This activity included building retaining walls and water drainage systems, clearing bushes and leveling a 2.81 kilometers road that will be financed by Kimihurura citizens.
In his speech, President Paul Kagame said he was delighted to participate in this monthly activity and that it is a way to continue sustaining what has been already achieved.
“I am happy to be here to join hands with you today. We are here to challenge ourselves to set even more goals together, and to continue sustaining what we have achieved.”
Ambassador Hazza said this during his address at the ‘UAE Nation Day’ ceremony celebrating the foundation of the 7 UAE emirates on December 2nd, 1971. The 7 Emirates include Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah
Ambassador Hazza said that the ‘UAE Nation Day’ is a particularly important day for UAE citizens and administration especially because it is a reminder of the diplomatic relationships the UAE has built over the years with different countries including Rwanda. “Our relations with Rwanda have remarkably improved this year, especially in the tourism, education, commerce and aviation sectors”
He added that the relationship between Rwanda and UAE aims at brainstorming and implementing solutions that will contribute to the development of the two countries.
“I believe that our relationship with Rwanda benefits us all in terms of development and I am committed to keep supporting it to the best of my abilities”
Since the UAE opened its embassy in Kigali in 2018, it is the second time the ‘UAE Nation Day’ ceremony is held in Rwanda. This ceremony gathered government officials including other ambassadors representing their countries in Rwanda.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe who was the guest of honor in this ceremony says the fact that both countries have embassies proves the good relationship between Rwanda and the UAE and that Rwanda has benefited a lot from this relationship especially in commerce.
“Our commercial ties have remarkably improved in the past 5 years given the fact that even our exports to the UAE multiplied by two. We have also opened our embassy in UAE in 2015 in order to facilitate our commercial and political interests. The UAE has also opened its embassy in Rwanda in March, 2018”
In 2018, the two countries exchanged goods with a value of US $750 million. Last month, in partnership with the government of Rwanda, Dubai Ports World, that operates in global supply chain solutions was granted a 25-year concession to develop and operate a new logistics centre in Kigali, Rwanda.
This logistics centre will be named ‘Kigali Logistics Platform’ and will help business owners who struggled in importing goods from Dubai through Mombasa or Dar Es Salaam to cut their costs and purchase them directly from inside the country.
Fourteen of the trainees are from South Sudan. It was organized as a requirement and condition by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for all officers working at the airports.
Commissioner of Police (CP) Robert Niyonshuti, Commissioner for Training and Development in RNP, while officially opening the course, said that security and safety of airports is critical and requires well trained and skilled officers.
“Terrorism is real and aviation is one of the vulnerable sectors. Security of airports is a challenge to law enforcement officers, confronting it requires officers equipped with necessary tools in terms of knowledge and skills,” CP Niyonshuti said.
He added: “Aviation industry is a cornerstone of the modern economy. It is a highly competitive and rapidly growing sector facing challenges related to performance, innovation, safety, sustainability, air traffic management and infrastructure. Aviation safety and security calls for our constant vigilance, and for strategic anticipation at all levels, to stay ahead of the threat.”
During the next three weeks, trainees will look at the overview of international civil aviation security, access control of people and vehicles, recognition of explosives and other restricted articles; search procedures; patrol and guarding the airport, screening and searching passengers and luggage as well as protection of aircraft, among others.
CP Niyonshuti said that Rwanda and South Sudan Police institutions enjoy “excellent cooperation.”
The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to partner in various areas of policing including the exchange of information and training in cyber and aviation security as well as other careers, professional and academic courses.
South Sudan Police officers have previously attended cadet courses and other command courses, including the Police Senior Command and Staff Course (PSCSC), in Rwanda.
They are also part of the ongoing 8th PSCSC intake and 6th Junior Staff and Command Course (JCSC) at the National Police College (NPC) in Musanze District.
According to Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Marie-Gorette Umutesi, the Police spokesperson for City of Kigali, Sibomana was arrested red-handed on Tuesday receiving Rwf50, 000 from one of the victims in Nyarugunga Sector.
The suspect was mainly targeting people constructing houses or seeking documents to renovate their residential houses, CIP Umutesi said.
“Sibomana went to the site, where the would-be victim was renovating a house, claiming to be an employee at Nyarugunga Sector appointed by City of Kigali to oversee construction activities in the sector,” CIP Umutesi said.
“He demanded to see the construction permit, which he was given, but threatened them that they had included a veranda, which is not indicated on the permit and demanded Rwf50, 000 so as not to report the matter which would result into the demolition of part of the house,” she added.
Instead, CIP Umutesi explained, the would-be victim reported the matter to law enforcement organs and Sibomana was arrested red-handed receiving the money. He was also found with the forged service card, apparently issued by City of Kigali.
The spokesperson advised the general public never to fall prey to such conmen, noting that “both giving and receiving bribes constitute a crime.”
“Even if you are doing something unlawful, giving a bribe will be another serious criminal act, we advise you to report such conmen and people soliciting bribes.”
Article 174 of the law determining offences and penalties in general, states that any person who, by deception, obtains another person’s property, whole or part of his/her finance by use of false names or qualifications, or who offers positive promises or who threatens of future misfortunes, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than three years, and a fine of not less than Rwf3 million and not more than Rwf5 million.
In article 279, any person who, without title, usurps public, civil or military functions or poses the acts of one of these functions or falsely attributes to himself/herself the quality of a public official… with an intention to mislead the public, faces an imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than three years with a fine of not less than Rwf300, 000 and not more than Rwf500, 000.
Article 4 of the law on fighting against corruption, any person who solicits, accepts or receives, by any means, an illegal benefit for himself/herself or another person or accepts a promise in order to render or omit a service under his or her mandate or uses his or her position to render or omit a service, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of more than five years but not more than seven years with a fine of three to five times the value of the illegal benefit solicited received.
After Zigama CSS general meeting where Col Nkundimana was appointed, he said he has witnessed the growth of the bank from its inception and is committed to contribute to taking the Bank to greater heights.
“We assure our stakeholders that we shall provide more value and exemplary services that will allow them to thrive financially and to contribute to the growth of the Bank as our predecessors have done.”
Zigama Credit and Savings Society combines six security institutions including the Rwandan Defense Force (RDF), Rwanda National Police (RNP), Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Rwanda Forensic Laboratory (RFL), National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS).
Col Nkundimana says that their prime objective is to provide top-notch services to their stakeholders, at a reasonable price and in the shortest time possible.
“Given the fact that our stakeholders tend to have a limited time of their own, we owe them the quickest services and through the continuous advances in technology, we aim at providing services without our stakeholders having to queue at the bank.”
This year, Zigama CSS projects to earn Rwf 10 billion in profit and Rwf 12 billion in 2021, from Rwf 9 billion in 2018.
On Saturday, 26th October, journalist Vincent Hervouët of the LCI channel under TF1, hosted Charles Onana in a TV show dubbed ‘Tout un Monde’ where they discussed details of a book,“Rwanda, la verité sur l’Operation Turquoise” that Onana wrote about the French-led military operation in Rwanda in 1994 ‘Operation Turquoise’.
During the said television show, Charles Onana who is a French of Cameroonian origin, said that the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi never happened and that there has never been any genocide between 1990 and 1994.
The Rwandan community in France was outraged by this statement and announced it could not tolerate anymore lies of Onana, who in the past even said the Genocide against Tutsi was the biggest scam in Africa.
Gisagara told IGIHE that much as they did not immediately press charges after the said television show, they condemned the statements, wrote to the French media commission and to the television channel on which the show was aired, asking for penalties to be imposed on those involved in the unfortunate incident.
“The Rwandan community in France first wrote to the French media commission requesting for punitive actions and also wrote to the LCI Channel administration asking for a justification about this issue and then base on the measures taken to decide on a final action.”
Gisagara says that two days after the show was aired, he sent the two letters but the French media commission never responded while the LCI Channel responded after a week with an unsatisfying answer.
He says they considered LCI Channel reply an ‘empty’ one mainly because they neither apologized nor explained circustances under which the show was telecast.
The letter CRF sent to the Paris Court of Appeal shows the charges were pressed on Wednesday, November 27th, 2019.
“Today, we have sent a letter to the Prosecutor General of the Paris Court of Appeal pressing charges against Charles Onana for the spiteful words he said on live television. Not only are those words he said deceitful, but the French law penalizes anyone who denies the Genocide against Tutsi. This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated at all and people should not take this matter lightly or allowed to deny the genocide in complete impunity.”
The French law on genocide denial has provisions for punishing both the denier and the media house that will have given him the platform especially if the latter did not publicly apologize or condemn that behavior.
Me Gisagara says that if the case is not mentioned in court three months after pressing charges, the Rwandan community in France will take it to the high court.
In 2017, France passed a law against denial of Genocide against the Tutsi on French territory.
This crime is punished by a 1-year imprisonment and a penalty of € 45,000, almost Rwf 36 million.
The outgoing Prosecutor General, Mutangana Jean Bosco confirmed on Twitter that Evode is currently being prosecuted for the crime.
He wrote in reply to Juliette Karitanyi, a Twitter user who addressed her concern of Mushingwamana still exercising his functions in the parliament while it was clear he is a suspect.
The Prosecutor General replied saying “Dear Juliette, first and foremost, I extend my apologies for not having come out on time to inform the status at which this matter is handled despite continued outcry. I hereby inform that the suspect has been arraigned and prosecuted in a court of law.”
In her tweet to Mutangana, Karitanyi also mentioned The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame saying that despite Mushingwamana being prosecuted for the rape crime, he was still working at the parliament and that it was unacceptable.
“Dear Mr. President, it has been a while now since a man called Evode Mushingwamana here copied still works for the parliament yet he is accused of raping, attempting murder, forcing abortion and trafficking a Burundian refugee. The case is in courts.”
This issue was in the origin brought forward by Remy Baho, another Twitter user who condemned the inaction of the parliament about this matter and asked why Mushingwamana was still working at the parliament.
“Mushingwamana Evode kidnapped raped, beat and attempted to murder a 19-year-old refugee but he was only prosecuted for only the rape crime. He hasn’t yet been suspended from his functions at the Public Accounts Parliamentary Committee despite DNA results showing that the child born from that rape is his. How is it possible that nothing is being done and that this man continues to work at the parliament after these inhuman actions? This is unacceptable!”
Mutangana promised that courts would peruse this case considerately and give due justice to the 19-year-old girl. The court’s verdict on this case will be announced on December 23rd, 2019.
Dear Juliette, First and foremost, i extend my apologies for not having come out on time to inform the status at which this matter is handled despite continued outcry. I hereby inform that the suspect was arraigned and prosecuted in a Court of law.
Among the changes made in the judicial sector, Havugiyaremye Aimable was appointed as the Prosecutor General, Habyarimana Angelique as the Deputy Prosecutor General while Nkurunziza Valens was appointed as Vice President of the Commercial High Court.
Havugiyaremye previously served the Chairperson of the Rwanda Law Reform Commission (RLRC) from October, 2017.
Before that, he was the acting rector of the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD).
He graduated with a Master’s Degree in International Law from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
His predecessor, Mutangana, holds a Master’s degree in International Law from the Netherlands.
Havugiyaremye worked in the judicial sector for a long time. Between 2014 and 2016, he served as a Principal State Attorney in the office of the Prosecutor General and as a prosecutor from 2004 to 2009.
He was also the head of the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit from 2007 to 2010 and as ‘Premier Substitut’ in the present Rusizi and Nyagatare districts.
This was announced on Thursday, 28th November at the inauguration of the new Shyembe early child development center in Gihango sector. The center will support 4680 families through improved dietary practices.
This center was built by South Korean investors in partnership with World Vision.
Ndizihiwe Emeline, a resident of Rutsiro District expressed her gratitude saying that this center will help care and supervise children during the day and that it comes as a solution especially for disadvantaged families in Shyembe who had to walk for four hours before to Murunda Hospital whenever their children were sick.
“Our children spent the day wandering in the neighborhood with no supervision at all. This center will care for them and provide them a better diet every day. It also saves us the time we spent walking to Murunda Hospital whenever our children fell sick.”
The Ambassador of South Korea to Rwanda, Kim Eung-Joong says that caring for children is building a strong foundation for the future of the country.
He promised that South Korea will continue to support Rwandans in every way possible.
“The benefits of caring and supervising the growth of children include the certainty of a better future for the country. I am convinced this center will contribute to a healthy community.”
Rutsiro District Mayor, Ayinkamiye Emmerance says that the district is facing a high prevalence of stunting in children and that they aim at uprooting it through early child development centers.
“Our district still has a huge problem of children stunting counting 49% of malnourished children as part of the 38% recorded countrywide. We aim at changing these statistics and plan on establishing early child development centers in every sector as a solution to malnutrition and stunting”
Currently, Rutsiro district counts 10 early child development centers where children stay during the day and where they are educated and offered healthy diets.
There are also 1134-day care centers that also offer early child development services.
The National Early Childhood Development Program (NECDP) predicts that by 2024, every sector in Rwanda will have at least one Early Child Development Center as Rwanda transitions towards malnutrition and stunting-free generation.
Others appointed o ambassadorial posts are Rwamucyo Ernest, the Ambassador of Rwanda to Japan and Mukangira Jacqueline, the Ambassador of Rwanda to the Republic of India.
Lieutenant General Kamanzi was appointed Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan on 6 April, 2017 by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. In May this year, he bid farewell to the forces he commanded after a two-year term. Before the UNMISS, Lt Gen. Kamanzi was the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from 2016, and the Commander in Chief of the Field Army from 2012 to 2015.
Lt Gen Frank Mushyo Kamanzi was born on March 31st, 1964 and graduated from Makerere University in Uganda, with a major in Agriculture. He also graduated with a Master’s degree from the National Defense University in Washington, United States.
Rwamucyo who was appointed Ambassador of Rwanda to Japan has previously served as the Ambassador of Rwanda to the Republic of India for six years and eight months starting from April, 2013. He also served as the Ambassador of Rwanda to the United Kingdom from February, 2010 to April, 2013. During this period, he also acted as the representative of Rwanda in Ireland.
Before all that, Rwamucyo worked as an expert at the United Nations Development Programme from April,2007 to January, 2010. He was also in charge of Economic Planning in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) from 2004 to April, 2007.
55-year-old Mukangira Jacqueline who was appointed as the Ambassador of Rwanda to India previously served as Rwanda Ambassador to Sweden in 2007. She also worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Member of Parliament and a senator 2012 where she chaired the senatorial research committee.
Rwanda maintains a flawless relationship with these countries where for example, it has been partnering with Japan for the last 50 years in areas including education, agriculture, water sanitation and distribution, technology and many other sectors.
The relationship between Rwanda and Japan is mainly founded on the economy, commerce, loans and grants and technology trainings frequently offered in Japan.
On the other hand, Rwanda’s relationship with Russia has been ongoing for 56 years based on a letter sent by Soviet Union (URSS) in 1962 commending the diplomatic relationship between these two countries just a day before the independence of Rwanda.
The Russian Federation collaborates with Rwanda in areas such as education, military operations, technology, investment and tourism. His Excellency, President Paul Kagame travels frequently to Russia for diplomatic talks with His Excellency, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. In July, 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Russia, Sergey Lavrov was in Rwanda where he had talks with President Paul Kagame.
Similarly, to the relationship between Rwanda, Russia and Japan, the relationship between the Republic of India and Rwanda is all the more flourishing especially in investment where Indian investors remarkably contribute to the economy.
In 2017, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) reported that the Republic of India is the third country after Portugal and the United Kingdom that made a remarkable investment in Rwanda.
Before 2017, 66 Indian-owned businesses including Airtel, Zinc Hotel and Mahatma Gandhi University recorded a net worth of $317. Rwanda is currently home to 3000 Indians who are involved in activities like technology, the automotive sector and industries among others.
Oscar Kerketta is the first Ambassador of India to Rwanda. He resides in Kigali and was appointed in September, 2018.
![Colonel Corneille Emile Nkundimana has been appointed Zigama Credit and Savings Society [CSS] Chief Executive Officer](https://en.igihe.com/IMG/jpg/igih0315-31e1f.jpg)
