Author: IGIHE

{Justice Minister and Attorney General, Johnston Busingye has called on non-professional court bailiffs to avoid using their power contrary to the lawwhich would tantamount to abuse of office.}

Busingye was speaking Thursday while presiding over the swearing-in ceremony of 146 non-professional court bailiffs and notaries, a majority of who will work at cell and sector levels.

He advised the court bailiffs to avoid repeating mistakes committed by their colleagues and urged them to prioritize following court orders in implementing judgments.

“We don’t need that court decision execution comes after other duties; your responsibility is to execute court orders,” he said.

He said that they should end bureaucracy in their everyday duties if they are to weed out the vice of corruption in their midst.

“When a person comes to you for more than three times, it means that you have absconded from your responsibilities. You are not given the power to rule but rather to serve. So, should you fail to execute any court decision in the period of three months, we shall not favor you, rather we shall consider that you have been waiting for ‘something’ from your client,” he said.

The community justice division manager in the Ministry of Justice, Martine Urujeni said that bribery among court bailiffs is not caused by poverty, but rather, greed and selfishness.

{President Paul Kagame has today been sighted doing sports, riding a sports bicycle after which he got into a morning walk in Nyamyumba sector of Rubavu District.}

The head of state is said to be on holidays in Rubavu District where he, as well, is getting involved in tracking of the stocky and exceptionally beautiful mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes National Park.

Residents in the sector have been amused seeing their president walking in the paths and riding on the roads of Nyamyumba sector.

{Theodore Tabaro, 49, who acquired Swedish citizenship is to face trial in September in Stockholm for his alleged role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. He has been charged with “genocide through murder, attempted murder, rapes and kidnappings” during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi minority, according to a court statement.}

The alleged crimes took place between April 9th and May 31st, 1994, in the Winteko, Nyakanyinya and Mibirizi sectors, in south-western Rwanda, according to the charge sheet.

Tabaro, whose name appears on a list of wanted genocide suspects published by Rwandan authorities, was involved in the genocide “in the role of organizing, recruiting and inciting, and also executing” massacres, according to the charges.

On April 9th 1994 in Winteko he allegedly took part in, together with other Hutu militia, the massacre of numerous civilians and the raping of women and young girls.

On April 13th, he is said to have participated in an attack on a Nyakanyinya school where several hundred people, including many children, were killed or seriously injured by grenades, gunfire and knives. Several days later, he allegedly also took part in an attack on a church in Mibirizi.

Investigators and prosecutors have questioned witnesses and survivors in Rwanda, Europe and North America.

At least 36 dead and seven rape victims have been identified. Some 30 other survivors and family members of the victims are among the plaintiffs.

Tabaro denies the charges against him, prosecutor Hanna Lemoine told AFP.
Tabaro was arrested at his home in Örebro, 160 kilometres west of Stockholm, in October 2016. He went to Sweden in 1998 and became a citizen in 2006.

In 2014 and 2016, Swedish courts convicted two other naturalized Rwandans, Stanislas Mbanenande and Claver Berinkidi, sentencing them to life in prison for their roles in the genocide.

Rwandans who took part in the genocide have also been sentenced in the United States, Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France for their role in the killings.

{The Nyagatare district Executive Secretary, Alex Mugabo, has been put under Police custody for allegedly getting involved in awarding a tender without following proper channels.
}

He was arrested on Wednesday afternoon.

The Police Spokesperson in Eastern Region, Inspector of Police Jean Bosco Dusabe, confirmed the arrest today saying he is suspected of having bent rules in awarding a tender for road construction.

“He was detained yesterday around 3:00pm, to help in investigations in the ignoble awarding a shoddy tender to contractors for the construction of Nyagatare-Kizinga road,” he told IGIHE.

Dusabe said that Nyagatare District Procurement Officer, Fred Kayitare is also under arrest in connection with the same scandal.

He said that the construction activities for Nyagatare-Kizinga road started in June this year. The tender value in question is Rwf 157,951,600.

As the rainy season sets in, it has come with a deluge that has seen destruction of 23 houses destroyed in Ntarama sector of Bugesera District most of which succumbed Wednesday afternoon.

Emmanuel Nsanzumuhire, the Bugesera District mayor said that some houses were de-roofed while some banana plantations were razed down. lost their roofing and properties like banana plantation got spoiled.

“The rain was followed by strong hailstorms in the afternoon, and 23 houses had their roofs blown off followed with severe damages” he said.

He said that no lives were lost nor were there any injuries registered. He added that the most affected parts are in Kibungo cell in Ntarama sector adding that The affected families have gotten some support from their neighbors while waiting for government’s intervention, which he said would be provided by today.

{The new minister for Land and Forestry, Francine Tumushime has been called upon to quickly devise means of addressing land and forestry related challenges, especially implementing land certificate decentralization program to district level.}

The call was made on Tuesday during the handover ceremony by the Minister for Natural Ressources Dr. Vincent Biruta under whose docket the ministry formerly fell.
Biruta was in the recent cabinet appointed Minister for Environment.

Biruta said that getting la and certificate from the Provincial level is a long process and so the plan to decentralize to district level should be accelerated.

“Another problem is how land services are given to thepopulation, we always find long queues at land offices. People’s concern is that services at sector and district levels are not clear, they claim bureaucracy hurdles presented by land registrars.”

Biruta also advised that the ministry should intervene in building a strong regulatory framework, address land-related court cases and sensitization on forest conservation among the public to make it possible to meet the target of having 30% target of Rwanda surface area covered by forest cover.

He advised that the ministry should provide a competitive environment that will ensure added value to different forest products especially bamboo planted around rivers.

{More than 250,000 people attended the just concluded Rwanda International Trade Fair (RITF) that run for 16 days at the Gikondo PSF expo ground and closed yesterday. It is aimed to facilitate trade relationships and technology transfer; and is in line with the country’s vision of putting private sector at the heart of economic development.}

All expo goers and exhibitors from 19 countries shave been recognized for their role in successful exhibition.

The Private Sector Federation (PSF) said that there was a big turn up in this year’s expo as they used to receive between 12,000 and 15,000 a day in week days, and between 25,000 and 30,000 during holidays and weekends.

The 20th expo attracted 433 companies, of which 289 were from Rwanda, 94 from Africa and 50 from the rest of the world.

The best exhibitors that were awarded include Bank of Kigali (BK) who emerged the best overall exhibitor, followed by RwandAir, and Ameki Color, a paints producer.
Benjamin Gasamagera, the chairperson of the Private Sector Federation, said this year’s expo focused on Made-in-Rwanda products so encourage local entrepreneurs to get exposure.

In his closing remarks, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Vincent Munyeshyaka, pledged continued government support to the private sector. He reiterated Rwanda’s move to encourage consumption of locally produced goods and services towards bridging the export-import gap.

“We want Rwandan products to be known at home and abroad for their quality, reliability, and safety,” Minister Munyeshyaka emphasised.

The Minister pointed out that participating in international trade fairs helps local exhibitors to fast track knowledge transfer amongst peers. This will boost local businesses’ competitiveness on foreign markets.

{The Chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda (TIR), Marie Immaculée Ingabire has said that there are some incidences of corruption in water and electricity services in Rwanda.}

In a survey on corruption in East African countries carried out by Transparency International, providers of water and electricity services ranked high among the most corrupt institutions in Rwanda.

Carried out under ‘East African Bribery Index 2017,” 18% of the respondents confirmed that users are asked for bribes when they go for water and electricity services.

Speaking to the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, Ingabire said that institutions in charge of water and electricity are corrupted as it is hard to get fast services services from them without a kick-back.

“Based on cases we received, you cannot get power or water meters without paying some amount of money” she said.

“If today one person is told that REG have no power meters in stock and tomorrow they install it at the neighbor’s house, word starts going around about the corrupt practices behind,” she explained.

She said that people in charge of these services are aware of the problem she herself discussed it with different authorities. She however said that no measures have been put in place so far.

{Rwanda’s economic growth is expected to pick up in the second half of 2017 but the World Bank (WB) casts doubt on achieving averaged annual projections of 6.2 percent. The growth slowed down to 6 percent in 2016 and further plummeted to 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017.}

Launching the 10th edition of World Bank Rwanda Economic Update in Kigali on Wednesday, WB Senior Economist Mr. Aghassi Mkrtchyan said “For 2017, the growth is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2017 but achieving the target of 6.2 percent will be hard.”

Main risks include weak private sector investment, less than expected returns from large public and private investments in MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) and volatile external environment. However, there are also factors positively affecting the growth outlook such as exchange rate that is closer to equilibrium, recovery in the prices of commodities exported by Rwanda and recovery in agriculture, according to WB’s report.

“Returning to a higher growth trajectory in 2018 is attainable although there are risks. In the medium term, economic activity will benefit from expected recovery of prices of traditional exports including minerals, tea and coffee. A more competitive exchange rate will support the non-traditional tradable activities under “Made in Rwanda” initiative. On balance, outlook in agriculture is positive although adverse climatic events pose risks,” reads the report.

Rwanda had notched up an average growth of around 8 percent from 2001 to 2014 but slowed down to 6.9% in 2015 and further to 6% in 2016. Agriculture grew in by 3.9% in 2016 compared to 5% in 2015. In the first quarter of 2017, agriculture further slowed down to 2.6%. Industry growth slowed to 6.8% from 8.9%, manufacturing and mining maintained 6.8% and 7.7% respectively while services slowed to 7.4% in 2016 from 10.4% in 2015.The annualized growth rate in services was 6% in the first quarter of 2017.

The report, however, states that “the country has entered the third decade of uninterrupted economic growth and social progress… on the back of Rwanda’s strong commitment to good governance, principles of market economy and openness.”
According to WB Senior Economist Mr. Aghassi Mkrtchyan, “although Rwanda’s export sector is still small, the progress made in the last decade sends a clear message that an export-led growth is within reach for Rwanda and country’s long-term growth strategy should continue focusing on strengthening economy’s capacity of producing exportable goods and services.”

From a very low base, Rwanda’s exports have increased four-fold in the last decade from $400 million in 2007 to $1.6 billion in 2016.