Author: IGIHE

The 10 institutions are from Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The competition which is dubbed ‘African Drone Business Challenge’ will be held for the first time and will emphasize the role of emerging technologies in improving the lives of people in hard-to-reach rural communities across the continent.

The competitors include DRONE ERA (Benin), Africa Bees (DRC), Kenya Flying Labs (Kenya), MicroMek Limited (Malawi), Global Air Drone Academy (Nigeria/USA), Upshore Robotics (Nigeria), Integrated Aerial Systems (South Africa), Jembe Kilimo (Tanzania), JCKEG Solutions (Zambia), and Alley Capital Group (ACG) (Zimbabwe). They were selected among 150 other institutions that had applied in the first phase of the competition where they were required to work on projects demonstrating how drone technology can promote trade.

The projects were selected by a jury based on their feasibility and their estimated impact. Most of the projects selected have the potential to promote the mining, health and agriculture sectors. Towards the final phase, Carnegie Mellon University Africa will provide a 2-day training in a bid to enhance the preparedness of the competing teams during the finale.

The projects will be presented in front of an audience of almost 800 people. The winner will earn a prize of £40,000 (Rwf 50 million) from UKAID/DFID.

The 2020 African Drone Forum was organized by the government of Rwanda in partnership with the World Bank and will bring together more than 1000 guests at the Kigali Convention Center.

Yasser El- Gammal, the Country Manager for the World Bank Group in Rwanda said that the 2020 African Drone Forum will allow to showcase the latest drone technology and challenge drone companies to take part in flying competitions with real-world elements.

“It will be a symposium for promoting the existing infrastructure to deliver significant socio-economic benefits.”

The forum will also convene experts and regulators to discuss about drone technology in Africa.

Rwanda is one of the first countries in the world to use drone technology to improve the lives of citizens through Zipline which delivers medical supplies, including blood, rabies vaccines and antivenom, to thousands of remote health clinics.

Uzabumwana was admitted in Cyanika dispensary after being severely beaten and injured by assaillants he failed to identify as he was traveling home from Uganda.

The 30-year-old victim who was born in Cyanika sector, Burera district was dumped at Cyanika border post by Uganda Military on January 20th, 2020 with open wounds from the beatings he was subjected to in Uganda.

The death of Uzabumwana was confirmed by the Northern Province Governor, Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi who reported that the victim resided in Kyankwanzi, a town in Central Uganda since July 16th, 2016. He said that the victim legally went to Uganda through the Cyanika border post.

As he traveled back to Rwanda, the Jaguar coaster he came in dropped him in Kisoro where he boarded a motorcycle but midway he was mugged by three Ugandan assailants who also beat him mercilessly.

Governor Gatabazi said that the victim could not identify the assaulters but confirmed they were Ugandan. Despite several talks between Rwanda and Uganda where the two countries came to common terms to solve tensions, Rwandans continue to be tortured, beaten and killed in Uganda. The government of Rwanda continuously pleaded for Uganda to respect the Luanda agreements to no avail.

Recent reports revealed top Ugandan government officials being behind attacks although they actively denied any implication. To this day, Rwanda has respected its part of the agreement and haven’t received any accusation from Uganda.

Through her Twitter account, Ambassador Kirabo vowed to promote good diplomatic relations between Rwanda and Ghana and fulfill the duties she was entrusted with by President Paul Kagame.

Prior to being appointed High Commissioner of Rwanda to Ghana, Dr. Kirabo was Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-General of UN-Habitat.

She was appointed as ambassador by President Kagame, on July 15th, 2019 along with 15 other High Commissioners.

Dr. Kirabo replaced Mutsindashyaka Théoneste as the Mayor of Kigali from 2006 to 2011. Prior to her tenure as Mayor of Kigali, she was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Land Use and Management, Settlement and Environment.

She replaces Stanislas Kamanzi who was the Ambassador of Rwanda to Ghana since July 2nd, 2017.

The embassy of Rwanda in Ghana was opened as a result of talks between President Kagame and President Nana Akufo.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) outlines foreign investment as a major source of income and a great contribution to the development of the Rwandan economy.

In a bid to encourage exchange between the two countries, RwandAir, the national carrier of Rwanda started Kigali-Accra flight on July 2nd, 2013.

RwandAir flights promoted trade between the two countries and availed many investment opportunities.

In 2014, the Private Sector Federation (PSF) signed partnership agreements with Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry with the aim of promoting modern agriculture, tourism, clothes industries as well as investment in construction and mining activities.

Rwanda aspires to become an upper middle-income country by 2035 and higher income by 2050 where Income per capita is expected to be $12476 annually. It is a highly ambitious goal that will require effective land use to be achieved as Rwanda’s economy partially relies on agriculture.

The 2011 land cover scheme was developed for use until 2020 but its objectives were unfortunately not reached.

In November 2019, the Ministry of Environment through Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority (RLMUA) entered a partnership with Tzamir Architects and Planners Ltd from Israel and Horwath Htl Intercosult to develop a new land cover scheme that will replace the one of 2011. RLMUA announced the scheme was in its completion phase and will be in line with the ‘Vision2050’ goal as it will analyze trends in the use of land and other resources.

Regarding population settlements, the new land use scheme will provide details about types of cities according to the density of population and development activities contributing to the livelihoods of residents.

The government of Rwanda predicts an improvement in the urban share of population by 70% in 2050 from 20% recorded in 2019.

Although the City of Kigali will remain the capital city of Rwanda, the land use scheme predicts the potential for neighboring cities to develop. Those cities include Muhanga, Nyamata, and Rwamagana as well as cities close to border posts including Nyagatare, Musanze, Rubavu, Karongi, Rusizi, Huye, Kirehe and Kayonza. For developing the remaining cities, the government will invest in agriculture and trade activities.

The land use scheme also presents an area increment chart where some cities will be expanded by 16% of their total area. The number of villages in Rwanda will reduce from 13,000 to only 4000 villages.

RUTAGENGWA Alexis, Head of Surveying, Land Use and Mapping Department at RLMUA told IGIHE that the new land scheme will be a consolidated source of data that will allow Rwandans to settle in cities according to their financial capacity.
‘The land scheme will help the government of Rwanda to monitor its limited resources of land, add value to its development planning and will be used by citizens to register land ownership.”

More high-rise building will be built in Kigali while in rural areas, the scheme predicts more public housing facilities with access to water, electricity, sewage and other infrastructures. In addition, land parcels and their ownership will be readjusted to allow effective land consolidation.

The land use scheme also incorporates transport routes including railways.
60% of Rwandans are in agriculture but agriculture only contributes to 30% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The government of Rwanda plans on improving agriculture to meet the needs of an estimated 22 million population in 2050. Currently, agricultural land is 48% of the country’s total area.

To achieve this, the land scheme will allocate a large part of the Eastern and South-Eastern to agriculture due to the abundance of arable land fit for irrigation and crop rotation.

Rutagengwa said the only way the new land use scheme will be effective is to promote land consolidation. “land consolidation will facilitate the adoption of new agricultural technologies leading to a more prosperous and efficient agricultural sector.”

Currently, 30.4% of Rwanda’s total area is allocated to agroforestry. The scheme encourages continuous forest conservation.

Amid reports of dense fog blanketing the area at the time, experts say federal investigators will likely focus on the weather as a factor in the crash.

“Everyone is in shock,” said one team insider. Bryant was 41 years old.

Having led the Lakers to five NBA championships, the 18-time All Star — who retired in 2016 after 20 seasons with the team — will be remembered as a hard-working player who was equally celebrated off the court as a “brand-builder” and mentor.

Rwanda Education Board (REB) reported that so far 274,073 XO laptops have been distributed. There are also 1578 laptops in stock waiting to be distributed.

REB did not publish specific numbers for the number of laptops which were damaged since the start of the program but in the past, schools reported that some laptops had technical issues and were returned to be repaired while others were stolen.

In 2019, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) reported that 939 laptops which were distributed in schools across the country were stolen in 2018 including 774 Positivo, 107 XO which were given as part of the OLPC program as well as 58 other laptops of different brands.

In March 2018, 2667 laptops were reported stolen but 973 were recovered.
Dr. Ndayambaje Irénée, the Director General of REB told IGIHE that the laptops increased the engagement and productivity of young pupils in lessons in their classrooms.

“Through the use of technology, teachers have access to more innovative and improved teaching methods that allow them to promote learning and create an active learning environment for children. In the future, we are planning competitions where pupils will demonstrate the skills they have acquired through various projects.”

Dr. Ndayambaje said that the OLPC program came in handy for instruction, documentation, assessment and communication support enabling a more effective teaching environment.

To assess the effectiveness of the OLPC program, IGIHE visited APPEK Kamuhoza Primary School in Nyarugenge district where 120 laptops were distributed. In the school’s computer lab, the pupils were learning to use Microsoft Excel for creating spreadsheets, calculations, graphing tools and pivot tables.

Hitimana Moise, a form five pupil said that he started learning using a computer a year ago and that he has acquired many skills including using Microsoft Word and all its features.

His classmate, Utamuriza Kenia also said that since she started using a computer in class, she has acquired technical skills that will be useful in her studies.

Kantetere Perusie, a teacher at APPEK Kamuhoza Primary school said that the OLPC program changed education from the traditional chalk and black board method to a more interactive and responsive way.

“The OLPC program encourages children to be creative and develop important abilities such as critical thinking, problem-solving and logic.”

Kantetere said that despite the benefits of the program, there still are issues of poor internet connectivity which impede learning.

Rusanganwa Fidele, APPEK Kamuhoza Director said that apart from acquiring computer skills, the OLPC program allows pupils to cultivate their own interests and gives them ownership in their learning. The pupils are also capable of conducting research and gain knowledge beyond what the teacher gives out.

To allow teachers to keep up with technology trends, REB plans on introducing a monthly training program where teachers will be equipped with skills aligning with current technology advances and be able to apply them in the classroom.

The idea of the campaign against tuberculosis came to him after attending a conference against tuberculosis that took place in 2019 in Rwanda.

He said, “In this conference, I was astonished by the fact that this disease is among the ones that kill a lot of people in Rwanda and around the world, yet when treated it heals.”

Mico The Best told IGIHE that at the end of the conference, he set a goal of raising awareness of the effects of tuberculosis, prevention and to call those already affected to seek medical attention.

“I thought, as a person who already works on projects and makes them known, now I can do all my best and make people know more about tuberculosis, how to prevent it, its symptoms and how it is treated,” he said.

He said that upon leaving the conference, he started speaking about tuberculosis in the media. That is the time when the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) reached out to him, pledging support for his ongoing campaign against the disease.

The campaign is at a level he called “Friend to Friend Campaign against TB”. Different individuals took pictures of signs that call people for fighting tuberculosis and were asked to share them on their social media.

Mico The Best said that after this level of using the social media to spread a word against tuberculosis, he will engage the public through music tour around the country to bring the campaign nearer to every Rwandan.

In this press conference, Mico The Best was with the manager of KIKAC Music the record label he works with, and Dr. Migambi Patrick, the Division Manager Tuberculosis and Other Respiratory Diseases.

Dr. Migambi said that RBC received well Mico The Best’s idea and chose to help him realize his goal.

On the night of January 22nd, Nsabiyera assaulted 7 people including 5 of his own family and two neighbors who came to their rescue. Nyirabatezi Sarah, one of the neighbors immediately succumbed to the attack.

Among the remaining 6 victims, 100-year-old Nzayirwanda Isabel who was gravely injured during the attack and her grand-daughter passed on at CHUK where they were being treated.

On Thursday, January 23rd, 2020, Uwabera Alice, the Executive Secretary of Cyuve sector confirmed the news to IGIHE.

“Two other victims of the attack passed on as well. We are organizing their burial.”

The remaining 4 victims who were also injured during the attack are receiving treatment at Ruhengeri hospital while Nsabiyera Emmanuel, the assaulter is held at Muhoza Police Station in Musanze as further investigation is being conducted to know how the unfortunate incident transpired.

Belgium announced it would not hand over Sebatware as it was recently requested by The National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG).

CNLG reported that in 2015, two FDLR leaders including Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni had been apprehended and convicted in German courts. They were found guilty of crimes against humanity by FDLR in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CNLG strongly suggested that FDLR leaders and other militias responsible for causing instability in the Great Lakes region should also face justice.

on January 21st, 2020, CNLG Executive Secretary Dr. Bizimana Jean Damascène signed a letter requesting for the arrest and trial of Sebatware Marcel, the commissary of FDU-INKINGI and leader of P5, two anti-Rwanda political parties.

“Belgium has the responsibility to hand over Sebatware to Rwandan courts and stop him at all costs to keep spreading hate propaganda and genocide ideologies.”

La Libre Afrique newspaper announced on Friday, January 24th, 2020 that Belgium has decided not to hand over Sebatware to Rwanda. “He is Belgian by nationality and there is no agreement between Belgium and Rwanda to hand over criminals.”
However, Belgium has opened a case against Sebatware and he is currently under investigation.

CNLG reported that in 1990, Sebatware Marcel was the Director General of CIMERWA in former ‘Commune Bugarama’, Rusizi district. He was born in former ‘Commune Mukingo’, Ruhengeri prefecture and was appointed by former Minister of Trade and Industry, Joseph Nzirorera.

Sebatware is the brother-in-law of Nsabimana Deogratias who was general and Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Armed Forces, under President Habyarimana. He gained notoriety for spreading hate propaganda saying Tutsis were enemies of the country.

In 1994, Sebatware belonged to the CDR political party.

In Belgium, Sebatware was engaged in various extremist activities and on multiple accounts, denied the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. He also founded along Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, FDU-INKINGI anti-Rwanda political party.

Sebatware is also accused of taking part in terrorist activities under different anti-Rwanda groups known as P5. P5 is a conglomerate of militia and anti-Rwanda groups which, to this day, incite violence and genocide denial.

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) recently launched a military operation to disarm and hand over to Rwanda members of said militias and terrorist groups.

Sebatware was convicted of genocide crimes by Gacaca courts in Rwanda. CNLG said he should be stopped from supporting terrorist groups and exercising politics.

Different witnesses said that had it not been the role of Sebatware in perpetrating and executing the genocide against Tutsi, many Tutsi who sought refuge inside CIMERWA in 1994 could have survived. He lured Tutsi inside CIMERWA only to give up their cover and order their massacre.