The event took place Saturday at the ceremony to commemorate the victims of 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rusizi.
Survivor, Vestine Utamuriza said that the remains of their families had been poorly buried as the rains and floods have been damaging them.
“We are pleased to see the remains of our beloved fallen families rested in safe place. Previously, they were buried in unsafe place where it used to rain on them,” she said.
It is anticipated that all remains of the genocide victims across Rusizi District will be moved to three District Genocide Memorial Centres which are Nyarushishi, Mibilizi and Kamembe.
Nyarushishi Genocide Memorial Centre is home to 4738 victims.
Speaking at the event, Senator Appolinaire Mushinzimana said that the memorial is well constructed so that more remains could be buried there.
According to Mushinzimana, the memorial is capable to receive remains of over 10,000.
The op-ed recently published in The East African by Professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti is typical of this prejudice. A recognized expert in sports marketing, she is perfectly entitled to her opinions. But not to her own facts, and her mistakes are numerous.
First, memorial sites of the Genocide against the Tutsi are not tourist attractions. They have never been marketed as such, and never will be. These are sacred places of burial and remembrance for Rwandans. Visitors to our country who wish to better understand our history are of course very welcome to visit the memorials. But to claim, as Professor Neirotti does, that Rwanda’s only two attractions are gorillas and death, betrays profound contempt.
Second, interest in visiting Rwanda is rising, not falling, as she asserts. Rwanda’s three main national parks – Akagera, Nyungwe, and Volcanoes — saw a 6% increase in visitor numbers in 2017. It is easy to see why. Rwanda is one of the safest and most hospitable countries on the planet. It also the only place where tourists can see the “Big Five” (lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo), as well as the critically endangered mountain gorilla and several bird species endemic to the high-altitude rainforest in Nyungwe National Park.
Rwanda’s attractions are varied and exciting. With the launch of the Congo-Nile trail, sports and mountain biking enthusiasts from all over the world are flocking to Rwanda, and we are also home to East Africa’s only canopy walk.
Third, Rwanda’s tourism strategy is not based solely on wildlife. Conference and meetings tourism is growing fast, driven by strategic investments in RwandAir, world-class hotels, and the iconic Kigali Convention Centre, one of Africa’s largest and most modern. Citizens of any country in the world can get a visa on arrival in Rwanda.
In 2017, Rwanda earned US$42 million from this segment, this year’s earnings are projected to be US$74 million. We have hosted the World Economic Forum, and two African Union Summits. Nearly 30,000 international delegates are descending on Kigali this year to participate in more than 90 confirmed international meetings. Last month, the International Congress and Convention Association ranked Rwanda the third most popular destination in Africa for hosting international events.
Rwanda’s visitors have varied accommodation options, ranging from major international hotel chains such as Radisson Blu, Marriott, and Serena, as well as the award-winning boutique eco-lodge, Bisate Lodge, where Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi stayed on their visit last month.
Our country has come a long way. Today, Rwanda has over 10,000 hotel rooms, up from just 600 in 2001. Professor Neirotti claims there are no flights from Rwanda to the UK, but in fact RwandAir has been flying to London-Gatwick since May 2017, alongside more than two dozen other destinations, including Brussels, Dubai, Mumbai, and most major cities in East and West Africa. New routes to the United States and China are set to launch in 2019.
Arsenal is one of the most popular teams, in the most-watched league, of the world’s most popular sport. The Arsenal jersey is seen 35 million times a day. The ‘Visit Rwanda’ deal has created enormous global interest, which is exactly what we wanted. Whatever opinions they have about the deal, people are talking like never before about Rwanda as a tourism destination.
Ultimately, in Rwanda, we are going to pursue our goals the way we think best, just as every other country should. For us it is already a win.
He does his business from Kirehe District of the Eastern Province.
The head of Real Green Gold Company got his idea back in 2016 after completing university studies.
He says he conceived the business idea of exporting ripe bananas to the European market but found no way out.
“I challenged myself and wondered that if people in Europe consume ripe bananas from South-America, why Rwandans having such quantity of bananas do not export them? I had no farm for banana plantation and had no investment,” he says.
Nshimiyimana has started selling ripe bananas and different varieties of banana on the local market.
Nshimiyimana attributes his achievements to the support by an international non-profit organization, These Numbers Have Faces.
At the beginning, besides having the business idea, Nshimiyimana had no capital, mentor nor advisor on the ways to implement his business idea.
“After pitching my business idea to These Numbers Have Faces, they validated it and supported me in all ways towards implementation. At the beginning (in April 2016), they gave me starting capital of $500 non-refundable which facilitated me to rent a farm and planted new banana plantation. At this point, I had proved that the business was possible,” he says.
“In October, 2016 they gave me refundable investment of $1,000 which I successfully used and refunded,” he said adding that he targets to acquire new funding which would facilitate him to export ripe bananas to the European market.
“Recently, I was speaking to Rwandans living in Europe; they told me that bananas are expensive. As we have RwandAir flying Europe, I need to use such advantage and start exportation in the near future,” he explained.
Currently, Nshimiyimana employs five permanent workers and plans to start training 300 neighbors on modern banana plantation growing practices.
Like Nshimiyimana, Jeannette Umutoniwase, the head of Inzira Dreams Network, a handicraft business making clothes, bags and jewelries was also facilitated by the organisation.
The Nyarugenge based businesswoman was trained in making trendy objects.
“I joined this organization in November last year. My business was to recycle plastic bottles and make earrings; I was trained in making productive objects and currently, I am making bags, clothes and shoes,” she said.
According to Umutoniwase, the project has become successful in terms of financial income.
“At the beginning I used to earn Rwf20,000 per month, but last month only, I earned Rwf244,000 free from other expenses,” she said adding that she employs two workers.
The youth were sharing their business experiences Friday in Kigali at the graduation ceremony of 30 youth who were supported and mentored by These Numbers Have Faces through their Accelerate Academy.
According to the Director of Accelerate Academy, Olivier Habumugisha the programme supports youth with finances and materials to implement their projects.
“They are working in different sectors of the economy of the country; we support them in all ways so that they develop themselves and contribute to the country’s development,” he explained.
The Executive Director of These Numbers Have Faces, Jim Pressenell, said that the youth businesses are contributing to the development of communities.
“Young entrepreneurs are identifying a problem and creating solutions to that problem. They are making a difference in all kinds of lives in Rwanda,” he said.
He says that the biggest challenge they face is many entrepreneurs seeking to join the programme.
The Programme has graduated 82 business people since it was launched back in 2015.
Kagame was speaking yesterday in Accra, Ghana, where he is attending the African Transformation Forum.
“Today I speak as President of my country but I also wear the hat of AU Chairperson. But to me it is more than that because everything happening on the continent is intertwined and it is important that we highlight things that need to be done that benefit us all,” he said.
Kagame said that to talk about transformation is to talk about people and resources that need to be put to good use.
“We are talking about the management of these resource, the political will and process that must accompany all these actions for us to be where we want to be. It is evident that Africa has all kinds of resources for us to move fast if we want to and there is no excuse, we haven’t found any justification that says Africa has an abundance of natural resources and yet continues to be poor decade after decade,” he highlighted.
“There is no excuse for us to be like this. Therefore the purpose of these discussions is to identify what is it that is critical and examine the mistakes we make that need to be corrected in order for us to move forward and prosper as a continent,” Kagame said.
Kagame mentioned that key components to transformation lie primarily in investing in people, in partnerships between the private and public sector and the policies that have been put in place to help achieve transformation of a continent.
“One thing we must all understand is that it is not just about understanding the problem but how effectively you execute it. We all share a common understanding of these are priorities but execution is where the problem lies and this is a mindset issue,” he noted.
According to Kagame, if the rest of the world is shunning Africa and say they want to be more inward looking, it is a reminder to Africans that the closer they come together and the more intra Africa trade they engage in, the better off they are and the failure to do so bears consequences.
Speaking in a telephone interview with IGIHE, NEC Executive Secretary, Charles Munyaneza said that the commission continues to conduct different preparatory activities.
“Preparatory activities include receiving individual candidates seeking NEC documents allowing them to collect signatures from voters supporting their candidatures. We have issued the documents and we believe that the process is going well. On Tuesday 19th June, we had already received six,” he said.
Munyaneza said that starting from July 12th to 25th, they will be receiving candidatures from both political parties and independent candidates.
“After receiving candidacies, we shall evaluate them and those who will fill the requirements will start to campaign,” he explained.
Munyaneza said that conducting all elections activities will cost Rwf5.4 billion.
He said that currently the number of voters is about 7.2 million people adding that civic education continues and youth and persons with disabilities have already been sensitized on how they will vote their representatives.
“We are organizing meetings with different institutions which play big part in elections. Tomorrow (Friday) we shall have a meeting with diplomats. We are also organizing another meeting with Civil Society Organisations and we will have another one with Political Parties,” he explained and noted that they are receiving election observers.
The Ministry of Education has committed to taking strong sanctions against students at all levels; nursery, primary and high school, that do carry cellphones at school premises as the devices have been known to deter students from concentrating on the academics.
The move was announced by the Minister of Education, Dr. Eugène Mutimura on June 12th 2018 in a news conference in Kigali.
The minister said that inspections have indicated that when students use cellphones at schools affects their concentration on studies.
Despite ruining their concentration, Mutimura said cellphones attract unnecessary attention and interactions that end up leading students into using drugs and unwanted pregnancies.
The decision had been announced two years ago, but later allowed their usage on account of using them for research purposes, according to the State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Dr. Isaac Munyakazi.
Munyakazi says that students will continue to access them while at home, but urges parents on stringent control.
“At home, parents should also control them and make sure that they are using them for research purposes. If such restrictions are not adhered to, children would be negatively impacted, compromising their studies,” he said in an interview with IGIHE on Thursday.
{{Some school head teachers back the move}}
Lycée de Kigali head teacher, Martin Masabo says that as the government has distributed computers in all schools, therefore no student should possess a phone at school.
“The government distributed computers in all primary and secondary schools, ICT facilities are available. In a case a student needs communication, the school management facilitates them to talk to parents. Some schools also have public cellphones,” he said.
However, Masabo says banning cellphones at school premises should be backed by individual student commitment.
The Head Teacher of Groupe Scholaire Kagugu Catholique, Jean Baptiste Habanabashaka okays the decision on one side, but urges that when telephones are well used, they bring good impact.
“I have some students at my school with mobile telephones which we keep for them. Because the school has internet, students use the phones in research. A cellphone is like a computer, it should be used at school only when conducting research,” he explained.
“For the ministry to completely ban use of phones at school is not a fair decision. They would allow them for research purposes. I think, there would be no problem,” he said suggesting that this would benefit schools which have no computers.
{{No research constraints}}
According to Minister Mutimura, banning cellphones will not affect research interests as all schools, primary and secondary have computers.
“Currently, a total of 950, three quarters of all primary schools around the country have computers with 100 each. In High Schools, 670 schools have computers. In total 67,000 students’ computers were distributed and ICT teachers, too have their computers,” he said.
For Munyakazi, some schools which do not have computers have other ICT materials they use in teaching ICT subject.
{{Parents back the decision}}
Parents support the decision saying it is in line with promoting the quality of education.
Esperance Kabanyana from Kicukiro District in the City of Kigali says that students should differentiate study times from luxury.
“This is a good decision. With students possessing cellphones at school, they spend much time in unproductive dialogues on social networks like WhatsApp and Facebook. Imagine a student seated in class texting and sending pictures, it affects their concentration and quality of learning,” she said.
Another parent Jean Bosco Nsanzamahoro says since internet has reached all corners of the country, phones should be permitted but with stringent regulations at schools.
“My son uses a cellphone searching for knowledge. It has helped him in learning many new aspects and is now performing better. But for some students that use them in other non academic issues should attract school regulation” he considers.
Started on June 17th, the civic education was organized under the theme ‘Let’s build unshakable economy’.
Speaking to IGIHE, Eastern Province Governor, Fred Mufulukye said that they organized the civic education in order to elaborate the Province development plans ans activities so that traders would contribute in implementing them.
“We have development activities that they could participate in, they are our development partners,” he said.
Mufulukye said that they want to put in place measures that would help traders work in cooperatives.
The Rwanda Private Sector Federation (PSF) Chairman in Eastern Province, Jean Bosco Ndungutse said that they want to remind traders about integrity in business.
The PSF Chairman, Robert Bapfakurera said that Eastern Province has many advantages as it harbors boarders with three countries namely; Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi which can be used to the advantage of enhancing cross-border trade.
The Chairman of National Itorero Commission, Edouard Bamporiki said that the civic education will help traders create networking among themselves.
“This is an opportunity to create business networks among traders. Through this civic education, we want to train them in ways of sharing the available market space,” he said.
The project was announced by the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General, Johnston Busingye in a consultative meeting with justice partners on Wednesday in Kigali.
He said that the project comes to support existing services in justice decentralization and empowering the Office of the Ombudsman.
The project which is expected to get underway next month is aimed at creating awareness of right to different services and where to address their problems as well as taking services close to them in villages.
Busingye said that financial constraints have been limiting reach to villages, with most services ending at Access to Justice Offices (MAJ) at district level.
Under the project, the Office of the Ombudsman staff will be trained on reaching the people and explaining to them about access to information law.
The Deputy Ombudsman, Odette Yankurije said that they usually work closely with people, but it is not efficiently done as they wished to because of limited funding.
“In this project we intend to work closely with our beneficiaries, people, train them and buying new equipment that would help us to serve them efficiently,” she said.
The European Union Ambassador to Rwanda, Nicolas Bellomo said that they will invest Euro 8 million.
“Rule of law and justice descentralization is the cornerstone of development. We believe that it will raise the pride of the country and help attract traders and investors who desire to work in a country with a good justice system,” he explained.
According to the Statement by RDB, Mitrelli Group seeks to construct up to 10,000 housing units in Rwanda, the majority of which will be affordable housing.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Haim Taib, Founder and President of Mitrelli Group, lauded RDB for its support and partnership.
“This project is a very nice challenge for us. We have the knowledge, the funds, the expertise and the ability to complete this project. I believe that the two sides have the same goal. The goal is being the best project for the people of Rwanda. We have come to Rwanda to stay,” Taib said.
Speaking at the event, the RDB Chief Executive Officer, Clare Akamanzi said that Rwanda is proud to welcome the group.
“Mitrelli Group is the kind of investor that we want in Rwanda. We are happy to work with you in providing housing for the growing housing market,” she said.
Also at the occasion as RDB signed the MoU was Mazen Al Sawwaf was, the CEO and founder of Global Investment Holding Company, a Saudi Arabian holding company.
Access to affordable housing remains one of the key priorities for the Government of Rwanda and there are a number of strategic incentives to attract local and international investors in the sector.
Uwizeye was speaking Tuesday in a consultative meeting with senators on Continental Free Trade Area and protocol to the treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment.
She said that currently, a total of 31 countries have signed the protocol and ratification process continues.
Uwizeye explained that currently, member countries are discussing on use of common passport as primary achievement in the protocol implementation.
“Member states are discussing on formula and content of African Passport so that countries will start producing and issuing them to their people,” she explained.
The implementation process will be facilitated by the African Union Commission (AUC) for effective success.
On Rwanda’s side, Uwizeye said that people will start using the passport in January 2019.
“We expect that in January 2019, this passport will be issued and I mention this particularly to our country,” she said.
Uwizeye said that in July, the last conference to decide on the passport will take place in Nairobi, Kenya.
The African Union Passport is a common passport document that is set to replace existing nationally-issued African Union member state passports and exempt bearers from having to obtain any visas for all 55 states in Africa.
Initially, it was launched on July 17th, 2016 at the 27th Ordinary Session of the African Union that was held in Kigali in Rwanda by the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame and Chadian President Idris Deby.
