IGIHE

Author: Elie Imanishimwe

  • Three players to represent Rwanda in 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina

    The three players include the National U18 ladies beach volleyball duo of Valentine Munezero and Penelope Musabyimana, as well as runner Aime Phraditte Bakunzi Rwanda’s sole representative in athletics who runs in men’s 3000 meters category.

    The Rwandan contingent left the country for Argentine at 1.00am Tuesday. The delegation was officially flagged off at Amahoro stadium by the Director of Sports at the Ministry of Sports and Culture Didier Guy Rurangayire.

    Alexis Sharangabo, the Secretary General for Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Comittee (RNOSC) and former Rwandan middle-distance runner reminded the players that they are going to face off rivals from all over the world but that should not discourage them. Instead, he urged them to use their utmost efforts and behave well.

    {{Optimistic about victory.
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    The captain of this team Valentine Munezero who plays beach volleyball, on behalf of her playmates announced that they are set for the competition. She also said that they are aware that the competition is stiff but they are optimistic about victory.
    It is not for the first time that the duo, Munezero and Musabyimana have participated in international competitions.

    In July 2017, the duo delivered a rare medal for Rwanda by defeating Scotland in the bronze medal contest at the Commonwealth Youth Games Beach Volleyball in Nassau, Bahamas.

    Meanwhile, in July 2018, the team won bronze medal in Youth African Games 2018 in Alger, Algeria and secured the ticket to the upcoming Youth Olympics.
    Munezero says that they have learned a lot from previous competitions and that they have tried to correct the mistakes they made. For this time around, she said, they will have to be careful.

    “In Beach Volleyball, when your playmate fouls and you get angry at them, you are already defeated. So, for us it is an advantage because when one of our players foul we don’t blame them but keep the morale. That is why we win.”She said.

    Christopher Mudahinyuka, Beach Volleyball Coach also emphasizes that his team is well prepared. He said that their goal is now to win.

    The Rwandan team is among 25 other teams that will compete including: Argentina, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Guatemala, Thailand, Puerto Rico, USA, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Dominica, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Aruba, Mozambique, Egypt, Vanuatu and Canada.

  • Rayon Sports midfielder undergoes shoulder surgery

    Mugisha’s lone goal in the 91st minute following a defensive lapse by APR Fc defenders, saw Rayon Sports win the 2018 Agaciro Football Championship for a second year running.

    Mugisha returned from the fixture and bade farewells as he was soon going to have surgery at ‘Centre Orthopédique Sainte Marie Rilima’ in Bugesera District for a shoulder fracture.

    Master told IGIHE that the surgery which was done on Tuesday was successful and he hopes to recover soon.

    “I have been playing with the fracture for two years. Always, when I hit another player from the rival team, my shoulder would be dislocated. It pained me so much that I often had to be careful that is why I chose to have surgery first and come back to the field feeling better.” He said.

    He added that he will start exercises in December and he hopes that he will recover shortly so that in January 2019, he will be able to play for his team.

    Meanwhile, the surgery of the 21-year-old striker lasted for six hours.
    Mugisha joined Rayon Sports in the summer of 2015. He grew up in SEC academy in Kicukiro District. He then played for Isonga Football Club after which he joined Rayon Sports.

  • Former BRD boss arrested

    Kanyankole is accused of favoritism and corruption.

    On their twitter account, RIB wrote: “Former CEO BRD bank Kanyankole Alex has been arrested over suspicion of favoritism and receiving illegal benefits in order to offer a service committed when he was still in office.”

    Modeste MBABAZI, the Spokesperson for RIB told IGIHE that Kanyankole was arrested Monday October 2nd.

    He also confirmed that since he resigned as BRD CEO, Kanyankole would appear to the prosecution for the crimes he is suspected of.

    The new corruption law states that whoever in charge of providing services and makes a decision based on favoritism, friendship, hatred, family relationship or acquaintance for those who want services from them has committed a crime.
    When they are proven guilty by court, they are punished with more than five but not beyond seven years of imprisonment, as well as with fines not less than Rwf1 million but not more than Rwf2 million.

    Kanyankole resigned as BRD CEO in December 2017 after four years in office.
    The bank was split into two entities with the formation of the new BRD Commercial Bank, later taken over by Atlas Mara) , one of its commercial entities (BRD Commercial Bank) was acquired by Atlas Mara, and was merged to Banque Populaire du Rwanda.

    Alex spearheaded reforms at the bank coming up with a new strategy (2016-2020) that address the role of the bank in contributing towards the socio-economic development of the country, by introducing a revitalised business model that introduced financing of key economic sectors such as energy, agriculture, and housing among others.

    It is also at this time that the government entrusted the bank with the responsibility to give and pursue loans that are given to public University, what some refer to as bursary stipends.

    Prior to joining BRD, Alex served as the Director General of National Agricultural Export Board NAEB (2011- 2013), an organisation that we merged under leadership, and prior to that position, he was the Director General of the National Coffee Board, OCIR-CAFE (2008 -2011) and the National Tea Board (OCIR_THE 2005-2008) respectively.

    The bank was incorporated on August 5 1967. Now, Rwanda Development Bank is a public Company Limited by Shares, with a share capital of Rwf7.8 billion.

  • Cost of Vision City Apartments Cut by 60% for Public Servants

    A statement released by Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the company, Ultimate Developers Ltd (UDL) that is in charge of the project development, says that this opportunity is for public servants.

    The statement further says as a prerequisite, beneficiaries and their spouses should not have owned another house before. They will be allowed to purchase apartments with two, three or four rooms at reduced prices.

    A two-room apartment will be sold at Rwf63,000,000 down from the market price of Rwf108 million while a three-room apartment will be sold at Rwf94 million down from Rwf163 million. A four-room apartment will be sold at Rwf108 from Rwf187 million.

    Those who need loans will be charged 11% and the loan will be repaid in a period of 20 years. According to the statement, those who wish to buy the houses will have to submit their application letters between 16th -31st October 2018. Selection of eligible bidders will be done between 1st -21st October 2018.

    The CEO of the Bank of Kigali which accepted to give loans to potential buyers, Dr Diane Karusisi said this is the beginning of BK’s long-term program to help Rwandans of all statuses to own a house. We are calling this program a new way of giving loans on houses,” she said.

  • Ministry of Health launches Rwf 42 billion project to fight infant and maternal mortality

    The project is funded by USAID and will operate in 20 districts countrywide. It follows another existing project MCSP (Maternal Child Survival Program) working to reduce preventable child, neonatal and maternal mortality in 10 districts of Rwanda.

    While officially launching the project Monday, Health Minister Dr Diane Gashumba said that the first project-MCSP- provided adequate training opportunities at work rather than leaving work to attend the trainings in hotels. This project also influenced the rate of family planning participation at 49% thanks to assisting mothers who want contraception as soon as they give birth.

    She said that the country will gain much from Ingobyi project regarding its goals of preserving the life of a mother and the baby.

    “What we expect from Ingobyi is to start from the point at which others have been performing, and where we have been in partnership with MCSP. We expect them to continue from there and take more steps further to achieve our goals of reducing infant and maternal mortality rates.” Mukeshimana said.

    She said that they expect Ingobyi to operate in a special way to be able to spend the available budget efficiently. She says they want to work with the project in training health centres personnel online (E-Learning).

    “We don’t want to waste the budget by getting health workers out of their working places to hotels or anywhere else they may be trained.”, She added.

    She further said that Ingobyi is also expected to put more efforts in testing pregnant women to offer them a chance to give birth to healthy children because, she says, numbers are still low. The project will also continue family planning program and malaria eradication.

    Adano Ummuro, Ingobyi Project Director in Rwanda said that in implementing this project, they will focus on areas where there are still problems in health.

    Vestine Uwiragiye, a midwife and advisor at Rukoma Hospital in Kamonyi District said that she received different trainings in 2016 about the health of an infant and the mother, and so she went to train others in turn.

    “These trainings have been really useful because we were able to raise the level of maternal and infant life preservation. Those who work in health centres became confident enough. There are some things that they wouldn’t do and some medicines that they would not administer.” She said.

    Ingobyi project is also expected to train youth on human reproduction as well as providing them with decent health services.

  • Police, University Don Kayumba clash over drunken behavior

    ”Dr Kayumba is a habitual drunkard and becomes a public nuisance whenever he is under influence. Police seeks that he is brought to order, period. No apologies. He cannot tarnish the image of the Police with impunity. He can go around saying whatever he wants,” reads a police twit on their official handle.

    On September 29, Dr Kayumba accused the police of abuse and violence in a strong language through his twitter account. For instance, he says, he was driving when the police stopped and leveled “wrong accusations” against him. He says that the police have been harassing him since 2012.

    “We refuse to remain silent over years of injustice since 2012. Individuals in government have orchestrated campaign to silence us but because we believe in new system, we closed the Chronicles newspaper. You imprisoned our journalist and we kept silent. What do you want,” Kayumba wrote on his twitter account.

    He said that he is not afraid and the Police may come to his house to arrest him at any time.

    He wrote on his twitter: “Rwandan Police has been preventing me from driving freely. Whenever I drive, they charge me of fake accusations and tow my car,” he alleges.

    The police immediately renounced these statements, explaining that their responsibility is to help citizens without distinction.

    Police responded that “Mr Kayumba’s car was towed during a routine operation to curb drunken driving. These operations are meant to save lives and prevent any collateral damage,” a statement on police twitter account reads, adding that the national Police is accountable to all people living in Rwanda. Police told Kayumba that if he felt mistreated, he was free to sue.

    “If you felt any kind of injustice or crime committed by police servicemen during the act, please approach the police inspectorate (07883111400) or other competent offices of Ombudsman or Rwanda Investigation Bureau,” Police tweet adds.

  • Nyanza youth pledge to sustain registered achievements

    After touring the museum, Jean Bosco Mutangana, one of them said that he has learned a lesson personally to protect and sustain what have been achieved.

    “We thank RPF army who sacrificed their lives for four years without a pay so that Rwandans could be liberated, unite and live a dignified life by flushing out the bad leadership. It is a lesson for the youth that we must have the initiative to sustain what has been achieved.” He said.

    One of the youth from RPF in Nyanza District, Christelle Igihozo noted that the bravery of RPF army is an inspiration for the youth that they should avoid passiveness.

    “I saw a doctor who helped others to treat patients during the liberation time. I have found out that we must also feel that we are able and use our brain to think about what can benefit all Rwandans,” she said.

    Nyanza District Administrative Council advisor Alphonse Muhoza said that the willingness and determination of RPF Inkotanyi army is a positive indication that the youth cannot achieve if they are not united.

    The liberation monument features the journey of RPF army to stop the genocide in 1994.It is located in the Parliamentary Buildings, in Kimihurura. Visits are made every day where students pay Rwf700, adults pay Rwf15000 while foreigners pay Rwf6000.

  • Winners of Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 Contest announced

    Pakistani national Mohammed Hanif from Rwanda said he did not believe he had won when Unimoni called and told him he was the winner.

    “I didn’t believe when they [Unimoni] called and told me that I am one of the lucky winners to win tickets to Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 Finals,” he said.

    Srinath Vardhinenim, an Indian national who lives in Rwanda echoed the same sentiment.

    “I thought it was a prank call the first time they called but now after my win, I am eager to travel and enjoy the game at the stadium.”

    The Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 contest was open to customers residing in Africa and who transacted between 11 August to 10 September 2018.

    Unimoni, one of the network brands of the Finablr Group, is a global provider of money transfer, foreign exchange and payment solutions. The brand facilitates seamless movement of money across geographies, currencies and channels with a focus on delivering convenience, speed and value to its customers. With multiple touchpoints spanning retail stores, digital channels and self-service kiosks, Unimoni offers secure and simplified financial solutions for its customers.

  • President Kagame’s Speech on Centre for Strategic and International Studies ‘New Africa Dialogue’

    To be very frank, if I could remember how many times I have had discussions with distinguished leaders, in the United States and across Africa were talking about how we could relate to each other. There have been so many meetings over so many years and we always come back to more or less the same thing. We keep asking what is it that we could do and yet we end up not doing much about that.

    But Africa has changed tremendously and so has America and the rest of the world. Therefore, it is important to rethink how Africa and the United States relate to each other.

    Dr Kissinja, your presence signals the weight and promise of this initiative. The conclusions of your analysis of the central issues of American foreign policy in 1968 are as fresh and relevant as today. I wish to highlight two of them this morning.

    First in all advanced countries, political stability was a precondition for industrialization rather than an outcome. Technical economic factors alone cannot offer a sufficient moral foundation for good politics. Business and trade should rightly constitute the depth the subject matter of enhanced relations between Africa and the United States but it should be mistake to avoid the frank exchanges about values.

    Second, the core challenge in developing countries is the consolidation of political legitimacy even two generations ago, the futility of a strategy based on transferring or imposing American institutions on others was clear. I was glad, the other day, to hear President trump saying something about it. Imposing on people what others are thinking isn’t going to be very helpful. Yet too often, political structures in Africa are evaluated against abstract notions of process almost on autopilot.

    This is done without reference to either the objective outcomes or views of the citizens directly concerned and affected. When innovative forms of democratic stability are undermined, nobody’s interest is served and the tendency to elevate obstructions about democratic process into a precondition for engagement rather than a basis for discussion is counterproductive.

    Third, America succeeds whenever it is able to generate willing cooperation based on a sense of sherd purpose. This brings me to recent developments in Africa, particularly on the Continent Free Trade Area that Dr Kissinger referred to earlier. It was signed in March in Kigali. We view this as a historic step that will transform trade within our continent while requiring the world to relate to the fastest growing continent as a single block for trade purposes.

    In fact, this consolidates the efforts that have already been underway for continental integration. This agreement should be understood in a wider context the CFTA heralds new political reality in Africa. We also signed an agreement on the free movement of people within Africa, for example, as part of that. Africa is currently undertaking coordinated action in the United Nations Security Council to use UN assist contribution to fund necessary African union mandated peace support operations that the United Nations cannot conduct on its own.

    In addition, we have made major reforms to the financing and institutional functioning of the African Union. The United States initially responded to this obviously positive development sometimes by the discussion that involved whether this was a new financial levy that wired trade organisation that violated or contravened the provisions of the World Trade Organisation. We have had discussions back and forth.

    I think most of the misunderstandings have been found to be inaccurate and therefore done away with, but the confusion served to highlight the need for improved dialogue about how Africa and the United States can better collaborate because this is the main objective to enhance each other’s prosperity.

    The New Africa Dialogue can be an effective platform for these efforts. I look forward to working with you on this matter. Once again, thank you very much for inviting me and for listening.

  • Kagame, Netanyahu discuss opening Israeli Embassy in Kigali

    “Had a good meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, discussed strengthening mutually beneficial partnership with Africa and reaffirmed commitment to bilateral relations including opening an embassy in Rwanda soon,” Kagame wrote on his twitter account.

    In December 2017 when the two heads of state met in Nairobi, Kenya to attend the festivities surrounding the inauguration of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Netanyahu was quoted by the Jerusalem Post announcing the opening of a new embassy in Rwanda, and met with leaders from nearly a dozen African nations.

    “We are opening a new embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali as part of Israel’s expanding presence in Africa and the deepening of cooperation between Israel and the countries of Africa,” He said after meeting Kagame in Nairobi.

    The leaders also discussed the possibility of opening a direct air link between Israel and Rwanda, Netanyahu’s office stated.

    Rwanda and Israel established diplomatic relations soon after the former Belgian colony gained independence in July 1962, but those ties were severed later in 1973 after Yom Kippur War when most African states-under Arab pressure-broke relations with Israel. With the reestablishment of ties in October 1994, Rwanda sent an ambassador to Israel, but had to close the embassy because of budgetary constraints some six years later.

    The embassy was reopened with the appointment of Rwanda’s Ambassador to Israel Joseph Rutabana in 2015, and is one of its 53 embassies around the world (21 outside of Africa). Israel is served in Rwanda by a nonresident ambassador operating out of Addis Ababa.