IGIHE

Author: IGIHE

  • Kicukiro 40 needy families receive decent housing

    Each of the 40 fully furnished houses installed with water and electricity is worth Rwf11 million and were constructed by the district.

    The modern homes built from the model of Four in One have around a public market square, health centre, nursery school and a cultural centre.

    Beneficiary households were formerly living in cramped rented rooms while others had crumbling homes.

    “We are seriously considering ways to strengthen their capacity by offering them capital to initiate their business and make this market place active,” said Vice-mayor for Social Affairs in Kicukiro District, Baingana Emmanuel.

    He said the district will also construct a modern henhouse for the village residents to do poultry and urged them to get together into a cooperative.

    Most of the largess beneficiaries are older persons.

    Beneficiaries asked the district to consider providing them with a public transport line and playgrounds for their children.

  • Mbarushimana convicted of genocide crimes, given life sentence

    During the reading of the verdict on Friday, the court announced that Mbarushimana is convicted of complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as the crime against humanity.

    He committed crimes in former Muganza Commune in Butare Prefecture, currently in the Southern Province.

    He is accused of instigating the establishment of two road blocks in the area where many people were killed. He is also said to have been among the leaders of the attack on Kabuye Hill where thousands of Tutsi were killed between April 21 and 25, 1994.

    Mbarushimana, who was in the court as the presiding judge read the judgment, announced that he was going to appeal the decision.

    Mbarushimana was extradited from Denmark in July 2014 after exhausting all avenues to block extradition efforts including petitioning the European Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights which ruled that there were all conditions necessary for him to get fair trial in Rwanda once extradited.

  • Rwanda among 18 best touristic destinations in the world

    According to CNN’s list of best destinations worth visiting in 2018, Rwanda has been surfing a tide of good news stories in recent years as it distances itself from a troubled past with glowing accounts of its amazing volcanic landscape, clean streets, stable government and efforts to preserve endangered mountain gorillas.

    May 2017 saw Rwanda gamble on doubling the price of gorilla trekking permits to $1,500, making it up to three times the price of some permits in neighboring Uganda. The plan is clearly to corner a more upscale market, catered for with the opening of new premium lodges, including One&Only’s Nyungwe House, and help supercharge the country’s tourism economy.

    As Africa escapes go, it does look attractive if you can afford it. Verdant national parks such as Akagera, Volcanoes and Nyungwe Forest are home to safari favorites including lions, hippos, crocs and rare primates.

    In 2017, Akagera completed its Big Five list with the triumphant reintroduction of eastern black rhinos after they vanished 10 years ago.

    Throw in pleasant year-round temperatures of about 27 Celsius and direct flights from London and Rwanda could become one of the most tempting luxury year-round escapes on offer.

    “Don’t miss Suspended a knee-wobbling 50-meters above the floor of the Nyungwe Forest, the Canopy Walk takes visitors across a narrow 200-meter bridge through treetops teeming with life,” reads CNN article.

    Best destinations on the list are Cape Verde Islands; Botum Sakor National Park-Cambodia; Malta; Serbia; Nevis; Banff- Canada; Nagano-Japan; Puebla-Mexico; Essaouira- Morocco; Perth-Australia; Rwanda; Crete; PyeongChang-South Korea; Lisbon-Portugal, Cajamarca- Peru; Yunnan- China; Asheville-North Carolina and New Orleans.

    The view of National Volcanoes Park, a home of Mountain Gorillas that attract many tourists.

  • RCS shares festive joy with kids in Musanze prison

    During the party, children received clothes, meals, drinks and sanitation materials.

    Their Parents hailed the gesture as a sign of how the government doesn’t forget inmates in the programmes intended to benefit the population.

    “Offering us Christmas tips comforts us and our children. We are happy and have realised that we have access to programmes in the country. It restores our hope,” said Léonie Nyirampirwa, one of the parents of beneficiaries.

    Patricie Dusabemariya said “after committing crimes, we thought that we were rejected, but this action shows us that the government considers us and our children.”

    François Bisengimana, the Director of Adoption Protection and Promotion of Child Rights at the National Children Commission, said the act is part of reminding Rwandans about their societal responsibilities as it is in the government programmes.

    “The government always offers facilitation to these particular categories of people; we shall continue to partner and improve facilitations as well as solving some problems they have raised like lack of ‘Daycare facilities’ for these children,” he said.

    RCS Deputy Commissioner General of Prison (DCGP) Jeanne Chantal Ujeneza urged the inmates to instil good values into their children so that they grow up with positive minds.

    “You should teach good values to these children so that they can live in harmony with their families and the community when they return home,” she said.

    RCS Deputy Commissioner General of Prison (DCGP) Jeanne Chantal Ujeneza

  • George Weah elected Liberian president

    As news of Mr Weah’s victory emerged, his supporters began celebrating in the capital Monrovia.

    He will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, in Liberia’s first democratic handover in decades.

    “My fellow Liberians, I deeply feel the emotion of all the nation,” Mr Weah wrote on Twitter after the results were announced.

    “I measure the importance and the responsibility of the immense task which I embrace today. Change is on.”

    {{Who is George Weah?}}

    Mr Weah, who was raised in a slum in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, starred at top-flight European football clubs Paris St-Germain (PSG) and AC Milan, before ending his career in England with brief stays at Chelsea and Manchester City.

    He is the only African footballer to have won both Fifa World Player of the Year and the prestigious Ballon D’Or.

    He entered politics after his retirement from the game in 2002 and is currently a senator in Liberia’s parliament.
    Source:BBC

  • Central Bank warns banks on closing account charges

    Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Director of Bank Supervision and Forex Bureaus at BNR, Françoise Kagoyire said that all banks were informed about the directives warning them against charging clients who may want to close their accounts.

    “There are directives that were issued in 2016 with immediate effect. We have recently conducted a monitoring exercise on how the directives are being implemented and found out that some banks are complying. We have also sent them a message reminding them about the directives,” she said.

    Kagoyire said that banks are not allowed to charge monthly fees on bankrupt accounts.

    Banks were also urged to transfer to the Central Bank money from accounts that exceed five years without any transactions in order to ensure the funds security.

    Central Bank Governor, John Rwangombwa urged clients to declare bank accounts that are no longer operational so that they don’t confuse planners during the national budget planning.

    “Directives state that when you don’t want to use the account, you ask for its closure. Banks used to consider these accounts as operational and charge them monthly fees until they fall into debts,” he said.

    Different banks had been charging between Rwf5,000 and Rwf10,000 for closing a bank account.

    BNR observed in February 2017 that closing bank accounts exercise was being done contrary to the directives and the regulator was seeking to introduce new directives that would harmonize the exercise in all banks.

  • Former Kiziguro Hospital Director Mukama arrested

    Speaking to IGIHE, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dismas Rutaganira, the Eastern Region Police Commander, said that Mukama was arrested on Tuesday and is held at Kabarore Police station as investigations continue.

    He said the investigation was launched following the Eastern Province’s audit that revealed undocumented funds used by Kiziguro Hospital.

    “Police have stood against embezzlement and defrauders of public funds,” he said.

    ACP Rutaganira said that as public institutions and civil society commit to fighting mismanagement of public funds, all people should follow the suit.

    Mukama was Director of Kiziguro Hospital from May 2010 to September 2017.

    Dr. Diocres Mukama Twagiramungu, the former Director of Kiziguro Hospital in Gatsibo District

  • Customs and Taxation Management school pleads for local teachers

    Launched in Ndera Sector of Gasabo District in 2015, the college is the first of its kind in the East African region.

    Prior to its introduction in Rwanda, such courses were only offered at a university level in Tanzania.

    Speaking to IGIHE, the school head teacher, Jules Sebanani said they introduced the courses after finding that they were not offered anywhere in Rwanda yet the country needs skilled people in the field.

    The two-year old school suffers lack of local teachers and employing expensive foreigners.

    “We currently have competent teachers from Tanzania. It costs us because we need to pay each and every thing for them starting from the recruitment fee, meals and salary,” said Sebanani.

    He said there are no educated Rwandans in the field and appeals for introduction of customs related courses at university to produce teachers for the field.

    “We need support to help us teach our students but it would be better if we had a university that offers such courses so that we get Rwandan teachers in the future,” he said.

    Annabela Mutoni, a senior five student at the school and currently conducting internship at MAGERWA, says the courses are helpful because she is now able to handle well her tasks.

    “Others doing such job have studied accountancy or other subjects but I studied customs from senior four and I will carry on with them at university; so I will graduate with competent skills,” she said.

    The school started with 30 students in the option in 2015, increased to 74 in 2016 and reached 159 students in 2017.

    Some students from College Doctrina Vitae
    Seth Nsengiyumva, an employee of ZBR Express, a society that works closely with MAGERWA praised the school's initiative
    Annabela Mutoni, a senior student in Customs and Taxation Management in College Doctrina Vitae

  • Man arrested with fake Euros in Remera

    The suspect Livine Nsaguye was caught at a currency exchange office (Forex bureau) in Gisimenti, Remera Sector of Gasabo District on Tuesday, as he allegedly attempted to exchange fake Euros amounting to 3,250 (about Rwf3.3 million).

    Rwanda National Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali, Supt. Emmanuel Hitayezu said investigations have identified the crime accomplices.

    “When a Forex bureau attendant realised that the 65 euro notes given to him were counterfeit, he was quick to call the police and the suspect was arrested right at the scene,” said Supt. Hitayezu.

    “Investigations show that these people are part of the same ring; some have been arrested while others including those that are actually known are still in hiding but they will be arrested eventually,” he warned.

    “In this specific case, for example, we found out that the person that sold these fake notes to Nsaguye is one of those on the wanted list over the same crime whose accomplices were arrested in the recent past,” said the spokesperson.

    According to investigations, Nsaguye, a businessman in Kimironko Sector, had bought the counterfeit notes at Rwf1.5 million, apparently hoping to more than double the profits.

    “You will be moved by the profits involved in the illegal act and will lose even the little you had. Rwf1.5 million genuine money for fake 3,250 Euros was like burning it and a big loss that is avoidable,” he observed.

    “There are different groups involved in this; those who sell fake notes and those who buy and attempt to exchange them and all these people are among those that have been arrested,” Hitayezu said.

    At least 38 cases related to currency counterfeit have been recorded in Kigali in the last three months and, according to Hitayezu, majority implicated in these cases have been arrested and prosecuted.

    “Most of these criminals are reported by forex bureaus and mobile banking agents where they attempt to defraud them. This is an indication of vigilance and proof that with this kind of partnership, others will also be arrested,” he noted.

    Circulators of fake foreign currencies target especially forex bureaus while fraudsters in the local currency, especially in the denominations of Rwf2, 000 and Rwf5, 000, target mobile banking agents, according to Hitayezu.

  • Central Bank cuts repo rate from 6 to 5.5 percent

    The policy rate is an interest rate that the monetary authority (central bank) sets in order to influence the evolution of the main monetary variables in the economy.

    The move was announced Thursday following the quarterly Financial Stability Committee (FSC) and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings that were held in Kigali on Wednesday and Thursday.

    The decision to reduce the rate was taken following the MPC observation that 2017 is ending with stable macroeconomic conditions.

    In June, the interest had also been cut from 6.25% to 6%.

    Speaking to the media, Central Bank Governor, John Rwangombwa said that cutting policy rate from 6.25% to 6% brought good impacts considering how different banks continue to provide loans to private investors.

    “The decision had impact in terms of the number of private investors who accessed bank loans in the last nine months of 2017. Loans increased by 14.3% compared to the same period in 2016,” he said.

    “This is what the Monetary Policy Committee considered and reduced the policy rate to 5.5% in order to help banks continue to provide loans,” he said.

    “It is rare for banks to come for credits in Central Bank but when they come, that is the policy rate we consider,” he added.

    He said they wish that reduced repo rate impact banks’ interest rates for clients though it takes a process compared to the state of the country’s economy.

    The FSC observed that the assets of the financial sector continued to increase in the third quarter of 2017. Total assets of the banking sector increased by 17% (year-on-year) in September 2017 to Rwf2.6 trillion while the microfinance sector increased by 9.5% to Rwf242.4 billion.

    Assets of the insurance sector and pension increased by 13% and 15% to Rwf386.6 billion and Rwf690.9 billion respectively.

    Non-performing loans ratio in banks stood at 7.7% down from 8.2% as of June 2017 while in microfinance institutions declined to 8% from 12.3% in the same period.

    The Financial sector remains profitable as total banking net profit stood at Rwf30.6 billion in September 2017 while that of the microfinance sector and the insurance sector was at Rwf3.1 billion and Rwf29.4 billion respectively.

    Central Bank Governor, John Rwangombwa