Author: IGIHE

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Marie-Gorette Umutesi, the Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali said that Uvutseneza, a 28-year-old from Gicumbi, was arrested at a bar in Gatsata, Gasabo District.

“Earlier on Saturday, Gatsata Police station received information that Uvutseneza had a big sum of dollars, which she was trying to sell illegally. The informer also suspected the money to be fake,” Umutesi said.

Apparently, Uvutseneza tried to bring a taxi-moto operator into the deal. The deal was that the taxi-moto operator would look for someone to buy the dollars, although he wasn’t aware that the money was fake. Knowing that this was an illegal act, the motorcyclist rode to Gatsata Police station and reported the unlawful act.

“Reacting on the credible information, law enforcement agencies worked together and tracked Uvutseneza at a bar in Gatsata at about 6 pm, where she was at the time trying to defraud someone with the fake dollars,” she added.

Umutesi explained that when they apprehended the suspect, she was not found with the money at the time.

“This prompted the officers to search the private room at the bar where she was found. The fake money was later recovered in the ceiling of the room where she was seated,” the spokesperson explained.

It is said that Uvutseneza got into the room earlier and found a way to get into the ceiling where she hid the money as a precaution to avoid arrest.

It is not the first time Uvutseneza has been arrested in similar financial crimes. She was released from Mageragere prison in August 2017, after serving her one-year sentence over the same crime.

Under the new penal code, anyone convicted for the crime now faces imprisonment of between five and seven years, and a fine ranging from Rwf7 million to Rwf10 million.

Umutesi commended the responsiveness of the motorcyclist who was quick to provide information that led to the arrest of Uvutseneza.

“Exchange of money as a business is done by licensed people with an address. Those people operating black markets are the same people who will defraud you with counterfeit money,” Umutesi cautioned.

She further called for vigilance to avoid falling prey.

At least six people were arrested last week, four of them in Kigali, with fake money. They were either trying to deposit the fake money with telecom banking accounts, clearing bills or buying goods.

The National Bank of Rwanda says the threat of counterfeiting of Rwandan currency remains as low as 0.001% of currency in circulation.

Experts say fake monies cause inflation due to more money getting circulated in the economy – an unauthorized artificial increase in the money supply; leads to decrease in the acceptability of paper money and cause losses to the business community, and may lead to expansion of the underground illegal activities, which are not always part of the tax base.

The donation took place in Rutoma village, Ndego cell in Karama sector of Nyagatare district on Saturday where Liquid Telecom also committed to connecting schools in the area with the internet.

Beneficiaries of Mutuelle de Santé subscription commended Liquid Telecom for improving their access to health services.

“I have kept two sick children at home because I had no means to access health care. We would sometimes opt for traditional healers,” said one of the residents.

Another beneficiary, Simon Mpawenayo also said they were hit hard by drought and rainstorms which affected crop yields, incomes and made it difficult to access health services.

“We experienced weather vagaries leading to crop failure that we were not able to subscribe for Mutuelle de Santé,” he said.

The speaker of Parliament Chamber of Deputies, Donatille Mukabalisa who was in the area along with accompanying the team to participate in the community work thanked Liquid Telecom for supporting the government efforts in contributing to citizens’ improved livelihoods.

“We appreciate Liquid Telecom for the great support particularly to Nyagatare district which had not yet reached the targeted number of Mutuelle de Santé subscribers. The support to residents aligns with Government’s agenda,” she said.

Kabalisa urged beneficiaries to strive for self-reliance, blamed those who don’t pay Mutuelle de Santé subscriptions claiming they don’t fall sick that they should consider the value of consolidation aspect of the scheme.

Sam Nkusi, the Chairman of Liquid Telecom Rwanda said they chose to donate Mutuelle de Sante because national development can’t be advanced with unhealthy citizens.

“Both vulnerable and people with adequate means should walk together leaving no one behind to ensure everyone stays healthy along the journey to fast track national development,” he said.

Nkusi unveiled that they have a plan to expand the internet to schools, health centers and other public infrastructure in rural areas.

Liquid Telecom Rwanda is a subsidiary of leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom.

Liquid Telecom is a leading communications services and solutions provider across 13 countries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa that serves carrier, enterprise and retail customers with high-speed, reliable connectivity and digital services.

It has built Africa’s largest independent fiber network, spanning over 50,000km, and operates state-of-the-art data centers in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Nairobi, with a combined 6,800 square meters of rack space.

This is in addition to leading cloud-based services, such as Microsoft Office365 and Microsoft Azure, and innovative digital content provision, including Netflix, NBA, TED and Kwese Play.

Through this combined offering, Liquid Telecom is enhancing customers’ experience on their digital journey.

The initiative to build the houses was revealed by the Mayor of Nyaruguru district, François Habitegeko following the monthly community work held in Ruramba sector on Saturday.

The community work was characterized by grading the land where houses for beneficiaries will be settled.

“We have found it necessary to support residents with no shelters. Within that regard, we have launched the project which is part of the performance contract of our district. We want to build 640 houses within the next three months,” said Habitegeko.

Residents will be involved in construction through community work while the district will provide roofing sheets, doors, and windows.

Febronie Mukarukundo, 40, one of the beneficiaries said she spent 12 years sheltered by good Samaritans.

“I have been sheltered by different kind people since 2007. One of them bought a plot of land for me last year where the district is going to build a house where I will settle with my four children,” she said.

Most of the residents without shelter in Nyaruguru district are from the first Ubudehe Category.

The Minister gave the assurance on Saturday as he joined Nyaruguru residents in a monthly community workshop held in the Ruramba sector.

It was characterized by grading land where vulnerable families without decent homes will be resettled and building kitchen backyards in households of the area.

Following the community work, residents were informed of initiatives meant to boost the country’s development and citizens’ welfare and reminded that they can’t be achieved without security.

Busingye said that security is part of their rights that whoever intends to threaten security will face severe penalties granted by laws.

“You have recently heard jobless people who camped in Nyungwe attempting to threaten national security. They were trapped in poverty to the point of lacking money to buy banana beer and decided to fight. They made it wrong and were corrected,” he said.

Busingye said that the Government cannot tolerate anyone intending to destabilize national security and urged them to hold and strive for that legacy.

“You have rights to security. It is a responsibility, the legacy you to have to be assured of its presence and concentrate on other activities enhancing your families’ progress and welfare,” he highlighted.

The Minister said that no one can destabilize national security wherever he/she is from.

“It won’t be possible regardless of whether the enemy comes from the sky, from water masses or under the earth. You have to sleep and eat comfortably because we are aware of our concerns to uplift our families’ welfare. We won’t be worried of our security,” he said.

Nyaruguru residents also pledged their contribution to maintaining security intensifying patrols and alerting officials whenever they are suspicious of security threats.

During the event, 15 professional patrol agents received equipment including raincoats, boots, a torch and batons bought with residents’ contributions.

The Mayor of Nyaruguru district, François Habitegeko said they want professional patrols extended to every cell.

“Donated equipment is meant to make their work easy. It will be an ongoing initiative to have professional patrol post in every cell supervising other patrol agents,” he revealed.

Residents were also reminded to promote peace at home, stand against disputes and concert efforts to curb drug abuse.

Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages is a China-Africa Cooperation project which aims at reducing the digital divide in African rural areas by giving villages access to digital television.

The project that started in June has so far reached over 900 Rwandan beneficiaries who received various equipment including TV sets, Decoders, Antennas, and projectors.

The youth from families who received TVs welcomed the support saying it helps watch important TV programs and stand against drug abuse which would be done to pass time.

Rebecca Nyiramahirwe said she has started benefiting from an educational program tipping on the dangers and consequences of drug abuse.

Parents also testified that TVs have played a critical role in positively shaping children’s behaviors.

“The TV set we received has helped my children to stay away with their peers abusing drugs because they are concentrated at home spending their time to enjoy edutaining programs on TV,” says Anita Tuyishimire.

Bugesera district vice mayor for economic development, Angelique Umwali, says TVs help the youth to enjoy education and entertainment programs like watching football matches without traveling long distances.

The project that started on 28th, June 2018 has so far donated 1000 decoders and 900 digital TVs to beneficiaries in different parts of rural areas of the country.

The project of “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages” aims to change African rural villages through excellent satellite TV programs.

Construction activities at the Kigali Arena have been completed and the multi-billion facility is awaiting official inauguration.

Located next to Amahoro National Stadium in Remera, the state-of-the-art arena is a multi-purpose building for indoor games and designed to host meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and concerts.

It will be home to major basketball and volleyball events in the country. The facility is the largest indoor stadium in East Africa and the 10th in Africa. The construction of the arena which started in January 2019 is part of what the Government is doing to uplift sports in the country.

Considering efforts put in to move fast the completion of the project, Masai Ujiri has via Giants of Africa Instagram account commended Kagame for walking the talk.

“Put your money where your mouth is. So proud of President Kagame building the Kigali Arena. Told us a year ago that he was going to do it. DONE. A shining example that – Africa is NOW!!” reads his post on Instagram.

Masai Ujiri,49, is an English born Nigerian professional basketball executive and former player who is the president of basketball operations of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

View this post on Instagram

"Put your money where your mouth is. So proud of President Kagame building the Kigali Arena. Told us a year ago that he was going to do it. DONE. A shining example that – Africa is NOW!!” – Masai Ujiri #africanow #presidentkagame #kigaliarena

A post shared by Giants of Africa (@giantsofafrica) on Jul 26, 2019 at 8:52am PDT

The duo was arrested in Mataba Village of Mataba Cell in Shangi Sector with forged money amounting to Rwf43, 000.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Emmanuel Kayigi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, identified the suspects as Claver Ndagijuwimye and Afrodis Dusengimana.

“Ndagijuwimye and Dusengimana were drinking at a bar located in Burimba trading center, they paid Rwf5, 000 for the first round of their drinks, but the bar attendant didn’t realize that the notes were fake,” CIP Kayigi said.

“When they paid for the second bill, the bar attendant noticed that the notes were forged, this prompted him to check the previous notes, which he also found to be fake. The bar owner called the Police and the suspects were arrested at the scene, search and recovered Rwf43, 000 from them, all fake,” he added.

The bar owner also said that Ndagijuwimye, in the recent past, also gave him a fake bill of Rwf2, 000.

CIP Kayigi observed that the vigilance of the business community continues to play a crucial role in identifying and arresting people circulating fake currencies.

Three people were arrested separately early this week as they also tried to buy goods using forged money.

The suspects, Jean Pierre Sendwi alias Musirikare and Vincent Mvuyekure had just received the illegal consignment from a Burundian trafficker when the Police arrested them on Wednesday, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, said.

“They were arrested in a place called Akagera valley where they met their supplier, who escaped back to Burundi. The arrest followed the information provided by people, who were farming in the valley and saw the men with the suspicious luggage,” said CIP Twizeyimana.

He added that the duo was previously suspected to be drug dealers distributed by traffickers from Burundi through the porous border in Akagera Valley.

The suspects said they had bought the leafy narcotic drugs at Rwf180, 000, and were to transport it to Bugesera District, where they had a buyer.

CIP Twizeyimana commended the responsiveness of the farmers in Akagera valley and called for continued information sharing on anyone they suspect to be a drug dealer or carrying suspicious luggage.

Article 263 of Rwanda penal code stipulates that any person who, unlawfully, produces, transforms, transports, stores, gives to another or who sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances commits an offense, with a sentence upon conviction, ranging between 20 years and life in prison, and a fine of between Rwf20 million and Rwf30 million.

He joined other heads of state including Macky Sall of Senegal, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, and Uganda’s Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda and Nigeria Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

They also attended a dinner hosted by Tony Elumelu yesterday evening ahead of TEFForum2019.

Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu (born 22 March 1963) is a Nigerian economist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

He is the chairman of Heirs Holdings, the United Bank for Africa, Transcorp and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. Elumelu holds the Nigerian national honors, the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) and Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR). He was recognized as one of “Africa’s 20 Most Powerful People in 2012” by Forbes magazine

The event is an opportunity for young women and men, from African countries to meet, learn and network with the broader African and global entrepreneurship ecosystem.

It also provides an opportunity for political leaders and policymakers to interact with a new generation of African business leaders, who are transforming Africa’s economic trajectory.

Kagame along with his counterparts have today morning featured on a panel discussion with over 5,000 African entrepreneurs.

As he featured the panel discussion, President Kagame shared Rwanda’s transformational journey. He said that considering the past of the country, Rwanda had no alternative with the only way trying to go up and up.

He said that the first thing the country had to deal with was the mindset of its people ‘because there is a history where people were used to seating back and things being offered to them for free from abroad’.

“We had to find ways of making sure that Rwandans understand that they have to be there for themselves. That goes for other Africans I’m sure. We have to do our part. Even if we get the assistance we use it to make sure that we strengthen ourselves& then build on that,” he said.

Kagame explained that Rwandans had to create a vision of how to move forward to achieve prosperity.

“It starts with ourselves. We said: Rwandans, it starts with us. How much have we done, how much have we invested in ourselves for skills, for knowledge and how much time do we take to do things that we know we must do and not wait for anybody else to come and do it,” he noted

Kagame said what follows if you invested in skills and in infrastructure, is doing business, entrepreneurship, people’s creativity, and innovation that it would not happen unless and until you invest in a conducive good governance environment.

“That is how we tried to do it, and we were under pressure because of where we are coming from & we had to convince ourselves that we can do it and that there no other alternative. We started doing our best. That is how we have made good progress,” he shared.

The two-day forum marks the end of the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, which this year mentored, trained and seeded over 3,000 young Africans, selected from over 200,000 applicants.

UDP is an online educational platform to support the delivery and expansion of Peace and Values Education programmes in Rwanda and beyond.

The latter is also a resource to nurture Ubumuntu (greatness of heart) through practical education and creative stories and complements books.

The development of the Ubumuntu Digital Platform was funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Rwanda.

The partnership between MINEDUC and Aegis Trust seeks to integrate peace and values courses into the new Competence-Based-Curriculum.

Dr. Irénée Ndayambaje, the Director-General of Rwanda Education Board (REB) said that the institution shall continue to work hand in hand with Aegis Trust and partners to achieve even greater milestones to build a cohesive society.

“We believe that the digitization of the Teaching and Learning Materials through Ubumuntu Digital Platform will hugely contribute to the integration and support application of Peace and Values Education in our schools,” he said.

The Ambassador of The Kingdom of Belgium to Rwanda, H.E Benoît Ryelandt congratulated Aegis Trust and REB for this successful achievement launching Ubumuntu Digital Platform noting that it adds a valuable instrument and brings a new dimension to the remarkable and longstanding actions undertaken by Aegis Trust in the field of peace education.

“Most of the young adults were not born at the time of the Genocide against the Tutsi. Helping them learn from the past and understand how hatred and prejudice can lead to mass violence, is a significant step forward to build a stable and peaceful future young generation,” he said.

Freddy Mutanguha, the Executive Director of Aegis Trust said Peace Education is a learning process that leads to learners internalizing skills and positives values and can be included in almost everything that happens in human lives.

In June 2019, Aegis Trust gave 20,000 books and 20,000 curriculum programs to REB to enhance teachings of peace and values.