Author: IGIHE

According to a statement from Botswana’s Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation, President Kagame’s visit marks an exciting moment in the relations between Botswana and Rwanda, as this is the first at the head of state and government level.

President Mokgweetsi has been leading Botswana since April 2018.

The visit is an opportunity to exchange views on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The visit is also expected to provide Botswana with a golden opportunity to learn from Rwanda’s ‘wealthy technological advancement’ into the fourth industrial revolution.

Rwanda is one of the best performing nations on the African continent and is touted as an emerging economy to watch.

Kagame visits Botswana after completing a working visit in Madagascar where he attended the 59th anniversary of Madagascar Independence Day.

During their stay in Botswana, the President and First Lady will tour the FeedMaster Botswana Facility, a cattle feedlot in the outskirts of Gaborone where they will be shown best practices in upgrading the condition of cattle before it is processed into beef exports.

The President’s visit will leave, a General Cooperation Agreement (GCA) signed for the establishment of a Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation covering the following areas: Inter-Governmental Cooperation, Trade, and Investment, Agriculture, Health, Tourism, Peace and Security, Infrastructure, Energy, Telecommunication, Culture and Education, Scientific Research, Media and Communications.

The two Heads of State will also hold a tête-à-tête as well a joint Press Briefing.

Both Heads of State last met in January 2019 in the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The two countries enjoy cordial relations in different areas of cooperation including agri-business, trade, and investment, education, environment and mining among others.

Their mother, Dorcas Uwimana told district officials that her children fell sick on Monday night as they slept in the same room.

The Executive secretary of Jabana sector, Patrice Ndanga has told IGIHE that the cause of death remains unknown.

“We have learnt that the mother who was also in critical condition went to alert neighbors of her children’s sickness on Tuesday early morning. She found them dead with foam out of their months as she returned home,” he said.

Ndanga explained that the mother who was too in critical condition was taken to Kabuye Health Center while her husband also fell sick later and admitted at the same health center.

The bodies were taken to Police Hospital for postmortem.

Aboard the inaugural non-stop flight on the 737-800 Next Generation Aircraft were 102 people, including officials, the CEO of the Rwanda National Carrier Mme Yvonne Manzi Makolo, the Israel Ambassador to Rwanda Ron Adam and others.

The route, the 29th RwandAir is flying, will be operated three times a week: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using the Boeing 737-800NG. The Aircraft has 16 seats in business class and 138 seats in economy class.

The Airline is looking to cash in on many religious tourists from West and Central Africa via Kigali. Tel Aviv is also considered the economic and technology centre of Israel, with many trading opportunities.

Speaking at the launch, the CEO of RwandAir, Ms Yvonne Manzi Makolo noted that Tel Aviv route is a strategic one and will boost tourism as well as trade. The new route will boost tourism, both religious and historical, while more Israelis are expected to visit Rwanda.

She said “The route is going to solidify our cooperation with Israel and it will boost tourism and trade between our two countries. We are going to see more people from Israel coming to visit Rwanda and more Rwandans going to Israel and this will be great for two Nations”.

Annually, hundreds of devout Christians from Rwanda go to Israel to visit Holy Places. Tel Aviv is one of the world’s leading tech hubs and the airline is targeting flying business travelers as well as Pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.

Israel provides strong links in 3 Sectors of crucial importance to Rwanda’s economy. These are modern agriculture where Israel has pioneered global innovations, ICT and entrepreneurship for a country referred to a start-up nation.

In April, Tel Aviv formally opened its Embassy in Kigali, making it easy for Rwandans to acquire visas to Israel. Previously visas to Israel were obtained in Nairobi or Addis Ababa.

Ambassador to Rwanda, H.E Ron Adam, who was also on board the maiden flight stressed the significance of the development to the ties between the peoples of the two Countries.

“It signifies that the relationships are tightening and we need to look for more passengers coming from both sides, incoming and outbound tourism and also imports, exports and people are going to get more connected”, he said.

He also noted that right now, Rwandans are going to start getting Israel visas as his Embassy had already started issuing visas to Israel, adding that more Israel would be coming to Rwanda because of the accessibility that has been afforded by the direct flight.

Recently, RwandAir launched its 28th route to Guangzhou, China.

Kagame expressed the hope yesterday as he ended a working visit to Madagascar where he also held a tête-à-tête with his host President Andry Rajoelina at Iavoloha Presidential Palace.

The President and First Lady Jeannette Kagame were in Madagascar yesterday where they attended the 59th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Madagascar held at Mahamasina Municipal Stadium in the capital city, Antananarivo.

As he addressed members of the press, Kagame said it was a high honor to pay his first visit to the magnificent country on the 59th anniversary of the restoration of Independence.

He appreciated the invitation from Madagascar counterpart to join him and the people of Madagascar on the historic occasion saying the visit is also an opportunity to deepen the bilateral relationship between the two nations.

“This was the substance of the very productive discussions which the President and I have just held. Building on the MoU signed by our respective development boards earlier this year, we intend to enhance the trade and investment ties between Rwanda and Madagascar, particularly in the context of COMESA and the African Continental Free Trade Area,” he said.

Kagame also highlighted other priority areas for collaboration including technology, agriculture, and security.

“I was also pleased to invite His Excellency to pay a visit to Rwanda in the near future. We hope that we will continue to strengthen the ties between our two countries and our two peoples, and help propel our people to greater development,” he stressed.

President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame also attended a State Banquet hosted in their honor by President Andry Rajoelina and First Lady Mialy Rajoelina of Madagascar.

This is my first visit to Africa’s largest island. The natural beauty of Madagascar is legendary and truly breath-taking. However, we have found the warm, generous spirit of the Malagasy people even more striking.

He thanked his counterpart and the people of Madagascar ‘for according us the privilege of marking this historic day together as your guests. I also congratulate you.’ Kagame said the unity and strength of the nation were clearly on display that national unity is the highest political virtue as well as the foundation of sovereignty, security, and development.

“In Rwanda, by coming together to find solutions to our unique challenges, we found that we actually had the power and resilience to transform our lives for the better,” he noted.

“The demonstration of possibility, in the face of adversity, is the most important lesson of our experience. If Rwanda has been able to make progress, it means that others can do the same, or better,” added Kagame.

The Police Chief made the remarks yesterday at a special send-off function of 217 Police officers, who retired recently, held at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) General Headquarters in Kacyiru.

Seven of the retirees are senior officers.

He said the function was held to recognize their contribution to national building.

IGP Munyuza urged the retired officers to remain committed to the cause of national building, particularly promoting national security.

“The country and Rwanda National Police in particular is proud of your contribution to national security in your role as law enforcers, some of your colleagues did not have this opportunity to have such an honour,” said IGP Munyuza.

He thanked them for the selfless service in security and liberation of the country.

“You are going with dignity,” he said.

IGP Munyuza expressed confidence that the retired officers will continue to give their contribution in the new capacities as members of the ‘Police Reserve’ before adding that RNP will continue to rely on their participation to maintaining security in their communities.

“We know you sacrificed a lot to building this country, and believe you cannot tolerate whoever can try to undo what you fought for,” said IGP Munyuza.

Retired Chief Supt. Dan Ndayambaje, speaking on behalf of the retired officers, thanked the Government for Rwanda for the opportunity to serve their nation.

The experience and skills acquired during their time as serving officers, Ndayambaje said, will also facilitate them in their new status as members of Police reserves and out of active duty.

The Formed Police Unit Three (FPU-3) commanded by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jacque Urujeni replaced the maiden female-dominated unit headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Teddy Ruyenzi, which was deployed to UNMISS in June last year.

The replaced contingent returned home later in the evening after a successful tour-of-duty.

The female contingent was pledged by His Excellency Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic of Rwanda during the UN Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping Operations in 2015.

During the pre-deployment briefing, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dan Munyuza told the officers that they have been well trained and that they have the skills and readiness required to fulfill their duty.

“You are going in a country with different weather condition but you have been prepared and trained physically and mentally to stand such tests and to accomplish your duties,” IGP Munyuza said.

“Uphold the legacy of the contingent you are replacing, which has been credited for much success, work with other peacekeepers and the people of South Sudan and respect their cultures,” he added.

He reminded them that their conduct while on or off duty should reflect the image of their country and the force.

“Serve with commitment and discipline, it is what Rwanda stands for and it is what you must project while out there,” the Police chief emphasized.

He spoke at length about discipline, integrity, and respect for each and teamwork as pillars to the effective delivery of the mission mandate.

“Our country has achieved a lot in all sectors of development including security both locally and cross-border in peacekeeping missions, sustain that legacy and build from it,” IGP Munyuza said.

He also reminded them that the Rwandan culture of human security goes beyond borders even in peacekeeping missions.

The deployment of the female-dominated contingent is in line with the national gender policy on gender promotion and equality.

It also reflects on how further Rwanda responds to international peace in the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 that stressed the important role women can play in peacekeeping and conflict resolution.

The UN resolution calls for more women in decision-making positions, a gendered perspective to be “mainstreamed” across peacekeeping and for more women to participate in field operations as police and as human rights observers.

Women constitute about 30 percent of the seven FPU contingents deployed in various South Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR) and Haiti, making Rwanda the second largest contributor of female peacekeepers.

The Minister of Infrastructure, Amb. Claver Gatete made the statement yesterday to the parliamentary chamber of deputies as he provided explanations on challenges identified during their previous tours in different sectors between January and February 2019.

The visits were meant to assess the implementation of development programs and projects eradicating poverty.

The issue of asbestos roofs was among areas of concern.

The Government of Rwanda took the decision to eliminate asbestos roofs ten years ago over associated health risks including cancer among other incurable diseases.

When asked to provide explanations on the progress of eliminating asbestos roofings still found on public, private and individuals’ buildings, Gatete said: “The progress of eliminating Asbestos roofs from public buildings stands at 57%. The rest is 43% to be dealt with. In non-public buildings, asbestos has been eliminated at 66%. We need at least Rwf 4.3 billion to squarely address the challenge.”

“We believe the challenge of asbestos roofing on all public buildings will be completely eliminated within one year,” said Gatete.

He said, private investors are also mobilized to support government in eradicating asbestos roofs.

President Paul Kagame recently talked about the matter as he visited Nyabihu and Musanze districts during previous presidential outreach program at Busogo stadium.
He said the decision to eliminate the hazardous roofs was taken ten years ago but still exists at different buildings across the country.

Affected farmers usually use jerry cans, buckets among other plastic containers, saying they find it hard to effectively clean the containers which also attract much heat during sunny days, spoiling the milk which is rejected by milk collection centers.

Farmers have thus appealed for support to get standard milk cans to maintain quality of milk.

“We have quite a number of cows in Gishwati farms. We have higher milk production but we face difficulties with supplying milk. We use jerry cans of which hygiene is uneasy to maintain. Indeed, milk supplied in jerry cans is susceptible to perishing when it is exposed to the Sun. This leads to the rejection of our milk at the collection centers,” said Enock Ngiruwonsanga.

The representative of Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF) at Nyiragikokora Milk Collection Center, Jean Pierre Manirabaruta said they sometimes reject over 20 liters of substandard milk a day.

“We often experience such issues of substandard milk because some farmers still use plastic containers like jerry cans and buckets among others. At times we realize the milk is spoiled on arrival. It is difficult to articulately clean such plastic containers,” he said.

Manirabaruta however explained that the challenge is being addressed under the new plan to distribute standard milk containers to farmers.

The representative of Rwanda Dairy Development Project (RDDP) in Nyabihu district, Alexandre Mbyayingabo said the process of distributing milk cans to farmers is underway.

“The Ministry of Agriculture through RDDP operating in 12 districts countrywide, started addressing the issue with the distribution of milk cans, cooling tanks and equipment to test milk standards among others. The initiative launched is in line with improving quantity and quality of milk and accelerate farmers’ progress,” he said.

MINAGRI through RDDP plans to distribute 20,000 dairy equipment including coolers, milk cans and milk testers, among others.

Farmers in Gishwati will receive 3,465 including 4 coolers in a bid to eliminate losses emanating from supplying milk in sub-standard containers.