Mbanda was speaking in a press conference yesterday while briefing the media about the preparations of September Parliamentary Elections.
He said that Rwandans will continue casting their votes through paper ballots system.
He said that electronic ballot faced challenges and affected countries to the extent that they are now still experiencing negative effects.
“Using electronic ballots is possible, African countries like Kenya used them but they did not succeed as they delayed elections and required them to use paper ballots,” he said.
Mbanda said that Rwanda continues to avoid using electronic ballots fearing that they can be invaded by hackers and affect the process.
“As we don’t have electricity across the country, we can use batteries, but these can get down and interrupt the electoral process or hackers can invade our technology and distract the process. We are using paper ballots and will continue to use it for many years to come,” he explained.
Preparations for September Parliamentary Elections continue with political parties submitting the lists of candidates Thursday.
According to NEC, the elections’ budget is Rwf5.4 billion.
In a press conference on Tuesday, NEC Chairperson, Prof. Kalisa Mbanda said that since June 13th independent candidates collected documents allowing them to seek signatures in support of their candidacies.
“We received sixteen independent candidates with the majority being youth; they are fifteen men and one woman. Currently, they are across districts seeking those signatures as the law obliges them to. The exercise is running well,” he explained.
The law requires individual candidates to submit a list of 600 signatures with 12 individuals from each district in the country.
Rwanda’s electoral law says that for individual candidate to secure a seat in parliament, they need to obtain 5% of the total votes.
However, different people claimed such percentage is high for individual candidates, suggesting that institutions in charge could consider revising the law.
For NEC Executive Secretary, Charles Munyaneza, the law could only be changed through constitution amendment.
“If the law was to change, it would only be possible through the constitution,…. So, we urge those who wish so, to go through legal procedures, they should have raised this in 2015 when the constitution was being amended,” he said.
It worthy to note that no independent candidate has ever managed to win a parliamentary seat since the law established in 2010.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to kick off on September 2nd with Rwandans living abroad casting their ballots first, and the following day on September 3rd the exercise will be carried out within the country.
There are 80 seats in the Lower Chamber that are up for grabs, 53 of which are for directly elected MPs belonging to different political organisations and individual aspirants.
CNLG made the call in a statement released yesterday while commending last week’s Paris Assize Court for upholding life sentence to Genocide convicts Tito Barahira and Octavien Ngenzi.
The two former bourgmestres who successively led former Kabarondo Commune were convicted of genocide crimes and killing of 2000 Tutsi in Kabarondo Parish and its surroundings.
CNLG said that Barahira and Ngenzi’s judgments followed 22 judgments that had been taken by courts in different countries including France, Sweden, Belgium, England, Norway, Canada and German.
The commission reminded that besides the judgments, eighteen people were extradited to Rwanda from different countries including USA, Canada, Uganda, The Netherlands, ICTR, Norway and German.
A statement signed by CNLG Executive Secretary, Jean Damascene Bizimana says that France still shields a total of 42 genocide fugitives.
The commission says that they filed different complaints but France turned a deaf ear.
“Considering the date of the complaints, CNLG draws a conclusion that French justice has taken too long to prosecute fugitives suspected of genocide and systematic refusal for political reasons to extradite them to Rwanda,” a statement notes.
CNLG also called on countries to take into consideration a total of 835 arrest warrants that were issued by Rwandan Judiciary.
In 2009, Kondewa and eight former war commandants forming Civil Defence Forces including Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon, Alex Tamba Brima, Santigie Borbor Kanu, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara, Augustine Gboa and Moinina Fofana were sent to serve their sentences in Rwanda.
After serving two-thirds of his sentence and exhibiting change, the Sierra Leone court provisionally released him and RCS repatriated him to his country.
In a statement, RCS Spokesperson, SSP Hillary Sengabo said that Kondewa who had been detained in Nyanza Prison was released Sunday.
Kondewa was accompanied by Sengabo who handed him to Sierra Leone officials.
“He was well-received, and affirms that in Rwanda he received programmes which facilitated him to become a good citizen,” Sengabo said.
Kondewa and eight compatriots arrived in Rwanda on November 31st 2009.
He was convicted on war crimes and use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone; he was sentenced by the Special UN court for Sierra Leone.
RIB announced this Monday in a joint press conference they held with Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) in Kigali.
The conference was briefing the media on operations investigators and RAB officials carried out last week which was aimed at fighting against sell and use of counterfeit veterinary products in the country.
According to the officials, counterfeit and expired veterinary products seized during the operations include: Lava 200ws, Lava (100ml), Lava (500ml), Lava (1l), Fukkil, Amitix, Bolivita bolus, Oblet Gynecologique, Insecticide, Rapid gro, Carbesia, and Lick Malic bloc a Lecher.
The operation was conducted in nine districts on 52 pharmacies. 18 pharmacies were found selling products that were illegally imported, expired and counterfeit.
The Director of Veterinary Inspection Unit at RAB, Dr. Jean Claude Rukundo said that in recent past many livestock were dead due to Rift Valley Fever and pests while veterinary products dealers were cheating on people.
“Among seized products include those which were meant to fight such diseases, but contrary, it was established that they were counterfeited and others were imported illegally,” he explained.
“People need to be vigilant and know how to differentiate original products from counterfeited ones,” he added.
The Head of Investigation Unit at RIB, Peter Karake warned people involving in illegal dealership that tough punishment are waiting them.
Dubbed ‘Global CEO Africa programme’, it was launched on June 28th 2018 and designed for top-tier African Business leaders seeking to globally expand their organisation’s reach.
The launch attracted top CEOs in Rwanda including Betty Sayinzoga, CEO Saham Assurance and Hannington Namara, CEO Equity Bank Rwanda among others.
The programme runs under the theme {{‘Leveraging on Regional Integration for Economic Growth}}.’
The launch took place soon after the signing of Africa Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreement by 44 African Member States on 21st March 2018. The CFTA brings together an estimated 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of more than USD$ 2 trillion.
The draft agreement commits countries to removing tariffs on 90% of goods. This momentous milestone illustrates a positive trajectory towards making intra – African trade attractive and affordable.
“It is time we came together for true social transformation. To build partnerships that will build an integrated Africa. At the heart of social capital transformation, is the education system,” said Dr. George Njenga, Dean – Strathmore Business School.
Rwanda has identified and curved a niche in developing an economic comparative advantage. On average, formal intra-African trade accounts for about 14% of total African trade. 46% of which is linked to manufactured products.
Speaking at the launch, Equity Bank’s Hannington Namara explained that intra-African trade is an illustration that the country has great potential in the development of supply chains across the continent.
He said, supplemented with increase in productivity and competitiveness, the continent can create enough jobs for its young and urbanized population.
“The journey must begin now, to think big and to create initiatives from Rwanda that go beyond Rwanda. If there is a Rwanda Agaciro (sovereign fund), why can’t we spread it to be an African Agaciro,” said Mr. Namara.
The Global CEO program serves as a platform for African CEOs to strategically step back from the rapid pace of daily business to reflect on issues facing their companies, while engaging with seasoned executives from distinct backgrounds, industries, and cultures.
The program is delivered in collaboration with IESE Business School and Lagos Business School.
Saham’s Betty Sayinzoga encouraged the CEOs to actively engage in unearthing the prospects the continent has.
‘’African challenges can only be addressed from an African perspective, and it is through this that we raise awareness on the opportunities that lie in Africa for Africans,” she said.
The discussions at the launch highlighted the recent and future opportunities for the Rwandan business landscape, through innovative strategic thinking.
Rwanda’s steady economic growth continues to rank the country as a key frontier in the continents economic growth. In line with Strathmore Business School’s vision of building a premier business School across Africa that responds to the Leadership and Management needs of the continent, SBS seeks to support Rwanda’s efforts by building local skills and competencies.
Through the Rwanda Leadership Development Academy, Strathmore Business School focusses on building transformational leadership aimed at developing businesses and promoting individual skillsets. The business school provides executive education through corporate and individual training.
{{About Strathmore Business School }}
Strathmore Business School provides training programs on business, agribusiness, public policy, healthcare and education.
The center for agribusiness currently has 8 executive training targeting investors in various value chains as well as the master of management in agribusiness. Strathmore Business School seeks to enable investors to develop practical business applications in agribusiness and provides a platform for the investors to generate a return on their investments while addressing the challenges facing the agricultural sector.
SBS captures these themes in one business concept: Developing Great Business Leaders. This is in perfect harmony with the founding principle of Strathmore University: that of leading society to greater development through service to all people without discrimination.
PM Abiy landed in Eritrea’s capital, Asmara for a bilateral summit which was aimed at repairing relations between both countries.
Through his twitter handle, Kagame hailed both leaders for commitment in bringing about right things for the people of their countries.
“We salute the leaders, PM of Ethiopia Dr. Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea for their courage and doing the right thing for their people of the two countries! We congratulate you and are with you….!” he said in a tweet.
Abiy’s visit to Eritrea came two months after he accepted a peace deal that ended a two-year border war between the two countries.
The Chief of Staff in Ethiopia’s Prime Minister’s Office, Fitsum Arega tweeted that the visit was aimed at deepening efforts to bring about lasting peace between the people of both countries.
“Our two nations share a history and bond like no other. We can now overcome two decades of mistrust and move in a new direction,” he said adding, “The visit offers a spectacular opportunity to decidedly move forward peace for the good of our people.”
As a result of the visit, Fitsum said Sunday that for the first time after two decades, a direct international telephone connection between Ethiopia and Eritrea was restored.
He said that after discussions, Eritrea’s Isaias confirmed that the normalization of Ethiopia-Eritrea relations will start in earnest, flights will resume, utilization of the sea ports will start and the two countries will re-open embassies in each other’s capital.
Ethiopia-Eritrea war took place between 1998 and 2000 but left lasting conflicts on the border of two countries.
Speaking to IGIHE yesterday, the party Secretary General, Dr. Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze said that the list was prepared and approved following primaries that were conducted in March across the country.
In April, he said an independent commission was established to assess the list which was finally approved by the political bureau on Sunday.
“The list had been prepared by an independent commission as it is stipulated by the party’s laws, then after, the list was submitted to the executive committee and finally approved by the political bureau, an exercise that has been conducted today (Sunday),” Ngabitsinze told IGIHE yesterday.
In the bureau, the party approved their political programme which will be presented to the public during the electoral campaigns.
The list of political party which has had seven seats in parliament is comprised new individuals. Only three names of current members of parliament who appeared on the list.
He had not been cleared of the said debt nor the court case by May 2018 when Ngoma Intermediate Court sentenced two officials who allegedly squandered the money through ‘ghost loans’; the former Ndego Sacco manager, Simon Pierre Habyarimana and loan officer Jean Paul Nzabonimpa to eight years in prison and a fine of Rwf9,767,420. They were found guilty of mismanaging the SACCO’s funds, forgery, using counterfeited documents and conning people. Musabyimana was a victim of the duo’s trickery.
The two have appealed the verdict. But 10 Sacco members who claimed indemnities of Rwf60 million also appealed the decision of compensating each with Rwf222,000 which they say doesn’t even cover their expenses including Rwf500,000 for the lawyer and over Rwf300,000 transport costs per each for attending the hearings from January to May 2018.
Musabyimana says, “I got loan of Rwf1.5 million in “words” not in cash in 2014. It started with the loan officer calling me to their offices over weekend and encouraged me to take loan which I accepted but he said I had to wait for Monday to collect the money.”
“They kept dodging me for about a month but they later decided to end the matter, filled the loan form and recorded the loan in my booklet, after which the manager called me in his office. He told me he had arranged with BDF (Business Development Fund) to pay 50% of my loan, therefore I had to repay Rwf750,000 only; adding as so, I had to give him Rwf500,000,” he tells IGIHE.
Musabyima says he refused and told the manager he had to repay that Rwf500,000 and required him to sign an agreement for that but the manager refused and Musabyimana grabbed his booklet. The manager remained with the filled loan form. The loan of Rwf1.5 million immediately went straight to the pockets of the manager who was sharing the cash with the loan officer. Musabyimana says he never got a penny.
“I didn’t sign on the form and he didn’t stamp in my booklet for the loan release. He phoned me the next day for a talk but we reached no agreement. I reported to the board president whom the manager told I had taken the money. I tried to take him to court but I could not afford legal wyer’s fees. I went home and relaxed, waiting for Sacco to sue me,” he says.
It later emerged that Musabyimana was sharing the problem with many Sacco members. They reported the two officers to police that arrested them. This prompted the inspection by Central Bank (BNR) and Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA) in November 2017 which found the two men to have embezzled around Rwf8 million and giving out loans illegally. The case was filed to the court against the two.
Prior to their arrest, however, Ndego Sacco had filed a case to Nyarugenge Commercial Court against nine members including Musabyimana over not repaying the loans and court’s verdict is awaited since the closure of the hearings in March.
{{Over 50 victims cry foul}}
A male victim who preferred anonymity said the Sacco manager and loan officer tricked over 50 members with most of the victims handing cash to the officers from the victims’ homes, others finding loans recorded on their names yet they never asked for them nor did they receive any money and others whose deposits were withdrawn by the officers.
This victim repaid the balance of Rwf427,600 on the Rwf1 million loan he had received but the loan officer deposited Rwf100,000 only and pocketed Rwf327,600.
He said that 25 victims reported to police but only 10 afforded the court’s fees while over 25 more were deceived by the two men in jail for not reporting as they promised to defeat those who reported and come back home to repay those who remained loyal to them. He said, from the prison, the two men were phoning some victims very often during the court’s hearings and convinced them on not appearing in court.
Daniel Nkangura, a resident of Karambi Cell in Ndego Sector who was loaned Rwf100,000 in January 2013 and repaid it in one year, was surprised to hear in August 2017 that he received Rwf450,000 and was charged with Rwf1.86 million as delay penalties but he was recently cleared of this debt by the court verdict.
Nkangura says his male neighbour had a ghost debt of Rwf320,000 and was told to repay Rwf1,983,000 for allegedly delaying to repay for over four years. He added another man had repaid Rwf200,000 loan and recovered his mortgage from Sacco but found himself in court with a huge debt of Rwf9.46 million.
{{Efforts to restore trust}}
Ndego Sacco members who lost their funds into staff pockets have told IGIHE that the trust in this cooperative is at peril in the community and recommended for the overhaul of the staff in order to recover trust.
“That robbery by the staff decimated our trust in Sacco. We have tangible reasons. For instance, they are currently giving loans not exceeding Rwf100,000 yet they were formerly giving up to Rwf2 million,” said a member who preferred anonymity, adding that members who want to withdraw big amounts of money are currently being put on hold as the cooperative has run short of funds.
Musabyamana also said he and fellow members have lost trust in their Sacco, citing examples of milk suppliers to the sector’s milk collection centre and workers in Bramin project, a joint maize venture between Bralirwa and Minimex Corporate Company, who have recently refused to keep receiving payments through Sacco.
“We cannot have trust in our Sacco as long as the cashiers who worked with those men (jailed manager and loan officer) are still there. For example, there is still a cashier who once recorded Rwf20,000 for my neighbour who deposited Rwf200,000 and fooled him when he complained. We have now opted to save our money in our community saving groups,” said Musabyimana.
Ndego Sacco Manager, Alphonsine Uwamariya, says members should have trust in their cooperative since the criminals have faced justice, adding that the remaining staffs have nothing to do with the former managers’ acts.
“We are telling members that there isn’t any problem now. The inspection was conducted and nobody else was found guilty of any crime apart from those two men. It is true there are un-recovered loans as the case in court indicated. It happened that the loan officer did not deposit in Sacco the money he was receiving from loan receivers but no funds they picked from Sacco coffers; it is the cash from outside,” she said, admitting that they have lost some members especially the victims of the former managers’ acts.
Prof. Jean Bosco Harelimana, the Director General of RCA, told IGIHE recently that Umurenge Saccos have lost a total of Rwf1,731,188,647 mainly in embezzlement and mismanagement since the opening of one outlet in each of the 416 administrative sectors in 2009 but Rwf1 billion has so far been recovered while 100 cases about Sacco malpractices are pending in courts.
He said that in a bid to curb the malpractices, RCA has started the process of computerising Sacco’s operations and opening a cooperative bank to oversee the outlets’ operations around the country by 2020.
Harelimana assured Umurenge Sacco’s members of the security of their funds because all financial institutions are insured and cautioned those trying to embezzle the cooperative’s funds, saying that they will face justice.
With 535 outlets, Rwf66 billion savings and Rwf12 billion share capital currently, Umurenge Sacco employs 3,029 people countrywide.
He testified the benefits of using complete roofing services, offered exclusively by Safintra Rwanda Ltd in the country.
Eng. Malonko says his company has used the Safintra’s complete roofing services for a number of projects in the last four years and their overall effectiveness compels him to keep turning to Safintra for reliable solutions, quality and timely execution.
“We worked with Safintra on many projects including the National Police Headquarters and hostels in Kacyiru. Safintra took up the entire roofs work and timely delivered them to us. They used “Ultraspan” as quality roof sheets and trained manpower to execute it,” he says.
He adds that complete roofing services saves time for the owner or contractor who would, otherwise, go around buying every material and hiring manpower.
“These services help us concentrate on other activities with assurance that we will see the roof done on time. This also gives a guarantee as we only have to contact one person in case there is a fault with the roof instead of looking for every contributor to the roof in other instances,” says Eng. Malonko.
He says Safintra roofs are at least 50% lighter than other available in Rwanda, something good for avoiding the walls’ cracks or fall which often comes as a result of heavy roofs.
He adds the truss that Safintra uses for the complete roofing services are nowhere else on the local market. He, however, asked Safintra to extend these services so that it reaches to a big number of people in the country.
Sandeep Phadnis, Business Head at Safintra Rwanda Ltd, told IGIHE last week that the company has been introducing new services to meet the demand of the customers for faster construction of roof and savings on overall costs with offering complete roofing services as a new and innovative service.
“We have technical capability and experience to execute the work in stipulated time. Our Engineers do roof designing, suggest the right material and do the installation. In fact, you can now build the houses and leave the roofs to Safintra engineering team; they will show you the complete roof, smart and durable,” he said.
Safintra which is serving Rwandan construction industry since 2008 has been introducing technically superior products from time to time. Its products are a result of vast experience and technical expertise which has made it a One Stop Shop centre for roofing solutions.
Safintra uses its Light Gauge Steel Truss system under the brand Ultraspan as well as Simbachuma for the Structure.
Some of the bigger projects, Safintra has so far completed as complete roofing solutions include Large University in Burato, Burera District, Professional Training centre in Remera, Headquarters & Key buildings in Government offices, 4 Star Hotels in Nyagatare & Musanze districts, just to mention but a few. Safintra has also completed many schools, individual houses and apartments.
Safintra Rwanda Limited is a part of the Safal Group, Africa’s largest producer of steel roofing and allied products and is the first producer of Aluminium Zinc coated steel on the continent. With over 50 years of experience, the Safal Group has 36 manufacturing operations in 12 countries across Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, and has remained at the forefront in developing and providing products that lead the industry on the continent.
