The primaries took place at district level by selecting four people from the 20 most successful candidates voted last week at the cell level.
In each district, four people, two women and two men who will make the final list to be submitted to National Electoral Commission (NEC) were elected.
IGIHE visited Nyarugenge District polling site where aspirants were explaining their manifestos to the electorate. Eugene Barikana and Edda Mukabagwiza who had been in parliament were re-elected. Others elected are Brigitte Gafaranga and Lambert Mucyo.
NEC will start to receive candidacy from 12th to 25th July and campaigns will start from August 13th to September 1st 2018.
Elections are slated on September 2nd for Rwandans in the diaspora while Rwandans in the country will elect on September 3rd.
Ngirente was speaking Friday when the Office of the Prime Minister, affiliated Ministries and parastatals staff were commemorating the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
He said that commemoration enables Rwandans to distinctly understand the country’s dark history that led to the genocide, strengthen them towards reconstruction and enable them to confront effects of the genocide as well as fighting any evil that could lead to its recurrence.
“Understanding the truth history of Rwanda is the foundation upon which we are rebuilding a new Rwanda,” he said.
He said that the light of hope should facilitate Rwandans embrace goodness and encourage youth to avoid conflicts and genocide ideology.
In a lecture by the Executive Secretary of National Commission of the Fight Against the Genocide, Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana said that the history of the genocide illustrates how Tutsi were segregated in government institutions and culminated into genocide.
He said that senior government leaders planned the genocide and incited people to implement it.
Bizimana said that the cabinet of 1994 which was comprised of 22 ministers, 15 among them were prosecuted in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Nine of them were convicted and some of them were sentenced to life in prison.
“It proves that the genocide was caused by bad leadership. Whoever is saying that the genocide was not planned by the then government is intentionally promoting falsehoods,” he said.
The graduation ceremony took place yesterday at RDF Senior Command and Staff College in Musanze District.
The 6th intake was attended by different senior officers from ten countries namely: Czech Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
According to Senior Command and Staff College Commandant, Maj. Gen Jean Bosco Kazura, the graduates have been undergoing training in analytical and communication skills, personal and collective values and professional military knowledge designed to help them in their future command and leadership management responsibilities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Defence Minister, Gen. James Kabarebe said that he believes that the officers have the capacity to overcome the challenges they may face along the execution of their responsibilities.
“The training was an opportunity for the trainees to not only recharge intellectually but also reassess themselves and their respective militaries. I believe that your studies here have equipped you with the necessary analytical, planning and communication skills to deal with the contemporary complex security challenges,” he said.
The overall best performer, Maj. Claver Gatsinzi from RDF said that they have acquired different skills.
“When we get the opportunity to learn together, it helps understand how we will address problems facing our countries. This course equipped us with new skills that we believe will facilitate us to perform our jobs better than we used before,” he said.
In the ceremony, twenty-nine among the graduates were awarded a Master’s degree in Security Studies from the University of Rwanda.
The course is organized under the partnership between the Senior Command and Staff College and the University of Rwanda College of Arts and Social Sciences.
The move, according to Judicial Spokesperson, Harrison Mutabazi aims at providing good services, resources and logistics management as well as easy process of infrastructure development in the courts.
Twenty-four courts remained untouched while 36 have been merged and became 17 and their names were changed.
Mutabazi said that the development will ease service delivery .
“As they have been merged, there is no need to relocate employees from one court to another, their services will be effective. They will discuss legal affairs and share ideas than they used to,” he explained.
Most Primary Courts have had two judges and two court clerks. Those from the urban used to have more than two judges because of the many cases.
He said that the reforms will lead to good management of human resources and logistics.
“Some courts had old infrastructures like roofs which were leaking. Instead of having many courts operating in old places and having insufficient materials, it is better to merge them and operate in a good environment,” he added.
He said that as people are accessing judicial services online, it was necessary to merge the courts.
According to Mutabazi, no staff will be rendered jobless as they will continue to work in newly established courts.
The Summit brings together leaders and policymakers from the most advanced economies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, to build consensus and set trends around challenging global issues.
As is the custom, the host country invites a select few non-G7 world leaders to what is referred to as ‘the Outreach Session’ where more common issues of concern are discussed.The outreach theme this year focuses on how to build healthy, productive and resilient oceans, coasts, and communities.
Outreach Leaders invited to Canada include Rwanda as the Chair of the African Union, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Seychelles, Haiti, Jamaica, Argentina, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Norway. Leaders of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have also been invited.
This evening, President Kagame will attend a reception hosted by the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard and attend a dinner held by Canadian Governor General, Julie Payette.
The construction works of the centre that will receive 500 women was launched yesterday and are expected to be completed by December 2018.
Worth Rwf2.9 billion, the centre will also train women on vocational skills.
“This centre will have been completed by December. The current one has old premises and receives one gender. We also need to rehabilitate girls and women. We will also train them in vocational skills so that they will be able to create businesses to support their well-being,” said Aimé Bosenibamwe, the Director General for National Rehabilitation Service.
Speaking at the event, the State Minister for Socials Affairs in the Ministry of Local Governance, Dr. Alvera Mukabaramba said that the number of street women is smaller than that of male and added that they were committed to ensure no one will remain on the street.
“In other categories, the number of female has been higher than that of male, but for street cases, it is so smaller, but we whatever number is there, we need to curb, rehabilitate and trained them so that they develop themselves and the country,” she said.
A study by National Rehabilitation Service shows that there is a total of 2000 street children and the target is to get them off the streets in two years.
One of the entrepreneurs is a twenty-three year old Samantha Ahirwe, the head of Posh Creative, a handicraft company that weaves shoes and handbags.
The university graduate in Civil Engineering started business in 2017. The idea came from ill-treatment and domestic violence she observed women in her community were experiencing for being dependents on the household heads.
“Those women usually depended on their husbands. I thought of doing something that could help them contribute to financial growth of their families. That’s where I started making designs of shoes. I approached these women, trained and then employed them,” she explains.
Currently, Ahirwe permanently employs five women and one part time woman and man. All employees are paid depending on production capacity. She says that the whole business is worth between Rwf3.5 and Rwf4 million.
She says that she started her business using the money she got from a paid training she attended in US.
Ahirwe says that currently, she is focused on company branding by using social media.
“The main challenge I faced is visibility and market access,” she says. She says that they import all raw materials from Kenya.
Like Ahirwe, different young entrepreneurs running start-up businesses have shared entrepreneurship experiences.
A one day seminar that brought together students from University of Rwanda and youth in business in Kigali on Wednesday, youth were made aware of the many opportunities in the communities they live.
Ahirwe urged youth to avoid fear of starting business when they have ideas.
Alexandre Nshimiyimana another young entrepreneur making soap and body lotion from avocado was awarded by Rwanda Development Board as outstanding young entrepreneur in 2017.
Another was a twenty-two year old Yvette Ishimwe, the entrepreneur behind Iriba Water Group, a company that distributes clean water in Kayonza District.
Each young entrepreneur has own success story. For example, Ishimwe was awarded by Queen Elisabeth II for her impactful project.
For the Burera District based Nshimiyimana, having a successful business does not need to be established in urban area.
“When investing, you don’t need to think that the successful business will be established in Kigali, you need to invest in business that solves societal problems,” he said.
Ishimwe urged students to concentrate on one business idea and ensure that it is effectively implemented despite challenges.
According to Ishimwe, she was inspired by challenges her family faced after relocating from Kigali to Kayonza Distirct.
“We found ourselves settled in a community where you could hardly find clean water. We used to pay Rwf300 for one Water Can,” she said.
“So, with those challenges, I sat down and browsed on internet different water treatment systems which led me to successful business. So, that’s why I urge you to turn all challenges around you into businesses,” she urged.
Scovia Mutesi, the head of These Numbers Have Faces, an organization that empowers young entrepreneurs which also organized the seminar said that discussions help students with business ideas realize ways to shape them into businesses.
“Many people have business ideas and need to be taught on ways they can be implemented. Though they are university students, some might have profitable businesses,” she said.
Marie Aimée Niyonshuti a first year student in University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology said that discussing with successful people helps them to open their minds about business sector and realize opportunities.
“They told us challenges faced and ways they overcame them. So, I learnt from them how to run a successful business and most particularly for female how to overcome gender disparity,” she said.
Through organisation’s yearly Accelerator Academy programme, different youth are trained on business plan and are linked with investors.
Akamanzi will be presented the doctorate during the university’s spring convocation ceremonies that will take place on June 11th, 12th and 13th 2018.
In the ceremony, Akamanzi will be awarded along other ten individuals who have made their mark in the fields of law, art, Indigenous rights, journalism, nanoscience, business and philanthropy.
According to the university, the honorands join more than 5,600 students who will receive their degrees and diplomas.
{{About Akamanzi}}
An international trade and investment lawyer, Clare Akamanzi received a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School (HKS). She received awards for academic excellence and distinguished contributions to the HKS community.
Akamanzi also holds an LLM (with distinction) in International Trade and Investment from the University of Pretoria as well as an LLB (Honors) from Makerere University, Uganda.
During her international career, Akamanzi has worked as a commercial diplomat in London and a Trade Negotiator at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
In 2012, she was named Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, and a year later was selected as one of Africa’s Top 20 Leading Women in Economic Development by Forbes.
On the agenda of the ceremony, Akamanzi will address the John Molson School of Business on June 13.
The laboratory that has been operating under Rwanda National Police (RNP) was operationalized Thursday and started to function as an independent institution.
The Rwanda Forensic Laboratory was handed to its officials in a ceremony held at its headquarters in Kacyiru and presided over by the Minster of Justice, Johnston Busingye.
The Director of the Laboratory, ACP Dr François Sinayobye said that previously, they have been providing few services.
He said that the laboratory has been upgraded and is able to conduct DNA tests which facilitate to establish the evidences with findings from the scene of crime. It is able to test family relationship among other services.
“The aim is to support justice by providing scientific and reliable evidences. The laboratory has skilled employees and are ready to contribute to justice with reliable evidences, professionalism and impartiality,” he said.
The laboratory is capable to deal with physical evidence, biological evidence and chemical evidence, DNA samples, document examination and fingerprint analysis.
The laboratory will offer among others toxicology and ballistics services. Toxicology is a test done on a person who, for instance, is poisoned while ballistics are tests that involve arms and explosives.
The chemical evidence division will identify and analyze poisons or drugs and their effects on the body; chemicals on different crime scenes like fire accidents or arson. On such scenes, investigators seek to identify whether there is presence of fire accelerants, which help the investigator to conclude for a fire accident or arson.
Police Inspector General, Emmanuel Gasana said that since RNP was formed in 2000, different changes have been conducted and led to the establishment of such laboratory.
“We are pleased with having this laboratory along the journey of constructing strong justice system,” he explained.
Minister Busingye said that though the launched laboratory does not have all services, but those available are the first to be offered in Rwanda.
“Evidences like those for gender based violence cases, family relationship, poison among others are available like it is done in other countries,” he said.
“Today we celebrate this milestone. Foreign forensic laboratories were costing the country in terms of time and resources,” he added.
Prosecutor General, Jean Bosco Mutangana said that there have been facing challenges like forensic evidences which they used to conduct from German and were costly. He said that at least they need to conduct 800 forensic tests every year and needed to wait above two months to receive the results, things which used to delay justice.
Rugwabiza made the remarks Wednesday at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which convened a meeting reviewing the work of the MICT.
In her remarks with stern message, Rugwabiza highlighted the lack of transparency and accountability of the MICT procedure for early releases.
She said that Rwanda has not opposed the potential early release and has released genocide convicts more than any other country.
“Rwanda is not opposed to the principle of potential early releases and there is not a single country or international jurisdiction, anywhere in this world that has reduced sentences and released genocide convicts more than Rwanda,” she said.
“The problem lies with the lack of transparency in the process and criteria considered in decisions of early releases. These convicts haven’t shown any remorse, the decisions are made by one person, the President of the MICT, with no obligation of accountability,” she explained.
She said that the decisions are not communicated to the government of Rwanda, as the survivors and government learn about them through the media.
Meanwhile, ICTR through Meron has acquitted Protais Zigiranyirazo, Justin Mugenzi, Prosper Mugiraneza, Gen. Augustin Ndindiriyimana and Major François Xavier Nzuwonemeye.
He also reduced sentence for masterminds of the genocide including, Colonel Théoneste Bagosora from life sentence to 35 in appeal trial that he (Meron) was presiding.
He also reduced sentence for Col.Anatole Nsengiyumva and Capt. Ildephonse Nizeyimana. Currently, Nsengiyumva who is known for being among masterminds of the genocide against the Tutsi in former Gisenyi Prefecture has been released.
Rugwabiza underlined that a number of those released before the end of their sentences have since regrouped in an association denying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
“They do so with no consequences because they are released with no conditions. The mechanism and its current President will not be able to escape this daunting legacy,” she said.
{{Recommendations to UNSC}}
Rugwabiza recommended the UNSC to urge the ICTR to put in place clear rules of procedures and criteria of early release and be requested to apply them transparently.
She said that such rules should include conditionalities to prevent genocide convicts benefiting from early releases from engaging in activities promoting genocide ideology and denial.
{{Reactions from UNSC members}}
Ethiopia Ambassador to the UN, Mahlet Hailu Guadey noted that Rwanda’s concerns on early release of persons convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity cannot be overlooked.
Guadey emphasized that in the process leading to early releases, it is important that other judges are consulted and Rwanda consulted particularly on the implication.
The US Ambassador to UN, Mark A. Simonoff encouraged the MICT to respond to concerns with early releases, noting that some individuals have subsequently denied as being responsible for their crimes.
“This denial undermines the fight against impunity. The US also recognizes and encourages the practice of consultations before early releases,” Simonoff said.
