The suspects were at the time found with varied quantities of illegal brews commonly known as ‘Muriture’ and 118 pellets of cannabis.
Two of the Suspects identified as Joseph Musonera, 42, and Pierre Misigaro, 34 were arrested separately in Kigoma and Ntyazo sectors of Nyanza District.
The third suspect, Alexia Nzamurambaho, 26 was arrested in Kigembe Sector of Gisagara District.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Sylvestre Twajamahoro, the Police spokesperson for southern region said that the arrest followed a tip-off from local residents about the traffickers’ illicit activities. He commended citizens’ contribution in efforts to break drug trafficking rings.
“We attribute such successful operations to intensified community policing activities and information sharing with the public. They timely share information on suspicious drug dealers and illegal distillers,” he said.
CIP Twajamahoro added, “The operations against drug abuse are mainly geared towards breaking the chains of supply. The best part in this fight is that the public has owned the process and they are the main source of information on suppliers, routes and stores in their communities, which is a big step forward.”
The arrests and seizure of drugs come as Rwanda National Police (RNP) in partnership with the public are mainly focusing on identifying and arresting traffickers as an effective way to prevent abuse of the psychotropic substances.
“This is part of the RNP countrywide intensified operations against drug abuse but with main focus on suppliers; by breaking the supply chain, you will be preventing and dealing with the root cause,” said CIP Twajamahoro.
He advised people to deal and consume other legalized alcoholic drinks instead of dealing in harmful substances that threaten people’s lives and wellbeing in general.
“The operations will continue and we appeal to the people, our major partners, to continue providing information on the dealers until all those engaged are either arrested or they refrain from such criminal activities,” the spokesperson noted.
Article 263 of the penal code states that, “Any person who, unlawfully produces, transforms, transports, stores, gives to another or who sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances commits an offence.”
Upon conviction, he or she is liable to a term of imprisonment between seven years and life and a fine of up to Rwf30 million.
The minerals were recovered on Sunday from the house of one Johnson Muhozi, the suspected illegal dealer, who is still at large. Six of his accomplices were however arrested.
According to the Police spokesperson for Eastern region, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the minerals were unlawfully collected from different mining concessions in Nyagatare District.
The minerals were to be sold to other illegal mineral traders, according to Police informers.
“Information about a group headed by Muhozi, engaged in illegal mining and trade was provided by local residents. Although the owner of the collection centre (Muhozi) managed to escape, Police managed to arrest six of his alleged partners in crime, who were working with him on a daily basis,” CIP Twizeyimana said.
“They were caught red-handed loading the minerals in the truck.”
He identified those taken into custody as Jean de Dieu Muhozi, the driver; Emmanuel Kwizera, Innocent Nteziryayo, Elisa Ndayisaba, Jean Claude Munyabugingo and Jeanne Dusengimana, the manager of the store.
CIP Twizeyimana noted that the illegal selling and buying of minerals is connected with illegal mining, which is a risky and dangerous to people’s lives.
“All these seized minerals are from illegal miners, who mine or steal them during the night. There is a need to adhere to mining rules and regulations and ensure that minerals are from legal mining cooperatives or licensed people. This will minimize irregularities that expose illegal miners to hazards and cause environmental degradation as well as fraud,” CIP Twizeyimana emphasized.
He added: “Most cases of death in mining concessions that are recorded are linked to illegal mining especially at night and under other risky circumstances. We urge people to engage in mining activities only when they are legally authorized, have operational license, using the right protective tools in the right time and place.”
CIP Twizeyimana commended residents, who provided information on the illegal acts and further called for strengthened partnership and information sharing on any suspected unlawful acts.
“We urge people go through right channels to conduct legal mineral trade and mining, contrary to that they will be wasting their money especially in such cases when minerals are impounded, and crimes for which they will answer before courts of law.”
The Article 54 of the law on mining and quarry operations, states that “any person, who undertakes mineral or quarry exploration, exploitation, processing or trading without a license commits an offence.
Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of between two and six months and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf5 million or only one of these penalties.”
Then handover ceremony in UNIDO took place on December 2nd, 2019 while the handover ceremony in UNOV was on December 3rd, 2019.
Ambassador Rwakazina held talks with the two UN officials on how to strengthen the relationship between Rwanda and the two organizations.
She commended UNIDO decision to partner with Rwanda in its development programs for the period 2019-2023, aimed at accelerating development of industries in a lasting and sustainable way.
After the handover ceremony at UNOV, Ambassador Rwakazina held discussions with Yuri Fedotov who is also the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The discussions focused on reinforcing the relationship between Rwanda and the UN organizations Yuri leads especially UNODC.
They also talked about the milestones Rwanda has reached in the fight against corruption and adopting anti-corruption practices.
Ambassador Rwakazina also attended the 2nd International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting, a body of the UN that promotes peaceful uses of atomic energy.
During the meeting, Rafael Grossi, an Argentina diplomat took the helm of the organization replacing Yukiya Amano of Japan who recently passed away.
The diplomat also met with Rwandan diaspora in Austria and shared with them some of the ongoing development programs in Rwanda.
She urged them to educate other Rwandans in the diaspora about the development programs launched by the Government of Rwanda so that they grab investment opportunities in their home country.
Qatar Airways has agreed to take a 60% stake in the project, which as a whole is valued at around US$1.3 billion.
The new airport’s first phase will be concluded by 2022 and will accommodate seven million passengers per year.
The agreements signed today mark a key milestone in the development of Rwanda’s vibrant aviation sector, in the context of the excellent bilateral relationship between Qatar and Rwanda.
After qualifying for the World Cup in 1978 for Tunisia, in 1986 for Morocco and in 1990 for Cameroon, world-renowned football player, Pelé said that not later than 2000 that an African team will have won the World Cup.
It has been 19 years now after Pelé’s prediction but the only teams that made it far were Senegal, Cameroon and Ghana who made it to ¼ finals during the qualifiers in 2002, 1990 and 2010 respectively.
In an interview President Paul Kagame had with the East African about the growth of the football industry in Africa, President Kagame was asked if he thinks any African team could win the World Cup.
He responded that he has watched all the World Cups that happened in the last 30 years and said he finds that there are some important criteria African teams neglect and that would help them reach the finals.
“I cannot quite confirm that African teams are capable of qualifying for the World Cup given that it sometimes results from low to no support from their governments. Why do we have all the resources but yet remain the poorest? Is it because we have no idea what we should do? Most of us know what is needed but we don’t do it. I closely watched all the World Cups that happened in the past 30 years.”
President Kagame said that if you analyze the way African teams play, their performance is commendable but they have ingrained negative mentalities that they cannot compete with bigger teams.
“Our teams are competent enough. They play with energy at the beginning of competitions but at some point, they get discouraged. Some of the teams think that the farthest they can go is playing with strong teams like France and don’t feel any shame because they lost to a big team and that is the most they could do.”
Africans are very competent football players but they need to learn from other big players and adopt their attitudes.
In last year’s World Cup that was held in Russia, Africa was represented by Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia.
Are Rwandans capable of winning ‘Tour de France’?
Rwanda and Eritrea are quickly evolving in the cycling sport and come after South Africa that has for a long time led the continent in this sport.
President Kagame was asked if he thinks a Rwandan or Eritrean could win ‘Tour de France and he answered that Rwandans are quite talented in this sport and that there is hope, one of them could win in the near future.
“There are so many talented professional cyclists in Rwanda and Eritrea who are confident enough to win the competition.”
President Kagame who usually is a diehard Formula 1 fan predicts that Lewis Hamilton, a British racing driver who drives a Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport is very likely to win the competition for the seventh time next year based on his attitude and the advanced technology his car is made with.
Bihoyiki started teaching her father when she was 13 and says she did it because ever since she was old enough to think, she asked her mother why her father was in jail and her mother said she didn’t know and that pained her so much she decided to do something about it.
She says she heard people saying that her father, Mfashigihe Patrick, killed people during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi and that she felt so ashamed, prompting her to ask her mother to let her go visit her father in prison and ask every detail directly.
“By the time I was old enough to think, I knew my father was in jail and my mother never wanted to tell me what had happened. That is why I asked my mother to let me see him at least once so that I could ask him myself.”
She added that she spent three years teaching her dad to ask for forgiveness to the families of his victims so that she could find peace and live in harmony with children of neighbors he made orphans.
“I was 13 at the time and I went there four times before he was able to confess what I wanted to hear. Before, I would visit him and confront him about his crimes in the genocide and he would only cry, but at some point he agreed he went with the militia that killed neighbors but that he did not participate in the killing spree.”
After several visits, Mfashigihe Patrick confessed he had indeed participated in the killings and led the militia that attacked neighbors. He also confessed that one of the people they killed was his godfather.
He finally asked for forgiveness which was granted and now, the two families live in harmony and are in the same saving and credit cooperative called ‘DUHUZE’
After confessing for his crimes and asking for forgiveness, Mfashigihe served his 9-year sentence and did community work before returning to his village.
Now, he lives in perfect harmony with neighbors and without the shame that lived in his heart before he asked for forgiveness.
Bihoyiki says her story could be a life lesson to parents around the country and advises them to teach their kids the history of Rwanda and particularly what happened during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi for them to be able to fight its ideology.
She also requests genocide convicts who are currently serving their sentences to give information about where their victims were buried so that they can receive decent burial.
In a press release, Jumia administration announced that starting today until its official closure, it will only deliver to pre-paid requests.
Jumia will keep operating in shipping services through Jumia.rw and they are confident that they will keep leading the market in this sector.
Rwanda is the 11th country where Jumia stops its operations after a vigorous start where people dubbed it the ‘Amazon of Africa’.
In August this year, Jumia met a series of challenges and was dragged to court several times resulting in a loss of $70 million and a reduction in share capital by 14%.
Jumia Food started operating in Rwanda in 2012 and helped people around Kigali who had no time to go to restaurants get their food delivered on their doorsteps.
President Hage Gottfried was welcomed by President Paul Kagame at Kigali International Airport, from where he joined other dignitaries from around the world for the International Anti-Corruption Awards that were held in Kigali this Monday.
The awards that were named after the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani known as “Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani International Anti-Corruption Awards” are given to individuals who led the fight against corruption with finesse.
Rwanda and Namibia have cooperation in relation to police affairs that has been in place since 2015.
It is the second time that Namibian President Hage Gottfried Geingob visits Rwanda after July 4th, 2019 when he joined Rwandans in celebrating the 25th Liberation Anniversary.
The ceremony will be held at the Kigali Convention Center this Monday, 9th December 2019.
The International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is organized by Qatar in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
In a tweet by Qatar News Agency, they confirmed that Sheikh Tamim Bin al Hamad al will attend the International Anti-Corruption Award.
“His Excellency the Emir of Qatar has landed a plane in Doha this Monday morning heading to Kigali, Rwanda where he will be attending Sheikh Tamim Bin al Hamad al Thani International Anti-Corruption Award.”
It is the fourth time the International Anti-Corruption Award will be celebrated but it is the first time they will be held in Africa. The awards were previously held in Malaysia, Geneva and at the UN headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
The ceremony will bring together more than 600 guests including nominees and the organization committee of the award. President Paul Kagame and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin al Hamad al Thani are expected to attend the ceremony.
Minister Johnston Busingye recently said that Rwanda has been chosen to host the ceremony because President Kagame has shown consistent efforts in leading the fight against corruption.
The Global Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International last year placed Rwanda at the fourth place of countries leading the fight against corruption in Africa after Seychelles, Botswana and Cabo Verde.
HH the Amir left Doha on Monday morning heading to Rwandan capital city of Kigali to attend HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award. #QNApic.twitter.com/6YlKQ0un0U
This was revealed by Wisely Phiri, group managing director and founder of Malawi’s information and communications and technology (ICT) company, SPARC Systems Limited, in his public lecture delivered at Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday, October 28 where he was chosen to be among high profile professionals to give a public lecture.
Under a lecture theme, ‘Digital Disruption: Opportunities for Africa, Innovating Beyond Borders’, Phiri said digital innovations are positively disrupting people’s normal way of doing business.
“Because of various procedures and regulations, the banking sector was normally slow to innovate but of late various innovations have forced the banks to rethink their strategies. Firstly, finance and technology (Fintech), has allowed the banking sector to offer 24/7 real-time transactions without the need of the customers to visit the banks. We have seen banks embracing Fintech. Mobile banking, m-wallets and payment apps have now been embraced by the banks.”
Phiri observed that with the distributed ledger system, that blockchain is offering various possibilities such as fraud detection, interbank transfer, prevention of money laundering, among other advantages.
“As SPARC, our main vertical has been the financial, telecommunication and the public sectors which have been disrupted with technology,” he said.
Talking about telecommunication, Phiri said that telecommunication companies are no longer voice companies like they used to be following the convergence of telecommunications and data/ICT.
“Companies like WhatsApp disrupted how we communicate, changing the communication paradigm. Skype, Viber, WeChat have entered the market to pressure the prices down for text and voice thereby eating into the revenue of telecommunication companies.
“This, in turn, made telecom companies rethink how they do their billing. Now you are having social bundles and WhatsApp bundles for example.”
He said, going forward, companies are going into service-oriented architecture as they are moving away from innovating around technologies but into innovating around services.
“Companies are looking to add new services to capture consumer’s attention; accelerate time to market these new services with technology advancements; map end-to-end customer journeys from acquisition, engagement, retention and use Big Data Analytics to focused market segmentation and product hyper-personalization.”
He told the students who would want to venture into the technology career that if they want to innovate beyond borders, they have to think of the country classification and how they fit into the future of technology.
“The future is now and at Sparc, like our friends at CMU-Africa, we are envisioning an Africa where we lead change. Let’s be the change we need.
“Africa is an economy of 1.3 billion people by UN estimates. This is a continent with some of the poorest people of whom many live in remote areas; it is also classified as fastest growing in terms of mobile and mobile money penetration and one of the richest continents in natural resources.
“As Sparc, we have been asked how we choose countries to operate in. For example, having originally come from Malawi, most people would think the logical thing to do if we want to go beyond borders would be to open in South Africa since this country is in southern Africa and it’s more developed than Malawi.
“My answer is; when you want to innovate beyond borders there are rules to follow. Firstly, know your industry and have a solid foundation. You can’t fail to be a lizard in your backyard and expect to be a crocodile in someone else backyard; understand your market well and be specific on what problems you are solving. Then, understand the classification of the countries in your industry.”
SPARC Systems Limited was established in 2013 but it is making inroads in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia’s ICT markets where it has several branches.
Wisely left a successful international IT company and set up his own in 2013 and n two years, www.sparcsystems.africa grew into a formidable force with a leading market share in the IT trade and five offices in Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda.
He currently employs 52 full time and over 300 part-time and out-sourced staff.
Wisley’s impact goes beyond SPARC as he has served the ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM) as its president (2016-2018) and during his term, the number of paying members went from just 20 to 1,051.
He also supports numerous charitable causes including paying fees for students in various universities in Malawi.
To date, he has raised funds for 105 financially challenged students at risk of being withdrawn from the University of Malawi. Furthermore, he mentors institutions, IT experts and up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
Academically, Wisely graduated from the University of Malawi in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Distinction.
Recently, he was an Adjunct Lecturer at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST).
From 2017 until 2018, he lectured in Business Innovations and Operating Systems which are some of his core expertise areas including database and storage systems, cloud services and data centers.
