Author: IGIHE

The school that has been operating in Ecole d’Art de Nyundo in Rubavu District will settle in the former Kavumu College of Education starting with the academic year 2018 on 22nd January.

Speaking to IGIHE, the head of the school, Jacques Murigande alias Migthy Popo said the school’s relocation intends to improve the performance, adding that the school materials have already got into the new campus.

“The main reason to relocate is because there is a small space in Nyundo. We have been operating there provisionally. We are shifting to a bigger place where we can expand training and enroll more students. The new campus also offers a better setting for our materials,” he said.

“We had been together with students doing design at Nyundo and we had sometimes been distracting them from concentrating on their courses when we play musical instruments. We have now a bigger space which can also allow us to expand the school facilities when need arises,” he said.

Murigande said shifting activities are underway, going hand in hand with enrollment for the 2018 intake.

The Workforce Development Authority (WDA), which sponsors and oversees the school’s activities, enrolls 30 music talented students every year and trains them to do it professionally.

The music school was launched in 2014 and the first intake graduated in March last year.

“Results for primary six and ordinary level 2017 national exams will be unveiled on Tuesday 11:00am in the ministry’s boardroom,” the ministry announced on Monday.

From 13th to 15th November 2017, a total of 237,181 sat for primary leaving examinations while from 21st to 1st December 2017, a total of 98 268 students sat for ordinary level examinations.

It is expected that the first term of 2018 academic year will start from 22nd January and end on 29th March 2018. The second term will run from 16th April and to 3rd August while the third term will start on 21st August and end on 23rd November 2018.

The arrest came following an order by District Commissioner Sebastian Waryuba in a crackdown to end teenage pregnancies in the region.

According to the District Administrative Secretary Mr Mohamed Azizi, authorities are still looking for the men who impregnated the girls who disappeared shortly after a directive was issued.

“We have managed to arrest the girls and their parents but unfortunately those who impregnated the girls have escaped and we are looking for them,” Mr Azizi told The Citizen.

Adolescent pregnancy in the region have been on the rise recently. In 2015, 20 cases were reported while in 2017, some 27 cases were recorded.

Gender and Human Rights activists have decried the directive arguing that the authorities should arrest the culprits rather than the victims.

In June last year, East Africans and women’s rights groups condemned Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s comments that schoolgirls who give birth should not be allowed back to school.
{{Source: The Citizen}}

Uzayisenga was arrested on Thursday last week following the Rwanda Cooperative Agency’s (RCA) audit which revealed that over Rwf6 million was missing.

He is detained at Police Station in Kacyiru Sector, Gasabo District.

FERWACOTAMO Chairperson, Salomon Bigirimana confirmed the arrest saying that Uzayisenga is suspected of embezzling over Rwf6 million but he said only will justice shed more light on the matter.

“He was arrested on Thursday after RCA’s audit in FERWACOTAMO, the report revealed issues pinning him on financial mismanagement,” he said.

Police was tipped by residents in the area about the gangsters who were smuggling cannabis from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

During the drug crackdown in Nengo Cell of Gisenyi Sector, Police intercepted 25kgs of cannabis after stopping traffickers who immediately ran away.

Police Spokesperson in Western Region, IP Eulade Gakwaya said that traffickers were smuggling the drugs from the neighboring country through Kivu Lake.

He said that locals informed the police that the boat loaded cannabis was heading to the shores of the lake and the force intercepted them but traffickers ran away leaving cannabis in the hands of police. The drugs were later taken to Gisenyi Police Station and the pursuit of the smugglers was initiated right away.

Gakwaya urged the residents to avoid involving in drugs because they have bad effects on people’s health.

“People should avoid drug dealership as they hamper the development of the country, they weaken thinking capacity and lead users into dangers,” he said.

He hailed people who informed the police on time, making it easier to intercept the drugs, and urged others join in the course of fighting crimes.

The Northern Province Governor, Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi made the call over the weekend as the Diaspora members and the province’s officials celebrated the New Year.

The event attracted about 50 people from Europe, Americas and Africa who have been in the country for festive holidays and others who participated in the just concluded national dialogue council (Umushyikirano).

Gatabazi presented potential opportunities to participants and urged them to invest in infrastructure.

“This province receives many tourists. I urge you to invest your money in constructing hotels, restaurants and entertainment pitches so that tourists can have all facilities close to them,” he said.

Rwandan Diaspora Coordinator, Daniel Murenzi hailed the idea and pledged their contribution in building the country.

“Being sensitised on investing locally is another advantage. It simply implies how we are valued in our country; our contribution in the country’s development is our responsibility, we promise our partnership and full commitment,” he said.

Dieudonné Ntasinzira, a Rwandan living in Belgium said that they have a big task to promote the country’s image in Diaspora communities.

“As Rwandans living abroad, we have a task of promoting our country. For us in Belgium, we have organised a five-day exhibition that will showcase Made in Rwanda products and will take place in Brussels. The exhibition will help show Rwandans and foreigners where to start from when they want to invest in the country,” he explained.

Rwandan community in Diaspora contribute in different socio-economic development activities like paying health insurance for poor families and providing them with the foundational support for development.

The International Organization for Migration has called the Mediterranean “by far the world’s deadliest border,” as more than 33,000 migrants have died at sea trying to enter Europe since 2000.

More than 3,100 migrants died making the trip in 2017, but the IOM notes the number of fatalities is likely higher due to the number of boats that sink without rescue crews knowing. Last year, more than 5,000 people died along the sea route.

“People are still dying at sea in enormous numbers, even after years of seeing this happen repeatedly,” Eugenio Ambrosi, IOM regional director for the European Union, Norway and Switzerland, said in November. “We have to ask ourselves, why is this still happening?”

The Libyan Navy said on Saturday at least 25 migrants drowned off the country’s coast after their boat capsized in international waters, the Associated Press reports.

In a separate incident, the Italian coast guard on Saturday recovered the bodies of eight migrants and rescued 84 others from a smugglers’ boat off the Libyan coast. The AP reports the migrants were in the water for hours before being saved and dozens could still be missing.

The death toll continues to rise even though the number of migrants crossing the sea has significantly decreased. The number of arrivals has sharply dropped since the European Union reached a deal with Turkey in March 2016 to close a main route along the Eastern Mediterranean into Greece.

The IOM reported on Friday that 171,635 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017, down from 363,504 arrivals last year. The majority of those migrants arrived in Italy, followed by Greece, Spain and Cyprus.

“Rescue at sea needs to be more robust and well resourced, with a clear, life-saving mandate and better cooperation among all actors involved,” Ambrosi said. “But at the same time, the best way to save lives is to offer migrants a way around smugglers through safe and legal bridges to Europe.”

As NPR has previously reported, many of the victims have died in mass drownings after smugglers force hundreds of people into delicate dinghy-style small boats. Since the collapse of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government in 2011, Libya has become the main transit point for migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea.

According to Amnesty International, European governments have also been complicit in the abuse of refugees in Libyan detention centers, as they work to reduce the number of migrants arriving from the North African country.

Many North African migrants who try to reach Europe by boat are often intercepted by the Libyan coast guard and handed over to criminal gangs that traffic them. Nearly 20,000 people are detained in Libya, Amnesty says.

“European governments have [implemented] migration-control policies that, by reinforcing the capacity and commitment of Libyan authorities to stop sea crossings, are trapping thousands of women, men, and children in a country where they are systematically exposed to abuse and where they have little chance to seek and obtain protection,” according to a December report by the human rights group.
{{Source:NPR}}