Mr. Harerimana, who had been in the dockets for three years, has confirmed to IGIHE that he submitted his resignation letter Sunday morning to the district’s council President Jean Claude Mvuyikongo.
“I have resigned for my personal reasons; there isn’t any problem that pushed me to resign. I have done a lot for the time I led the district. Any person can feel tired and want to change the work but it is just for my personal reasons that I have resigned,” he said.
“I am proud of the progress we have attained as the district’s residents and partners and I believe nothing will scroll that back.”
Harerimana had replaced Oscar Nzeyimana who resigned after an arrest in 2015 over falsification of records about community-based health insurance but he was later acquitted in April 2015 because the prosecution failed to provide sufficient proofs pinning him on the charges.
Harerimana’s resignation follows the Friday’s resignation of Nyabihu Mayor Théoneste Uwanzwenuwe and Vice-Mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Clarisse Mukansanga, both citing personal reasons.
However, Mukansanga was subsequently arrested on the allegations of genocide ideology.
Busingye made the remarks yesterday while presiding over the launch of a three-day retreat of the bureau’s senior officials in Bugesera District.
He told the newly established instigation board’s staff that professionalism is essential in handling the suspects.
“Professionalism is a sign of development, attaining the mission peacefully without any violation. People like you should be cooperative, if you detect a person and send them in prison, they should go lighthearted, and when they are released, they should not differentiate whether they were helping investigations or were enjoying a picnic,” he urged.
Busingye told investigators not to use their powers in violating suspects’ rights but provide them with any assistance they might need such as communicating their arrest to friends.
RIB Secretary General, Col. Jeannot Ruhunga said that professionalism will come from training. He said that the retreat will discuss the vision and laws that will regulate the board’s staff.
“We shall discuss a five-year strategic plan of RIB as a new institution and discuss laws that will guide the staff. Laws give them extra powers in their job, if the powers are not legalised and well-disciplined, they can misuse them. That is why we want to share about the laws that will help us implement our responsibilities,” he explained.
RIB was officially operationalised on April 20th and took over the responsibilities that were formerly carried out by Rwanda National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
RIB has the mission of preventing and pre-empting criminal acts by identifying and investigating all kinds of physical or cyber-crimes.
The move follows the launch of the Building Learning Foundations a few months ago, a programme of the Ministry of Education that aims to improve learning outcomes in English and Mathematics of over 2.6 million children in Rwanda.
Addressing the teachers and head teachers in Gasabo District on Thursday, BLF’s team leader Anders Lonnqvist noted that BLF’s priority is to provide all children of P1-P3 with the basics of English and Mathematics.
The three and a half-year programme is aligned with the Competence-Based Curriculum and will work with all district education officials to evaluate the progress of teachers.
“We are still struggling with English, many of us studied in French language and we are required to teach in English. As a remedy, we need learning resources like these to improve our English proficiency,” says Nakure Georgette, Director of Studies at GS Kinyinya in Gasabo District.
One of the resolutions of this year’s National Leadership Retreat was the improvement of the quality of education in Rwanda at all levels. During the education campaign week that started this week, officials from Rwanda Education Board (REB) urged teachers to put in an extra effort to improve their Englis proficiency in as the country’s language of instruction. They said this will have a trickle-down effect on their students.
“BLF has given us self-study learning resources that include a book, an SD card with audio and video materials and each school has been given two smart phones that will support Mathematics and English teachers to improve teaching practice. I am happy that our teachers will be able to prepare lessons without difficulty” Nakure added.
Funded by UKaid with £25.3 million (about Rwf26 billion), the BLF will work with head teachers to lead learning and improvement in schools as well as supporting education officials to hold school leaders to account. At least 25,000 English and Mathematics teachers will be trained and over 2,500 school leaders will benefit from the programme.
Kabarebe was speaking in Kigali yesterday at a commemoration event organised to remember youth who were slain during the genocide.
He said that during the liberation struggle, former Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) hadn’t any form of discrimination as their ambition was to save and unite all Rwandans.
He said that their spirit was so different from that of the then government which taught the Hutu ethnic group to hate theTutsi, the hatered that led to the genocide.
Noting that the majority of former RPA was youth and stopped the genocide, Kabarebe said that today’s youth should learn from them and strive to sustain the progress the country has attained.
“You should not be satisfied and assume that everything is in place, having had genocide that took lives of more than a million in 100 days is not an issue to be simplified. It is an issue that you should always keep in mind and take lead in fighting any form of it,” he urged the youth.
He told them to avoid any trap that could lead the country into dark history like that of genocide and strive to develop the country.
Mukansanga and former Mayor, Theoneste Uwanzwenuwe submitted their resignation letters Friday morning.
Speaking to IGIHE, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau Spokesperson, Modeste Mbabazi said that Mukansaga was arrested yesterday over allegations related to genocide ideology.
“The dossier has been prepared. I think that you have been following news on how she committed genocide related crimes. Today (Friday), she has been arrested and will appear in court on Monday,” he said.
It was said that Mukansanga refused to receive a candle to light the flame of remembrance at the Genocide against the Tutsi commemoration event in Nyabihu District last month.
She reportedly refused to receive the candle and said it should be given to others who have people they commemorate.
Speaking to IGIHE recently, Mukansanga rejected the allegations saying that there were many people who had no candles and suggested that they be first served. She said that people misinterpreted her motion.
The hotel which is a flagship of the Marriott International, giant global brand provided jobs to 26 of them in 2016 under its partnership with Women for Women International.
Five former trainees of Women for Women who now work with Kigali Marriott Hotel shared the experience and progress they have attained in a bid to inspire around 100 others in attendance.
The testimonies rotated round the hardships the five went through prior to joining the charity and the hotel and how their lives have quickly changed since June 2016 when they got descent employment which was a dream to women who did not manage to complete secondary school.
Marthe Mukambonera, 58, who is working in Marriott’s housekeeping as a tailor, said she was formerly frustrated by doing home chores while her husband was the only bread winner for the family of four children living in Gikondo, Kicukuro District.
“Women for Women found me among the vulnerable women and gave us training in 2013.We were told in 2016 that the giant hotel brand called Marriott was going to open operations in Rwanda and that they wanted some us who were trained by Women for Women. We were taken to that centre in Kayonza for further training,” she said.
“Joining Marriott has earned me a lot. Together with my husband, we have started developing a house at the budget of Rwf45 million, now standing at the value of Rwf30 million as we continue to finish it. We do not know English language but we do our work properly, we have received credits many times.”
English language is the major medium of communication at Kigali Marriott Hotel.
Adalie Umutoniwase, who is also in housekeeping at Kigali Marriott Hotel, said she lived a miserable life that forced her to drop out of school from senior five and got her hopes for the future swept away.
“I joined Women for Women in 2012 and got trained in doing business. I was a poor woman before securing a job at Marriott but I have now attained good development. I can save money every month after daily expenditures plus my two children’s school fees that total to Rwf80,000 per term. I managed to secure a loan of Rwf2 million, added Rwf2 million that I had saved and bought a house at Rwf4 million recently,” said the mother of two living with her husband in Gitega Sector, Nyarugenge District.
Yulia Bogdanova, the Human Resource Director at Kigali Marriott Hotel who led the delegation to Kayonza, said the Women for Women graduates have emerged among the best performing members of staff at the hotel.
She encouraged other women to save some money out of their earnings, have self-esteem to do great things and told them that, with hard work, they have to keep up hope for better life.
{{Hope for future}}
Expressing gladness over their fellow women’s success, the participants branded the testimonies “inspirational” and committed to follow suit as they have already started the journey under Women for Women guidance.
“With the good leadership of our country that highly values women, my future is good. Despite the fact that I never stepped in class, I have acquired a lot of skills about doing business, saving and family management thanks to Women for Women’s training,” said Latifah Mugorewishyaka, a resident of Mukarange in Kayonza District.
Kayonza Vice-Mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Development, Consolée Uwibambe commended Kigali Marriott Hotel for employing the formerly vulnerable women and taking them back to the women’s centre to inspire and encourage others.
She encouraged women at the centre to increase production of their different products such as Urugo yogurt and pledged advocacy for a wider market.
Antoinette Uwimana, the Country Director of Women for Women International, said the Urugo Women’s Opportunity Centre that started in 2013 has so far trained over 5,000 in different professional courses such as basket weaving, cultural and community tourism, housekeeping, culinary, modern farming, among others.
“We also train women about business and give them toolkits to start out. This is the main centre but we also train women from other centres in seven districts around the country. Most of them create jobs, we help some to find good jobs that get them good capital to quickly change their lives. Like these ones who got jobs at Marriott are developing very quickly because of the good pay,” She said.
Uwimana commended Kigali Marriott Hotel for taking back women who were trained by Women for Women to share their testimonies, saying that it is inspirational and giving others hope that, with commitment and hard work, a good future is possible.
The Head of Government was speaking in Kigali Friday at a press briefing about the disaster management in Rwanda.
The briefing follows earlier this week’s visit by the Premier and other cabinet membersn to districts of Karongi, Rutsiro, Rubavu, Ngororero, Nyabihu, Gakenke and Burera as the districts that have largely been affected by recent heavy rains.
According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), 183 people have been killed by disasters since January to April 30.
The majority of disaster victims in Rwanda are people living in high risk zone. Taking an example of the last weekend, eighteen out of 28 victims of the downpour across the country were from Rwankuba Sector of Karongi District where the landslides on the upland killed the 18, injured seven and destroyed 29 houses.
MIDIMAR reports that 1,201 houses were destroyed and 4,130 were damaged across the country since January to April 30.
According to Ngirente, Rwanda and the region experienced disasters caused by heavy rains that were not expected.
In the conference, Ngirente said that the government is always prepared for responding to disaster effects.
“The government does not wait for disasters to happen, the national budget has money for good settlements,” he explained.
Ngirente said that before the disasters started early this year, the government had assessed a total of 40,000 families to relocate from high risk zones and the resources had been in place. He said that the disasters increased the numbers due to new areas which were also affected.
“I would like to assure all Rwandans that the government plans to steadily settle all residents safely. Sustainably, there is an existing settlement programme and IDP Models which are being constructed in all districts, we are trying to construct durable houses. We will continue to invest in this programme and every year’s national budget will include the funding for the programme,” he said.
Ngirente said that the government continues to provide basic assistance to the population of various areas affected by disasters.
From the beginning of this year, he said the government has provided Rwf141 million for buying construction materials, over Rwf200 million for basic utensils and over Rwf5 million for direct support to families who lost their members in disasters.
He said that the government does not want to see any victim of disasters, the reason they will continue to use few resources in relocating people from high risk zones.
Ngirente reminded that the government does not construct for people, but they help them along the construction process. He said that they support the most disadvantaged people and provide others with plots on credit in places designed for human settlement and pay accordingly at a favorable cost.
IDP model village was initiated in Rwanda in 2010 to promote proper human settlement in rural areas.
During the visit on Thursday, Vrooman was received by Minister Jeanne d’Arc Debonheur.
MIDIMAR statement says that Vrooman extended his condolences to the Government of Rwanda especially to the families whose members have been killed by the recent disasters.
“Through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), we have authorised over Rwf43 million for immediate emergency response to the destruction caused by heavy rain storms since January, 2018,” Vrooman said.
“The aid was provided to CARE International Rwanda to assist the government in replacing emergency relief supplies for households in Kirehe and Rubavu Districts which are most affected by disasters,” he added.
The supplies that will be provided under the emergency funds from U.S. Government include items such as sleeping mats, saucepans, blankets, mosquito nets, mattresses for pregnant women, jerrycans and hygiene products.
Debonheur commended US support and contribution to the well-being of the Rwandan population and those on its soil.
“We thank the U.S Government for their support to the Rwandans. We also commend their partnership with the Rwandan people and specifically the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees towards the mitigation of disaster effects and improving the refugees’ wellbeing,” Debonheur said.
The statement says that both officials discussed the general situation of refugees in Rwanda, main challenges in humanitarian response and durable solutions for refugees issues. On this, Minister Debonheur informed Vrooman about the security normalisation process in Kiziba Refugee Camp.
Mukabalisa was speaking at the Conference on Achieving Gender Equality which was held under the theme ‘Changing Dynamics, Accelerating Progress’ in Kigali yesterday.
The conference was organised on the sideline of the Transform Africa Summit that has been taking place in Kigali.
The two-day conference was organised by National Gender Machinery, Smart Africa Secretariat and United Nations Rwanda.
Mukabalisa said that people cannot expect to develop countries and achieve the Africa’s agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030 if there is a big number of the population left behind.
“We recognise that African countries are pushing to ensure respect and promotion of gender equality which is essential for sustainable development, good governance, respect of human rights and democracy. Investment in empowerment of women and girls is a well-recognised development priority in Africa,” she said.
The aspiration six of African Union’s Agenda 2063 underlines the potential of Africa’s people, especially women and youth. Under this vision, it is envisaged that there will be gender equality in all spheres of life and an engaged and empowered youth including young girls.
The Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 is also committed to full gender equality and significant empowerment of African women by 2023 at the national, regional and continental levels.
Gender equality is also incorporated in the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“Africa of 2063 would see fully empowered women with equal access and opportunity in all spheres of life. This means that the African woman would have equal economic rights, including the rights to own and inherit property, sign a contract, register and manage a business. Over 90% of rural women would have access to productive assets, including land, credit, inputs and financial services,” said Mukabalisa.
Africa of 2063 would also see attainment of full gender parity. It would see women occupy 50% of elected offices at state, regional and local bodies, and 50% of managerial positions in government and private sector.
“It’s true that many African countries have made progress in setting up legal and institutional frameworks for gender equality, measures have been taken to close the gender gap in education and improve women’s economic and political participation,” she said.
“However, despite the favourable political context, more efforts are still needed for Government institutions, non-government actors including civil society and the private sector to ensure women’s empowerment or change the daily, lived reality of women, legal frameworks and policies may be in place and ensure its practical, tangible and effective implementation.”
{{Call for strong mobilization}}
Mukabalisa said that there is a need for mobilization among people to change mindset on gender issues to accelerate the promotion of equality.
“A strong mobilization of people to change the mindset on all persisting gender equality issues and ensure acceleration for promotion of gender equality by strengthening the accountability mechanisms and measures for gender equality is also needed to close gaps in terms of limited digital literacy, high poverty amongst women, low representation in decision making organs, all forms of violence and discrimination,” she explained.
She said that all these gender gaps have to be eliminated so that women fully enjoy all their human rights.
She added that all harmful social practices and all barriers to access quality health and education for women and girls would be terminated.
Mukabalisa also requested the participants in the conference to give special attention to building women capabilities especially in ICT sector saying that technological innovations represent a way for developing nations to foster economic development, improve levels of education and training.
The duo’s resignation follows March resignation of Vice-mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Development, Antoine Mugwiza and April resignation of the District Executive Secretary, James Ngabo.
All leaders cite personal reasons.
Uwanzwenuwe’s resignation news broke out Friday morning. Speaking to IGIHE, Uwanzwenuwe confirmed his resignation.
Nyabihu District Council President Jean Damascene Gasarabwe confirmed to IGIHE that he has received both resignation letters this morning with both officials citing personal reasons
On condition of anonymity, one official from Nyabihu District told IGIHE that the resignation is related to poor collaboration between the leadership.
“The Executive Committee has not been collaborating; everyone has been doing things alone. The resignations are also related with disputes in district’s offices construction and shoddy tenders in sand excavation,” a source said.
Efforts to talk to the Western Province Governor, Alphonse Munyentwali became futile by press time.
The law states that when there is no executive committee, the district council appoints interim leadership for the period not exceeding 90 days.
