Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, said that the suspect was at the time transporting the minerals on a motorcycle RD 149P, which was also impounded.
“There were reports that Manibirimo conducts illegal mineral business. He was allegedly buying minerals from concessions and selling them to other illegal traders,” CIP Karekezi said.
He added: ” On Monday, Police in Manihira received information that he had secured a new consignment. With the help of residents, Manibirimo was located and intercepted at about 1pm transporting 72kgs of mixed coltan and wolfram.”
Manibirimo could neither disclose where he got the minerals nor the final destination. He was handed over to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) at Rusebeya station for further legal process.
The spokesperson warned against such unlawful act of trade. He reminded that mineral business is controlled and conducted by licensed people and in accordance with the law.
Article 54 of the law on mining and quarry operations, states that; “any person, who undertakes mineral or quarry exploration, exploitation, processing or trading without a licence commits an offence.”
Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of between two and six months and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf5 million or only one of these penalties.
The court also may order confiscation of any seized minerals in storage, trading or processing without a license.
Among others, 180 patients have recovered while 4 have succumbed to the virus.
The deceased include three people aged 64, 61, 60 from Kigali and another one from Muhanga district aged 51.
Kigali city which has been under lockdown for a week continues to be the major hotspot where 440 new cases have been found.
The rise of new cases in Kigali is linked to Government’s initiative to test 20,000 people in every cell targeting elders above 70 and people living with chronic diseases among others.
Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) explains that the initiative will leave a clear image of Coronavirus in Kigali city helping to identify areas most vulnerable to the pandemic before taking further action.
The statement from the Ministry of Health released last night shows that new cases were found in Kigali:440, Gicumbi:16, Gakenke:11, Ngoma:10, Kirehe:10, Gatsibo:10, Muhanga:9, Gisagara:8, Kamonyi:8, Rwamagana:8, Kayonza:7, Karongi:6, Nyanza:5, Huye:5, Rusizi:5, Ruhango:4, Nyagatare:4, Musanze:3, Nyamagabe:2, Rubavu:2 and Rulindo:1.
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March 2021. Since then, 13885 people have been tested positive out of 849,082 sample testes of whom 8861 have recovered, 4843 are active cases while 181 have succumbed to the pandemic.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
The Minister of Justice and State Attorney General, Johnston Busingye will also be present at the ceremony as the guest of honor representing the Government of Rwanda.
Freddy Mutanguha, Executive Director of Aegis Trust, will be the master ceremony of the event.
After an initial prayer by Rabbi Haim Bar Sella, Dr. Ron Adam, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Rwanda, and Dr. Thomas Kurz, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, will give their opening remarks.
His Eminence, Dr. Antoine Cardinal Kambanda and Prof. Dr. Dina Porat, Chief Historian of Yad Vashem are key note speakers to grace the event.
The ceremony will feature different sessions including a video screening of Elie Wiesel, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace, who was 15 when the Nazis deported him along with his family from their home in Transylvania to Auschwitz, and remarks by the UN Resident Coordinator for Rwanda Dr. Fodé Ndiaye.
The annual commemoration marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet troops in 1945.
The Nazi (German extremists) regime and its collaborators murdered about six million Jews during the Second World War, in a systematic attempt to exterminate European Jews.
Organised through tripartite efforts by the Israeli Embassy, German embassy and the UN, the event recalls the various journeys taken during the Holocaust period, from deportation to incarceration to freedom, and how the experience transformed the lives of those who endured it.
The commemoration ceremony can be watched via the following link https://youtu.be/e4p1aSRUHIE via YOUTUBE on 27th January 2021 from 3:00pm to 4:15pm.
{{About key note speakers}}
His Eminence Dr. Antoine Cardinal Kambanda has been Archbishop of Kigali since 2019. He had been Bishop of Kibungo from 2013 to 2018. Pope Francis installed him cardinal on 28th November 2020, making him the first cardinal from Rwanda.
Prof. Dr. Dina Porat is a lecturer at Emeritus of Modern Jewish History in the Department of Jewish History, Head of the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, and holds the Alfred P. Slaner Chair for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University.
Since 2011 she has served as Chief Historian of Yad Vashem.
Groupe Duval is a French company established in 1996 by Eric Duval. With 25 years experience investing in real estate, it currently has over 4000 employees. It has so far earned over $ 700 million from executed projects.
The company has been constructing eco-friendly buildings in Rwanda through its subsidiary ‘Duval Great Lakes Ltd’.
The company has executed mega construction projects in Rwanda including BPR headquarters located in Kigali city.
Duval Great Lakes Ltd is also preparing to develop real estate project at the premises of the Ministry of Justice and Supreme Court in Kimihurura .
It is expected that buildings of the Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court will be demolished to set up new state-of- the art buildings including a multi-leveled hotel known as ‘Odalys City Business Apart hotel’ with 140 rooms.
Once completed, the project is expected to add up to hospitality services offered to guests attending conference in Kigali.
The complex facility will be comprised of a pool, a small football pitch, a night club, gym, modern clinic and supermarket among others.
Speaking to IGIHE in July last year, the CEO of Duval Great Lakes Ltd, Vicky Murabukirwa said that the project expected to be completed within two years will also contribute to Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE).
The plot of land where the Ministry of Justice and Supreme Court are headquartered has been handed to these investors as published in the official gazette of 26th April 2020. It stretches to 26000 square meters.
The project launched by Rwandan youth living in Perth, Australia, features panel discussions bringing together experts in history, culture and various artists among others.
Linda Iriza, one of organizers of ‘Amateka Series’ has told IGIHE that the idea to launch the project was developed in January 2020.
“The idea of Amateka Series came in January 2020 as we were planning for future activities for Rwandan youth living in Perth. We were inspired by the fact that many of us know little or nothing about Rwandan history and culture,” she said.
As COVID-19 emerged, a lockdown was imposed that Iriza along with colleagues couldn’t organize face-to-face meeting.
They leveraged technology advantages and made enough preparations during the lockdown until the project was launched virtually in May 2020.
“This gave us enough time to properly plan for Amateka Series program that we launched in May. At the beginning of the month, we chose a specific topic related to Rwandan history and encouraged Rwandan youth in our city to do their own research. At the end of May, we held a zoom session where we shared our research findings. We continued to hold virtual sessions and share findings throughout the lockdown,” said Iriza.
In August, lockdown restrictions were lifted that their community organized the celebration of National Harvest Day known as ‘Umuganura’.
During preparations to celebrate Umuganura, two Rwandan elders were invited to deliver talks on the tradition of Umuganura where they shared deeper insights into the history of ‘Umuganura’.
Linda Iriza has explained that the majority of youth living in Peruth town didn’t get chance to learn about history and culture of their native country because some arrived in Australia aged 3 while others were born there.
“That is why they are interested in learning more about Rwandan culture and the country’s history. We were delighted with great ideas and the support we are receiving,” she said.
As she said, they are looking forward to making ‘Amateka Series’, a project that encourages the youth to carry out research on Rwanda’s culture, write and share outcomes.
Last year’s discussions about Rwandan history and art were led by a great panel including Hope Azeda, the founder of Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company; Moses Turahirwa, the founder of Moshions and Amb. Uwihanganye Jean de Dieu representing Rwanda in Singapore among others.
All the panelists shared how they are continuing to honour Rwandan history through the work they are actively doing in their respective backgrounds.
Iriza thanked Rwanda’s embassy in Singapore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Youth and Culture for relentless support to implement the project.
Iriza concluded by requesting Rwanda youth across the world to attend the next session scheduled on 6th February 2021 where they will host a talk on the genesis of Rwanda and performance by Jules Sentore. These discussions will go live on all social media platforms of Amateka Series (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube).
More details about ‘Amateka Series’ can be accessed on: www.amatekaseries.com.
Busingye made the revelation yesterday as he presented Rwanda’s 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to the Human Rights Council.
The previous review was presented in November 2015 where Rwanda accepted to implement 50 human rights recommendations.
During the virtual review held yesterday, Rwanda was represented by the Minister of Justice and State Attorney General, Johnston Busingye; Prof Anastase Shyaka, Minister of Local Government and Dr. Usta KAITESI, Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Governance Board; the three of them attending remotely from Kigali.
Other Rwanda delegates include Marie Chantal Rwakazina, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Ms. Providence Umurungi, Head of International Justice and Judicial Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Justice, attending from Geneva.
Minister Busingye explained that Rwanda respected human rights principles in terms of freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of press; and freedom of association and of peaceful assembly.
He stated that the country has been efficiently implementing recommendations received in 2015.
{{No unofficial detention centers }}
Concerning allegations by human rights activists that Rwanda detains people in unofficial military detention centers where they are tortured, Minister Busingye said they are unfounded because Rwanda’s prisons are known and conform to international standards.
“The Government of Rwanda wishes to note that Rwanda maintains separate prison facilities for civilian and military convicts. All fourteen of them are gazetted, operate in accordance with law, are accessible and conform to by international minimum standards on the treatment of persons deprived of liberty,” he said.
“There are no unofficial detention centers in Rwanda and as such the Government of Rwanda rejects such unfounded allegations which, we believe, are motivated by the political interest and agenda of those who advance them,” added Busingye.
Concerning detention conditions, Busingye explained that the prison population remains relatively high as a result of efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system from Rwanda Investigation Bureau through Criminal Courts.
He said that efforts to expand options for non-custodial sentences and diversion from the typical criminal justice channel are being studied for implementation as soon as possible while short term measures to depopulate prisons including building a new prison (Nyarugenge prison)and renovations of three (3) prisons were implemented.
Between 2015 and 2019, nine new detention police stations were built while 64 were renovated. In 2018, the penalty of community service was adopted as an alternative sentence and the use of electronic bracelets to expand bail options for suspects were introduced.
At least 9,442 inmates were released on parole and 110 granted Presidential Pardon since 2015.
“Places of deprivation of liberty are regularly inspected for compliance with minimum standards. Further, the Government of Rwanda wishes to note that while it successfully implemented its plan to separate female inmates from male inmates, and minors from adults in prisons, efforts are still underway to separate minors from adults in police custody,” said Busingye.
In this regard, the government has embarked on the project to progressively rehabilitate the existing police stations while building new ones where needed.
{{Independent judiciary}}
Some organizations have been accusing Rwanda of harassing opposition figures and journalists.
Minister Busingye has explained that it is untrue because Rwanda’s judiciary is independent and makes fair judgment.
“There are no prosecutions that target persons simply because they are politicians or journalists or human rights defenders, and the so-called political trials do not exist, nor are trials against journalists or human rights defenders just for being journalists or human rights defenders,” he said.
“A person can only be prosecuted based on his/her act which is prohibited and punishable by law. One’s freedom to express his/her opinion is guaranteed by the law and as such is protected and respected. That said Government is always open to frankly engage even on perceptions so that whatever lies at the base of a perception is addressed as appropriate,” added Busingye.
Among others, Busingye presented Rwanda’s achievements in promoting freedom of press and expression.
“Consistent action to more expand media space and freedom of expression characterized the last 5 years. As a result, the number of radio stations are now 34 up from 23 in 2011 while the number of television stations increased from 1 in 2011 to 12 in 2016 and 19 in 2019. Registered print and online media houses increased from 73 in 2016 to 161 in 2020. As mentioned earlier, the new law determining offences and penalties in general repealed all press offences,” he said.
The satisfaction of citizens with access to information, as measured by the Rwanda Governance Board, has grown from 52% in 2012 to 94% in 2019 which Busingye attribute to the aforementioned efforts.
Launched in 2015 by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru, Pula designs and delivers innovative agricultural insurance and digital products to help smallholder farmers endure climate risks, improve their farming practices and bolster their incomes over time. For smallholder farmers in emerging markets, the traditional method of calculating insurance through farm visits is often unaffordable for farmers, meaning these farmers are often neglected from financial protection against climate risks.
Through its Area Yield Index Insurance product, Pula leverages machine learning, crop cuts experiments and data points relating to weather patterns and farmer losses to build products which caters for a variety of risks including drought, excessive rainfall, pests and diseases. The company’s key clientele include the likes of the World Food Programme, Central Bank of Nigeria, Zambian Government & the Kenyan Government. Pula has also launched an NDVI Livestock insurance as an offering for livestock farmers.
Speaking on the new fundraise, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Pula, Rose Goslinga, said: “When Thomas and I launched Pula in 2015, we had one goal in mind to build and deliver scalable insurance solutions for Africa’s 700mn smallholder farmers and with our latest funding, now is the time to break into new ground. In our five years since launching, we’ve built strong traction for our products but the fact remains that across Africa and other emerging markets, there are still millions of smallholder farmers with risks to their livelihoods that have not been covered.”
“In the midst of a global pandemic, farmers need assurances now more than ever and with this in mind, it’s time to scale up. Having TLcom Capital and Women’s World Banking along on the journey with us, opens up many more opportunities as we build across the continent and beyond.”
Through its partnerships with banks, governments and agricultural input companies, Pula is at the center of an ecosystem which provides insurance to smallholder farmers and has amassed 50 insurance partners, as well as six reinsurance partners.
In December 2020, the startup was named as the “InsurTech of the Year” at the African Insurance Awards 2020 held in Lagos, Nigeria. As part of the new fundraise, TLcom’s Senior Partner Omobola Johnson will join Pula’s Board.
Commenting on the development, Maurizio Caio, Managing Partner and Founder at TLcom Capital said: “In Pula, we found a company addressing a hugely underserved market in one of Africa’s key drivers of growth and with this, an opportunity for major economic upside. The potential for the insurance market for smallholder farmers in Africa is huge and under the leadership of Rose and Thomas, Pula has rapidly established a strong presence throughout the continent and has a number of high-profile clients on their books. We are confident of Pula’s potential for growth in spite of the pandemic and look forward to partnering with them as they execute the next phase of their journey.”
Christina Juhasz, Chief Investment Officer at Women’s World Banking expressed delight to partner with Pula Advisors in providing them financial safety nets against the risks of pests, disease and climate change.
In 2018, Pula announced the close of its US$1mn seed round from Rocher Participations with support from Accion Venture Lab, Omidyar Network and several angel investors. Previous funders have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mulago Foundation and Mercy Corps Social Ventures and the company presence in Africa currently extends to Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.
{{About Pula }}
Pula is an agricultural Insurance and technology service provider that designs and delivers agriculture insurance and digital products that help smallholder farmers edure climate risks,improve their farming practices and bolster their incomes over time.Currently Pula has insured 4.3 Million smallholder farmers across 13 countries.Pula has won numerous awards including the Singapore Fintech Award, Women’s world banking award,African Insurance award and Credit Suisse Innovation Award
{{About TLcom Capital }}
Founded in 1999, TLcom has $200mn of VC assets under management across Africa, Europe and Israel and manages the $71mn TIDE Africa Fund, dedicated to technology and innovation for Sub-Saharan Africa at all stages of venture capital. The TLcom portfolio includes Twiga Foods, Andela, uLesson, and Kobo360 among others, and it has completed successful Africa VC exits with Upstream acquired by Actis and Movirtu acquired by BlackBerry. The TIDE Africa Fund delivers capital as part of a larger strategic, operational and financial support to entrepreneurs.
{{About Women’s World Banking }}
Founded in 1979, Women’s World Banking is the global leader in women’s financial inclusion with the mission to expand the economic assets, participation, and power of low-income women and their households through access to financial services, knowledge, and markets. Women’s World Banking’s managed funds invest in innovative, emerging market financial service providers and assist them to expand their outreach to low-income women clients with targeted, scalable solutions and to increase their gender diversity in staff and management teams. Through such women-focused strategies, the funds seek to provide higher returns on investment while promoting women’s economic empowerment.
News about his demise went to public yesterday evening. Gicondo,55, has succumbed to a disease. He has been living in Australia with his family for one year.
Relatives have told IGIHE that Gicondo has been sick for quite some days and got in critical condition when he learnt about the death of his brother, Dr. Kigabo.
“He has been sick but his health conditions deteriorated when he heard about the death of his elder brother [Dr. Kigabo] that he went to coma from that time,” his elder brother, Pastor Irakiza Rweribamba Isaac has told IGIHE.
“He spent some days being unable to speak. Later on, he could speak and stay silent. As he slept yesterday, people went to check on him and found him dead,” he added.
Gicondo dies at a time when his family was arranging burial of his elder brother Dr. Kigabo who breathed the last on 15th January 2021.
Dr. Kigabo, the former chief economist at the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) is expected to be laid to rest today.
Amb. Alfred G. Kalisa has presented his letters of Credence to Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj, the Chairman of the Presidential Council and Prime Minister of the State of Libya to represent Rwanda in the country.
During the solemn ceremony held on on 23rd January 2021, the Ambassador thanked the Chairman of the Presidential Council and Prime Minister of the State of Libya for the audience and conveyed the greetings of his President Paul Kagame and his message of peace, security and prosperity for the people of Libya and also his desire to further strengthen a positive relationship and partnership between Rwanda and the State of Libya.
For his part, Fayez Mustafa Al-Sarraj, extended his greetings to President Paul Kagame whom he met at several occasions in many forum and last March in Kigali.
He congratulated him for his efforts and reforms, he spearheaded at the African Union level which have culminated with the commencement of the African Continental Free Trade.
Fayez Mustafa also commended President Kagame in overcoming the obstacles of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 and bringing Rwandans together in rebuilding their institutions and a modern economy. He added that Libya would draw on this experience as it moves ahead with unity and reconciliation.
He concluded by reiterating optimism for a growing historic and excellent bilateral relationship between both Countries.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Head of The Africa Department were present during the ceremony.
The violators, all young people, had organised three separate house parties and were at the time found drinking.
16 violators were arrested on Sunday, January 24, in two separate house parties in Mumena, Nyamirambo Sector in Nyarugenge District.
Eleven others invited by their colleague identified as Said Iradukunda, were found drinking in the house located in Gasabo District, Remera Sector, Nyabisindu Cell in Gihogere Village.
Their arrest comes at the time when City of Kigali is under lockdown with movements only limited seeking essential or emergency services; while family visits and other social gatherings are prohibited as one of the measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the party organisers, Kamaro Felicien told the media at Nyarugenge District Police Unit, that he had invited four friends to his house where he stays with his colleague just to have a “good time together” but regretted his actions adding that he has “learnt a lesson.”
“Most of the friends that I invited are neighbours. I regret to have invited them to enjoy drinks together in this period of the pandemic even when we knew that such social events and home visits are prohibited. I have picked my lesson; I hope other young people out there will also learn from my experience, do the right thing and wait to enjoy their drinks together when they are safe from COVID-19,” Kamaro said.
Pancard Umuhoza is another party organiser, who was arrested alongside nine other youth in Nyamirambo.
“I personally know some of the people that succumbed to COVID-19 but I guess we tend to be complacent; sadly, I did not even think that one of those I invited could be infected,” said Umuhoza.
The Rwanda National Police deputy spokesperson, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Africa Sendahangarwa Apollo said that Police wad tipped off by citizens about the house parties and responded accordingly thus arresting them.
“It was about 8pm on Sunday when the Police received information about groups of youths that were engaged in separate house parties. Some of them were holding birthday parties for their colleague which is equally prohibited ” CSP Africa said.
He thanked residents, who continue to observe the directives and health guidelines in particular as well as those who support the police in enforcement through information sharing about violators and supplementing national efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
“Most of those invited for the two house parties are neighbours. Probably, people think that inviting a neighbour is okay or they perceive it as if visiting a neighbour is allowed. Directives are very clear on every aspect; visits and all events which include such social gatherings are prohibited as directed by the Cabinet meeting of January 18. Visits can only be permitted after assessing the purpose and upon approval by Rwanda National Police through the available movement clearance platforms.”
CSP Africa said that all the 27 people, who violated the directives, will be fined accordingly, and subjected to COVID-19 test at their cost.
