHAN: Rwanda Expecting win over Ethiopia

    Rwanda’s National football team Amavubi will today faceoff with the Ethiopians in the first leg of the Africa Nations Championships at the Addis Ababa Stadium.

    Amavubi with young and inexperienced players will have to work hard against Ethiopia side expected to field their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers team.

    Rwanda’s Coach Eric Nshimiyimana urges his team to aim for a good win in the first leg before hosting the Walya Antelopes in Kigali for the second leg in the next two weeks.

    “We have a fit squad and there is nothing to worry about. Everyone is physically and psychologically sound and raring to face Ethiopia,” Nshimiyimana was quoted by local daily.

  • Col. Serubuga Arrested in France over Rwanda Genocide

    {{Police in France have arrested a former Rwandan colonel wanted for his alleged role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, his lawyer said Saturday. }}

    Laurent Serubuga aged 75, was apprehended near the northern French city of Cambrai on Thursday under an international arrest warrant issued by Rwanda, lawyer Thierry Massis said.

    Serubuga was being held in detention and a hearing has been scheduled for next Thursday, but may be postponed to a later date, the lawyer said.

    Serubuga was a deputy Rwandan army chief of staff during the April-July genocide in 1994 in which an estimated million people, mostly minority Tutsis, were killed.

    Alain Gauthier, who heads Rwandan victims’ group CPCR, said Serubuga’s arrest was “excellent news”.

    “Colonel Serubuga had as much responsibility in the genocide as colonel (Theoneste) Bagosora,” he said, referring to the most high-profile figure condemned by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

    Bagosora, described by the prosecution as the mastermind of the genocide, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2011.

    Source: AFP

  • Police Impounds Tanker Loaded with Smuggled Alcohol

    Police in Rusizi District yesterday arrested a Rwandan man named Janvier Havugimana (33) and seized 480 boxes of Red Wine Drostdy he had embezzled from a Bukavu Congolese businessman known as JMV Mushemuka and smuggled into Rwanda.

    Havugimana had agreed with the Congolese businessman he would pay US$8500 before smuggling the cargo into Rwanda through Rusizi One in a fuel track with number plate number RAA 246E RL0083

    However, Havugimana loaded the boxes into the fuel tank and crossed the Rwandan border (Rusizi Two).

    The Congolese businessman tireless tried to find Havugimana claim his payment, but was later informed by friends that he had left Bukavu and headed to Rwanda.

    The Congolese man drove off and luckily found Havugimana at the border, but the truck was about 10 miles away into Rwanda. The two wrestled almost tearing each other into pieces at the border as the Congolese businessman demanded for payment.

    Havugimana was supposed to pay US$8500, but offered a postdated cheque worth Frw500.000 only. The Congolese man remained furious until Police intervened.

    Havugimana was immediately arrested, but the driver and conductor of the truck escaped an arrest after the truck was stopped by Police along the way. They were later arrested after a tip from residents.

    Havugimana is held at Kamembe Police Station while the cargo is held at the Kamembe Revenue Protection Department warehouse.

    RNP

  • Rwandan Community in Darfur Welcome Amb.Mutaboba

    {{The Rwandan community working in Darfur hosted a dinner in honor of H.E Amb. Joseph Mutaboba recently appointed as Deputy Joint Special Representative for UNAMID at RWANBATT 37 super camp in El Fasher.}}

    In his key note address the Rwandan Contingent Commander Colonel Ludovik MUGISHA officially welcomed H.E Amb. Joseph Mutaboba to Darfur as new Rwanda national senior in UNAMID .

    “We are delighted and honored to have you as DJSR, this gives us courage and commitment as Rwandans who are serving in UNAMID as peace keepers.” He noted.

    Col. Mugisha expounded their work and areas where Rwandan Battalions are deployed adding that they will maintain integrity, respect for diversity and professionalism for the proper accomplishment of UNAMID mandate.

    The Chairman of Rwandan Diaspora in Darfur , Mr. Albert Mukwende extended his warm welcome to the new Deputy Joint Special Representative .

    He further noted that Rwandans in Darfur are composed of military, Police and Civilians who serve in the mission and pledged their solidarity and patriotism.

    The Guest of honor extended his heartfelt appreciation for the reception and hospitality accorded and pledged unity and solidarity to the Rwandan Community in Darfur.

    He argued them to double their efforts and maintain discipline while executing their daily duties.

    The ceremony was marked by Rwanda culture performance and modern dance with over 500 people in attendance .

  • Zambian minister insists President Sata ‘not dead’

    {{Zambia has taken the unusual step of confirming its president is alive and well, it’s reported.}}

    News websites in the southern African state have been questioning the health and whereabouts of 76-year-old Michael Sata, who’s not been seen in public for weeks. As far back as May, Zambia Reports was challenging the president to prove he had not “sub-let his presidential powers” to aides.

    Rumours abounded that he’d left the country for treatment and, last week, the Zambian Watchdog website reported that Sata “may be in hospital somewhere”. It added: “If he is alive.”

    However, on Friday, Zambia Reports quoted Information minister Kennedy Sakeni as saying: “I was with (Sata) a while ago; he is well and in high spirits. He is having meetings in State House.”

    The site reckons it’s reminiscent of a 2006 statement that then-president Levy Mwanawasa was jogging in London, when he was actually recovering from a stroke.

    Investigations have had serious consequences for journalists, with two Zambian Watchdog reporters charged with sedition – criticism of the government – after reportedly being accused of possessing notes for Sata’s obituary.

    NMG

  • Arab Misseriya reject AU plans for Referendum in Abyei

    {{Sudans Misseriya Arab tribe have renewed their rejection of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) proposal for holding a referendum in Abyei area this October.}}

    A referendum initially scheduled for January 2011 to decide the fate of the Abyei border area failed to take place over disagreements between Khartoum and Juba about who is eligible to participate in the vote.

    Last year, the AU mediation team proposed holding a referendum in Abyei this October, but stated that only those residing permanently in the area will be allowed to vote in the plebiscite and decide whether they want to join Sudan or South Sudan.

    This proposal would effectively make the majority of voters come from the Dinka Ngok tribe, aligned with South Sudan thus putting the Arab Misseriya nomads, who spend several months in Abyei every year for grazing, at a disadvantage.

    The Misseriya’s paramount chief, Mukhtar Babo Nimir, told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) website on Saturday, that a referendum without engaging the Misseriya will be doomed to failure.

    He stressed that the Misseriya people are the true stakeholders in Abyei, saying that they will never abandon their inherent right under any circumstances.

    Nimir further added that western countries’ alignment with South Sudan on the issue of Abyei and their attempts to bypass solutions adopted by the two countries would only drag the region to an endless conflict.

    The US government said that the only way the two countries can resolve the impasse over the contested region of Abyei was through a referendum.

    The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, stressed in a meeting with South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir last May that Juba and Khartoum needed to stick to the AUHIP proposal..

    Nimir pointed that in the absence of a local government, priority should be given to establishing a joint administration in Abyei including civil institutions and a legislative council, stressing that the lasting solution lies in peaceful co-existence between the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka.

    South Sudan refuses the implementation of an agreement reached on 20 June 2011 to establish an interim administration in Abyei unless Khartoum accepts to hold the referendum proposed by the AUHIP.

    The Sudanese government rejects this process because it excludes the Misseriya pastoralists from participating in the vote.

    ST

  • UNAIDS Accelerates Action On HIV Treatment, Prevention

    {{As an important strategy towards achieving zero AIDS-related death in Africa, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Saturday, launched Treatment 2015 – a new HIV treatment guideline. }}

    The framework, launched at the International Conference Centre (ICC) Abuja, is to accelerate action in reaching 15 million people with antiretroviral (ARV) treatment by 2015 – the target year set by the United Nations Members State two years back.

    The launch was part of the official programme of the Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which starts tomorrow.

    Executive Director UNAIDS, Michael Sidibe, said the framework offers countries and partners both practical and innovative ways to increase access to antiretroviral medicines.

    These medicines, he noted, would not only enable people living with HIV to live longer and healthier lives but will also help prevent new infections.

    Sidibe told international delegates at the launch that about 10 years ago it was thought that effective treatment at $15,000 per person a year and 18 toxic pills per day were impossible.

    “But today, with innovations that have created one-pill treatment a-day, we have reached more people… Countries and partners need to urgently and strategically invest resources and efforts to ensure that everyone has access to HIV prevention and treatment,” he said.

    Treatment 2015 outlines three fundamental pillars essential to reaching the 2015 target.

    The pillars are demand (increasing demand for HIV testing and treatment services), invest (mobilising resources and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of spending) and deliver (ensuring more people have access to antiretroviral therapy).

    NgrGuardian

  • Guatemala ‘to extradite drug lord’ to US

    {{An appeals court in Guatemala has ruled that the suspected drug lord, Waldemar Lorenzana, can be extradited to the US, where he is wanted for his alleged links to Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.}}

    Washington accuses Mr Lorenzana of working with the Sinaloa gang to smuggle tonnes of cocaine to the US.

    The Guatemalan national, who has said he is innocent, was arrested in 2011.

    Mexican cartels have stepped up their influence in Guatemala, a transit country for Colombian cocaine.

    The extradition of the alleged drug trafficker was ratified by the First Chamber of the Court of Appeal, after a lower Guatemalan tribunal ruled in August 2012 that he could be extradited. No date has yet been set.

    The suspected drug trafficker, nicknamed the Patriarch, has been sought by the US since 2009.

    Washington says he is the ringleader of a group of drug traffickers that operates in eastern Guatemala, and plays a key role in facilitating cocaine trafficking between Colombia and Mexico.

    BBC

  • South American Countries ‘to recall’ Envoys Over Bolivia Plane Row

    {{Four South American countries say they will recall some of their ambassadors after the Bolivian president’s plane was banned from European airspace.}}

    Evo Morales’ plane, returning from Russia, was rerouted to Austria, amid rumours that American fugitive Edward Snowden was on board.

    Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay say the incident violated international law.

    Envoys will be recalled from France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, they say.

    Mr Snowden, a former CIA contractor, is wanted by Washington on charges of leaking secrets about US surveillance schemes.

    {{‘Hostile act’}}

    Speaking at a summit in Montevideo, the Uruguayan foreign minister, Luis Almagro, said the actions of the European governments were “groundless, discriminatory and arbitrary”.

    He went on: “The gravity of the situation – which is a typical neo-colonial practice – is an unusual, unfriendly and hostile act which violates human rights and affects the freedom of transit, displacement and immunity that is enjoyed by every head of state.”

    The European countries have called the incident a “misunderstanding”. France has apologised, blaming “conflicting information” while Spain said it had been told Mr Snowden had been on the plane.

    On Friday, Mr Snowden said he sought asylum in Russia as he was unable to travel to Latin America.

    {agencies}