On May 20, the world celebrated International Beekeeping Day as a reminder of its importance in human life.
In Rwanda, bees are known for their quality honey-making that is competitive at the global market.
The Head of Beekeeping Program at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), Mwiza Kazimbaya Willy, told IGIHE that beekeeping is still progressing but efforts are needed to take care of bees to produce enough honey.
Beekeepers have repeatedly pointed out that one of the reasons for their low productivity are the pesticides used in different farming practices. A professional beekeeper, Karangwa Sewase, told IGIHE that it is worth studying how farming can be done without using pesticides that kill bees.
Mwiza acknowledges that there are pesticides used in agriculture that kill bees, but says there is also a lack of adequate knowledge on beekeeping. While research is underway to find pesticides that are effective but not harmful to bees, Mwiza has advised beekeepers to look for bee-friendly food to help them increase productivity.
In 2017, Twagirayezu was contracted to construct Agape church Nyirabuhene church in Gishore Cell.
Agape Sanctuary Church was expecting external funders to foot the construction bills, an anticipation that never came to fruition, leaving an accumulated bill.
Twagirayezu took the church to Kigali Commercial Court, which ruled in his favour in 2019, and the church was ordered to settle the Rwf70 million debt.
The church failed to pay which prompted the complainant to get services of a bailiff, Ingabire Uwayo Lambert, who is in the process of auctioning of church property, including the church building.
Ingabire has told IGIHE that the first auction on May 15 was attended by about five bidders whose offers were below the going value.
Ingabire also said the church is being sold after three other sites were sold for Rwf12 million. “The goal is to get Rwf70 million awarded by the Kigali Commercial Court.”
Nyigiro Sector Executive Secretary, Muhigirwa David, says the church has been closed for over two years, having failed to meet the basic infrastructure requirements.
IGIHE has learnt that the same church owes a one Ndagijimana Jean about Rwf 53 million, a debt accumulated in the non-cash purchase of land in a sales agreement signed by the spokesperson of the church Archbishop Rubuguza Léon.
The defense French lawyer Emmanuel Altit, said his client would appear in court on Tuesday.
Altit is a longtime lawyer in the profession, defending former President Côte d’Ivoire’s Laurent Gbagbo on charges of war crimes.
Richard Gisagara, who lives in France and is currently defending the survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi, told IGIHE that although Kabuga is appearing in court, it is very likely that a decision will not be made immediately.
The court shall notify him of the charges, and the complaint shall be submitted to the judges who shall hear his transfer within eight days.
They will decide whether Kabuga will be sent to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha. While Kabuga appeals to their decision, the complaint will be referred to the court of Cessation.
84-year-old Félicien Kabuga is considered a major perpetrator of the genocide, where in November 1993, his company Kabuga imported 25 tons of pangas from China, then in March 1994, he bought another 50,000 pangas. They are the weapons used in killing Tutsis during the Genocide.
In addition to being accused of being one of the founders of RTLM radio, he was instrumental in sowing hatred before and during the Genocide.
As of May 16, he was one of the most wanted people in the world and the United States had set placed a bounty of $ 5 million for anyone who would provide information leading to his location and arrest.
His search has reached a point beyond the human mind, and the story begins to unfold without explanation. Because of the way he escaped shortly before his arrest.
Now his tricks are over!
One of the first failed arrest was in 2010. He used his fortune through Patrick Karegeya, who was in charge of foreign intelligence to escape. It was a relationship that had begun when Karegeya helped Kabuga’s children return their father’s property.
{{Karegeya returned Kabuga’s children their father’s property}}
In 2011, the Rwandan prosecution said that Col Patrick Karegeya was involved in the return of property to Kabuga’s children.
Kabuga’s two children, Donatien Nshimyumuremyi is known as Nshima and Séraphine Uwimana came to Rwanda between October and December 2003 to claim the property of her father’s fortune.
At the time, Karegeya got involved, and engaged a military attache at the Rwandan Embassy in Belgium, Janvier Mabuye, signing a letter authorizing the Kabuga children to be entitled to their father’s property.
The letters offering powers of attorney presented by Nshimyumuremyi were signed by Kabuga’s wife, Josephine Mukazitoni, while the one presented by Séraphine Uwimana was signed by Félicité Mukademali, one of Kabuga’s children.
Former Prosecution Spokesman Alain Mukurarinda said at the time in 2003 Karegeya influenced the return of Kabuga’s property to his children. He also paid their hotel bills for the time they stayed in Kigali, amounting to Rwf5 million.
The property they were given at the time included a building adjacent to City Plaza in the city center and a building that housed the Bank yabaturage in Muhima.
The two buildings were in Kabuga’s name, and a lease was signed between the tenants and Donatien Nshimyumuremyi and opened an account with BCDI, [the current Ecobank] so that tenants would credit the said account.
During their stay in Kigali, they lived in the Hotel de Mille Collines and at departure, an invoice was sent to the National External Investigation Agency for settlement.
The money was paid on February 25, 2004, by cheque number 438099 signed by Patrick Karegeya.
Kabuga’s children also stayed at the Gorilla Hotel and the invoice was sent to the National External Investigation Agency, on the same day in February the second payment was made to the check number 466952 signed by Karegeya.
Upon realizing this, the Prosecution immediately ordered that the property be re-confiscated along with all his bank accounts under the provisions of the law.
Mukurarinda that time said it was a shame that one of the properties had been returned to Kabuga without te knowledge of the Attorney General’s Office.
{{Karegeya once warned Kabuga and he escaped justice}}
In October 2010, the Rwandan Armed Forces accused Karegeya of obstructing the activities of the Government and the International Community for the arrest of Félicien Kabuga.
Former Rwandan Military Spokesperson Lt Col Jill Rutaremara and Gen Richard Rutatina, who was President Kagame’s Security Adviser, described how Kabuga paid Karegeya money in exchange for a tip-off that enabled him to flee from Kenya.
“What most people know is that Karegeya betrayed the country by protecting Félicien Kabuga, one of the most wanted genocide suspects,” Former Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said.
She said that when he fled, it became clear that he was working with the Kabuga family to help him continue to avoid trial, and that the other would give him money as a reward for the help he had given him.
That’s how Kabuga lived for the past 26 years, day by day hiding, and spending money to find those who could help him escape.
President Paul Kagame in 2019 said Kabuga’s disappearance was a mystery, stressing that in any case, there were people who were helping him so that justice would not take hold of him.
Kabuga has been fleeing various countries trying to hide from justice while also using false names. He lived in Kenya, Norway in Oslo, Germany in Frankfurt, Brussels in Belgium, and Paris in France where he was arrested.
Gicumbi District Mayor Ndayambaje Felix said they will start building the classrooms from June 1 to September 30, 2020.
He said they will use various means to make the rooms available, including about 351 to be built under the auspices of World Bank.
A classroom should, at least accommodate 40 or 45 students but the Ministry of Education figures for 2018 show that in the Gicumbi district, in primary schools, a classroom had between 69-78 children.
Mayor Ndayambaje said they have reduced the number and now one classroom has 60 to 67 children.
He said new classrooms are needed because they cannot achieve the goal of building the capacity of the community without the development of education.
The Minister made the remarks in a press conference on Friday which was also attended by State Minister in charge of the East African Community, Prof Nshuti Manasseh.
Dr. Biruta said that there are significant improvements in Rwandan-Ugandan relations despite some negative acts of violence against Rwandans.
“We have been talking to Uganda for days, we have been talking to Angola for days through teleconferencing,” Biruta said.
“We have a list of Rwandans who will be released from Ugandan prisons, we are checking to see if they have been convicted of crimes […] and we are still looking to find out how they were arrested,” he said.
The cataclysms include floods, thunderstorms, and hailstorms that, as well, destroyed farmlands and infrastructures.
In total, 3117 hectares of crops have been affected by the disaster between January and April this year, with 124 roads and 64 bridges collapsing, disrupting the daily development activities of the people. Over 3,082 homes were damaged, and thousands of families were displaced.
Minema reports that across the country, 3227 domestic animals including 60 cows have been killed in the disasters, 36 schools were destroyed, a health center, 12 churches, 10 administrative buildings, 13 water infrastructures, and a market.
In addition, 61 power infrastructures were damaged, causing disruptions in electricity supply in some parts of the country. The total flood damage will cost the country about $ 13 million. Every year Rwanda loses at least $ 43 million, due to floods and droughts.
The National Meteorological Agency, Meteo Rwanda, said that in the second half of this month, between 11 and 20 May heavy rainfall is expected.
RRA Commissioner General Bizimana Ruganintwali Pascal, who was presented with the grant, thanked the East Africa Business Council, saying that the advocacy work for the Office of Revenue and Customs emphasizes humanity.
“Customs employees welcome people of different kinds[…] will allow them to work safely knowing that they are protected from COVID-19, so they can provide better service,” he said.
EABC spokesperson Karera Denis said that in collaboration with the private sector, they found that the business acceleration program should go hand in hand with the prevention of COVID-19; recipients and service providers must be protected at all times.
The EABC expects to continue such activities to support the various sectors of the business community, which will be in line with the existing capabilities.
According to figures released by the National Agricultural Export Development Board, NAEB, between January and March 2020, tea exported was 9,317,436 kilograms valued at $ 27,691,861.
Statistics for 2019 show that in the first five months of this fiscal year, which began in July 2019, profits from tea farming had risen 8% to $ 36.08 million.
From July to November 2019, Rwanda’s tea production increased by 12%, and exports increased by 4%, compared to the same period in 2018.
Between July and November 2019, 12,017 tons of tea were produced, more than 10,769 tons produced during the same period in 2018.
At the same time, it was also shown that processed Rwandan tea increased by 4%, from 12,180 tons obtained in 2018 to 12,617 tons in 2019. At the same time, in 2019, exported tea earned $ 36,088,761, equivalent to an increase of 8%, up from $ 33,562,294 in the previous year.
NAEB figures show that the goal is by 2024, Rwandan tea will bring in $ 209 million.
The Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, recently announced that due to Coronavirus, exports will face a slump.
He said that on the market today, coffee prices are stable even though it is not the time for production, only tea prices are declining on the market.
By reducing the gap between exports and imports, Rwanda plans to continue to develop its products in Rwanda, urging Rwandans to buy them to replace imports.
Minister Dr. Ndagijimana said that Rwanda’s economic growth rate is currently expected to rise by 8% as expected, with figures currently being revised from 5.1% to 3.5%. “now we are close to 2% even if it didn’t end well”.
Information on the death of the 29-year-old woman was first provided by a resident who was going to cultivate his garden and found a headless corpse in his garden.
Rulenge Sector Executive Secretary, Mapendo Gilbert, told IGIHE that the woman’s decapitated body was found in a bush but without ahead.
He said they were still searching for the culprits. Muhawenimana, who lived in a rented house and provided casual labour is survived by two children.
The body of the deceased was taken to Kibungo Hospital for autopsy.
