Author: IGIHE

The project aims at improving the trustworthiness typical of Rwanda’s financial sector.

Dr. Uwera Claudine, Minister of State in charge of Economic Planning in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) announced to the parliament that FIC will be a separate entity and will not be reporting to the Central Bank of Rwanda.

She mentioned that “Article 4 of the law of 2018 provides that financial intelligence is done by a unit in charge of another institution in charge of fighting money laundering and terrorism financing .”

Prof. Omar Munyaneza, MP and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on National Budget and Patrimony said that FIC will be monitoring activities related to money exchange and other activities including money laundering.

“FIC will provide reports about money laundering, terrorism financing and weapons of mass destruction and also propose measures and penalties to fight against them.”

The law approves that once the financial intelligence center will be set, it will have the right to access institutions’ financial transactions and electronic data stored on servers and share that information if necessary.

FIC will be established to address gaps that were identified in law No69 /2018 of August 31st, 2018 on prevention and punishment of money laundering and terrorism financing regarding non-conformity to international standards.

The incident occurred on the night of Wednesday, 1st January 2020 in Kiruhura village, Kagenge cell, Mayange Sector, located in Bugesera district.

Sebarundi Ephraim, the Executive Secretary of Mayange Sector told IGIHE that Ndayambaje was immediately apprehended after he committed this vile act but that luckily, the twins were rescued before they died.

“He was very drunk. We caught him red-handed as he attacked the two twins with a machete thinking it was his wife. We rescued the children and immediately brought them to receive medical care at ADEPR Nyamata hospital.”

Sebarundi urged Mayange residents to alert authorities about families with conflicts in time in order to prevent such unfortunate incidents.

Ndayambaje has been arrested and is currently held at Nyamata Police Station while his two children continue to receive treatment.

Kayumba Malick, Minisante spokesperson told IGIHE that on Christmas the births recorded from government-owned hospitals and dispensaries were 826.

On December 26th, 2019, Dr. Nkubito Pascal, Muhima Hospital Director General told IGIHE that 31 children were born in the hospital including 19 born from health centers operating under Muhima Hospital.

Records from the Ministry of Health show that in all private and public hospitals and health centers across the country, 26,253 babies are born in one month, 319,460 per year and 875 per day.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had predicted only 933 children would be born in Rwanda on New Year.

UNICEF shows that on average, the number of births in countries with a high density of population on January 1st, 2020 are around 392,078. Those countries include India(67,385), China (46,299), Nigeria (26,039), Pakistan (16,787), Indonesia (13,020), The United States(10,452), Democratic Republic of Congo (10,247) and Ethiopia (8,493).

UNICEF reported that children mortality is still high and that the causes of death can be prevented. On average, in one year, 2.5 million babies are stillborn.

Rwanda has made strides in reducing children mortality and in November 2019, the Ministry of Health announced that in 7 hospitals in Rwanda, there were no stillborn for the year 2018/19.

Statistics show that the number of obstetricians and midwives have increased in Rwanda from just 1 assigned to 66,749 women to 1 assigned to 4064 women in 2017.
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) reported that in 2019, the Rwandan population was 12,374,397.

Florant Nsengimana, 26, was intercepted by the Police in Rwempasha Sector. He was at the time delivering 40 litres of the banned crude gin to his retailers in Rwimiyaga Sector, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, said.

“There was information from residents of Rwempasha that Nsengimana and other people traffic kanyanga from Uganda,” said CIP Twizeyimana.

“On Wednesday, residents called the Police when they saw Nsengimana and two other men trafficking kanyanga. Police intervened but in the process his two accomplices managed to flee. Nsengimana was arrested with 40 litres of Kanyanga.”

Kanyanga is classified as a psychotropic substances and banned in Rwanda, with a sentence of up to seven years in prison for any person found guilty of dealing in it upon conviction.

The regional police spokesperson thanked residents for their role in breaking chains of suppliers of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

“This partnership and ownership of the public to report drug dealers is the reason many people engaged in these unlawful acts have been arrested,” he said, calling for continued information sharing on anyone they suspect to be trafficking, making or selling narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Rwanda National Police (RNP) and partners increased awareness and operations against drug dealers to prevent new users and break chains of supply.

The event was hosted by the Christian Federation of Anti-Corruption and Sponsored by Pan-Religion Association. In the statement the religious leaders “denounce Rev. Jun for the sins committing social conflict and division” due to his remarks including “God, if you mess around, I’ll kill you.”, “Islam and homosexuality are diseases,” and “Women say Satan’s words.”

“Tell a young female believer take off her panties and say, ‘I want to sleep with you.’ If she accepts, she is a believer. If she refuses, she is a shit,” said Rev. Jun in a training program for pastors to explain a way to distinguish a “true” follower of church.

Criticism against Rev. Jun from the religious world was triggered when he said, “Those who believe Buddhism should go to prison or uninhabited island.” In his inaugural speech as President of the CCK in February, he stated that his major task is to “block homosexuality, Islam and Anti-discrimination law.”

Back in October 2019, calling the South Korean President Moon Jae-In “a son of bixxh”, Rev. Jun has led an anti-government demonstration and insisted that President Moon is a spy and there are 500,000 followers of North Korea to “drive the country to ruin” by taking it away from the United States. After the event, he added, “Hallelujah. The most pleasant time has come. Time to collect offerings.”

Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and the director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) as the largest international organization studying new religious movements, noted that “the activities of the CCK and Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon are causing international concern. In addition to their radical political activities, the CCK and Rev. Jun are spreading religious intolerance in Korea and abroad through hate speech and discrimination against groups they label as ‘heretic.’”

“Worse, they support violence against members of these groups, such as Shincheonji and others, who are kidnapped and submitted to ’deprogramming,’ an illegal forced conversion program trying to compel them to renounce their faith,” he added.

The rise of Rev. Jun traces back to his winning the presidential election of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK). Founded in 1989 after a series of control on the church under dictatorship, the CCK has represented the majority of Christian (especially Presbyterian) churches of South Korea with millions of members and dozens of denominations.

Niyigira was arrested on Wednesday in Gasarabuye trading centre in Nyakabuye Sector.

He was at the time found in possession of fake money amounting to Rwf20, 000, Police said.

The fake notes were in the denominations of Rwf5000, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Emmanuel Kayigi, the Western region Police spokesperson, said.

“Niyigira was identified when he tried to use a fake note of Rwf5, 000 to buy meat. The butcher attendant, after noticing that the note was fake, sought the help of local residents, located the whereabouts of Niyigira and informed the Police,” CIP Kayigi said.

“When Police officers searched him after his arrest, they found him with other three fake notes in the denominations of Rwf5, 000.”

Niyigira, who admitted to the crime, said that he is supplied the fake notes by another person, but couldn’t divulge details.

“Although currency counterfeit is not a big problem in Rwanda, we need to ensure that no fake bills penetrate the market. If you suspect someone to be engaged in these criminal acts just call the Police,” CIP Kayigi said, calling for vigilance of traders not to fall prey.

The threat of counterfeiting of Rwandan currency stands as low as 0.001% of the currency in circulation, according to the National Bank of Rwanda.

“Counterfeits have a negative impact on individuals, family as well as the country’s economy. It is, therefore, important that everyone becomes vigilant to fight the vice,” said Kayigi.

According to article 269 of the penal code, anyone convicted of counterfeit, falsification or alteration of currency or monetary signs, faces an imprisonment term of between five and seven years.

In April 2019, Equity Group Holdings Plc had confirmed that it would acquire 62% shares Atlas Mara owns in BPR, a 100% of shares in African Banking Corporation Tanzania Limited, in African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited and in African Banking Corporation Mozambique Limited.

The value proposition was that Atlas Mara would receive 252 million Kenyan Shillings worth of shares in Equity Group Holdings Plc (6.27%). The Kenyan financial services holding company counts shares of up to 10.7 billion Kenyan Shillings ($106).

The transaction was expected to last between 4 and 6 months on Equity Group part and was to be approved by the Central Bank of Rwanda and Capital Market authorities.

The transaction is long overdue but Equity Group justified it saying that some clauses in the negotiations were not agreed upon.

In a communication Equity Group released this Thursday, January 2nd, 2020, it was confirmed that negotiations between Atlas Mara and Equity Group are still underway and both parts haven’t signed yet.

“Equity Group Holdings and Atlas Mara will keep negotiating in 2020 on how previous agreements can be implemented but until now no common agreement has been reached.”

Equity Group reiterated its commitment to expanding its products and services across the region to extend financial services to more customers.

The Equity Bank communication mentions that while both parties are still negotiating acquisitions, shareholders in Nairobi, Rwanda, and Uganda should be cautious before buying more shares.

Michael Wilkerson, Atlas Mara Chairman had previously announced that the acquisitions were part of recent changes within Atlas Mara to focus on extending financial services to a larger population.

“We expect that the banks that will be acquired by Equity Group will have more opportunities to diversify their services and reach a broader market.”

In January 2016, Atlas Mara completed its acquisition of a controlling stake of BPR after acquiring shares from existing shareholders and merging the bank with the commercial banking business that was spun off Rwanda Development Bank (BRD).

Equity Group Holdings has operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania and DRC and deals in banking services, insurance and infrastructures to mention a few. Its total assets amount to $6 billion.

Equity Bank which is operated by Equity Group Holdings has a customer base of 13.5 million and has the largest footprint in the region with 290 branches.

The wedding ceremony took place in Ethiopia. Tuma Basa posted their wedding picture on Instagram, with a caption “Self-Explanatory”.

The Gusaba and Gukwa ceremonies (traditional dowry ceremonies), happened on December 21, 2019, and took place in Intare Conference Arena, Rusororo, Kigali.

Present were friends and families, including the Nigerian musician Sey Shey and other business people of the music industry.

Tuma’s family represented by an elder man called Kazungu, with Abaynesh’s represented by an elder man called Canisius, the imisango (loosely translated as speeches) were made in Kinyarwanda.

Members of Abaynesh’s family who could not listen to Kinyarwanda had translation headsets.

Tuma Basa and Abaynesh have been dating for long.

They had been engaged in December, 2018.

Having worked for BET, MTV, and P. Diddy’s REVOLT, Tuma Basa currently is the director of Urban Music on YouTube.

Abaynesh is an entrepreneur, with her own line of eyeglasses “Jembere Eyewear”.

The accidents occurred on the night of December 31st, 2019, as Rwandans celebrated the start of 2020 and just a few hours after RNP appealed to the general public to enjoy the festivities responsibly.

CP John Kabera, RNP spokesperson said that on Tuesday, three accidents happened; one in the late afternoon and two others at around 7 PM. The three accidents killed 3 people with two of them in the Southern Province and another in the Western Province.

He said that all the accidents were due to overspeeding.

On Tuesday, December 31st, 2019, RNP had reminded Rwandans through Twitter to enjoy responsibly and avoid drinking and driving as well as overspeeding among others.

“As we celebrate the end of 2019, we wish you all to enter 2020 safely. Let’s all remember to enjoy responsibly, keeping in mind that no celebration is worth risking your life for.”

Jumia Food announced it would stop all business in Rwanda in December 2019. It was terrible news for Jumia staff but also a golden opportunity to start a new delivery company.

A few former employees from Jumia knew how to deal with the rough patch and jumped on the opportunity, creating Vuba Vuba Africa, a similar e-commerce retail platform that will connect sellers with consumers and allow users to order food and have it delivered on their doorstep.

Vuba Vuba Africa is led by Albert Munyabugingo, former Jumia Food Rwanda Managing Director who works along with colleagues he has been with at Jumia for more than 5 years.

Munyabugingo announced that 80% of Vuba Vuba Africa staff are former Jumia Food Rwanda employees. Munyabugingo says that even though Jumia has closed its doors in Rwanda, there will not be a gap in food delivery since the new company will adequately substitute the former.

He said Vuba Vuba will be using a ‘Made in Rwanda’ application which is in line with the Rwandan market dynamics. Customers will be ordering food and drinks from their restaurants of choice in Kigali and have it instantly delivered. Besides food delivery, Vuba Vuba will also facilitate the delivery of packages from supermarkets to customers.

Vuba Vuba app can be downloaded from Google Play Store or App store and is fit for Android and iOS devices.

Munyabugingo told the media that the expertise they gained at Jumia is a strong enough foundation to operate the new business smoothly.

“Over the last 6 years, we have witnessed and learned from internet trends and that will be enough for us to satisfy the demands of customers.”

Vuba Vuba Africa started operating in Rwanda on January 1st, 2020.

Jumia ceased operations in Rwanda 6 years after it was launched. Rwanda is the 11th country where Jumia closed despite so many people comparing it to the ‘Amazon of Africa’.

In August 2019, Jumia received several claims of fraud and has faced calls to be investigated and lawsuits leading to a $70 million loss and a loss in market shares of 14%.