Author: Nicole Kamanzi Muteteri

In a letter to Cardinal Kambanda on Sunday, Kagame said, “Rwanda is proud of the new mission that was given to you by the leader of Catholic Church worldwide, Pope Francis who elevated you to Cardinal”.

“On my behalf and in the name of all Rwandans, we wish you the best in the new service as the first cardinal in Rwandan history.”

The president further said that Kambanda’s new crown, “is an honor to you and to the catholic church of Rwanda. It is of great value for all Rwandans and the country at large.”

He went on saying that Kambanda’s nomination two years after he was ordained archbishop of Kigali is in itself a sign that he is gifted in the service of leadership in the house of the Lord. It is also an indication that the catholic church of Rwanda “has made an important stride in the last 120 years of existence.”

President Kagame further appreciated the fact that the Catholic Church continues to play a great role in building the country after the 1994 Genocide committed against the Tutsi; he noted some of the areas of the church’s interventions including; restoration of broken hearts in the aftermath of the Genocide, reconciling Rwandans, and establishing harmony in the society.

President Kagame also said that the church continues its partnership with the government in education, health development, and social affairs which is commendable.

“We promise collaboration with you in your new mission particularly and with the church in general,” Kagame said wishing Cardinal Kambanda peace of God.

The President made the remarks at the inauguration ceremony of the 2019/20 Performance contracts signing. In last year’s performance, the district came first in the North followed by Huye and Rwamagana while Nyabihu, Karongi and Rusizi were the last.

President Kagame said that in some instances, officials fail to deliver to the expectation and they give an excuse that their institutions failed to work together.

He said in some instances things don’t work because a leader was not given some bribe to do the work or in other cases, leaders say that there was no planning.
“They (citizen) paid you long ago through taxes-how do you delay them again, how do you ask them more money?” he said.

The President is aware that some officials delay services and bring an excuse of the laws and procedures.

“The first thing a leader should be doing is to find a way to deliver well and quickly instead of finding reasons that allow them not to deliver,” the president said adding that laws were not put in place to delay procedures but to speed up services.

He said the only problem is that corrupt officials tend to complicate them with an intention to mislead or to push service seekers to bribe them.

“When you consider that there was no problem of budget, you wonder how someone would lack the will to do what they are expected to,” the president said. “How do you explain that?”

“Suppose that one lacks planning skills, but again, how do you still fail to hire someone who can help you do proper planning, yet you have a budget?”
The President said he is concerned that sometimes he talks to leaders who lack development ambitions.

“My wish would be that we all graduate from petty things, but I will always swallow my pride since others have also the right to do what they want. However, we shall keep pushing to have someone on board who is willing to also take the development path.”

President Kagame criticized leaders who discourage others when they come into offices and try to introduce new ways of working, highlighting an example of returnees who may have worked abroad.

“In other [developed] countries, there is limited room for mistakes and you are held accountable for the things you are meant to do,” he said.

“When people who worked in that setting come back home and try to introduce that way of working, they are intimidated by those they find in offices that they can’t work that way,” he added.

He insisted that this behavior shouldn’t be entertained in any way.

The president showed concrete examples of mediocrity from district performance-imihigo.

“The districts that have been doing well are now doing bad and vice-versa and some of you may blame COVID-19 but it is not the case,” Kagame said.

Talking about a challenge that he personally witnessed in Musanze district while on his outreach last year, the Head of State said: “I showed both the mayor and the governor something but I was surprised they could not see it,” Kagame said.

He explained that he saw fire gutting a specific hill and he showed it to both the mayor and the governor.

“For example, I spent the night in Musanze, in the morning until about noon, at eight o’clock looking everywhere, and I noticed a place that was on fire and smoke in a very big place,” he said.

“I wanted to know what was happening, what they were doing was burning the forest, making charcoal. So I called leaders and asked them what they knew about the fire I was seeing if it was a daily thing. I asked [the authorities] do you not live here in this district? […] I found out that they don’t see it. It was when I pointed a finger to asking them, don’t you see the smoke? They saw it because I was telling them to look at it. ”

President Kagame tasked leaders to go back and improve targets and widen the scope, including indicators related to improving housing and hygiene for citizens.

The announcement of the succession of districts was highlighted by the Head of State at the ceremony held at the Epic Hotel in Nyagatare on Friday; this is after the 2019 Imihigo were suspended to allow proper mainstreaming of the methodology used to measure performance, making sure that the scores attained by districts reflect what is on the ground and actual impact on people’s lives and service delivery.

Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente read out the names of the best and worst performing districts with the Southern Province district of Nyaruguru pipping 29 others to the top slot while Rusizi emerged last.

The first three districts this year were Nyaruguru with 84%, Huye with 82.8% and Rwamagana with 82.4%. Rusizi finished last with a score of 50%.

The Prime Minister said that the 2019/20 Pledge was based on the principle that the results would be reviewed annually, and that the results would be reviewed every three years.

Under the new format of Imihigo, the Prime Minister said they will be doing an assessment every year and another review to check the impact on citizens every three years.

He also mentioned that each target will be considered if it has been achieved 100 %, otherwise it will score 0 %, except in a few exceptions such as the uptake of the community health insurance scheme Mutuelle de Sante. Infrastructure projects will only be considered if complete.

In terms of sector performance, the Economic Cluster outperformed other clusters, garnering 71.9 percent while Governance and Justice and law and order scored 69.1 percent while the Social Affairs sector scored 66.3 percent.

Dr. Ngirente said that they put into consideration the fact that the New Coronavirus outbreak affected the performance of districts, which could explain why Rusizi emerged last. The Western Province district was hard hit by COVID-19.

He pointed out that focus for 2020/21 will be put on recovery from the COVID-19 impact and job creation, to ensure that the unemployment gap, which was increased by the pandemic, is narrowed.

Unemployment in Rwanda currently stands at 22.1 percent, from 13.1 percent in February this year.

{{How the 30 districts performed in Imihigo}}

1. Nyaruguru -84%
2. Huye -82.8%
3. Rwamagana 82.4%
4. Gisagara 78.3%
5. Nyanza 77.9%
6. Nyamasheke 77.4%
7. Ngoma 77.3%
8. Kicukiro 77.1%
9. Gasabo 76.4%
10. Kirehe 76.2%
11. Kayonza 73.9%
12. Kamonyi 73.6%
13. Nyagatare 69.3%
14. Gicumbi 68.7%
15. Bugesera 68.5%
16. Gatsibo 68.4%
17. Ruhango 67.9%
18. Rubavu 67.8%
19. Burera 66%
20. Nyamagabe 65%
21. Rutsiro 64.6%
22. Nyarugenge 64.6%
23. Rulindo 62.3%
24. Ngororero 61.5%
25. Muhanga 58.7%
26. Gakenke 55.9%
27. Musanze 53.2%
28. Nyabihu 52.9%
29. Karongi 51.2%
30. Rusizi 50%

The minister made the call on October 29, 2020, in a meeting that attracted various leaders of the Northern Province, District Leaders of the Province and Sector Education Officers.

It was intended to assess the progress of the school reopening process and to identify the challenges with the ultimate intent of squarely addressing them.

It has been almost seven months since all schools were closed to prevent Covid-19.
Students are now returning to school at the end of the school year.

Schools have been urged to do their utmost to closely monitor student compliance with the Covid-19 prevention guidelines, and to form groups including school principals, local and security officials, Sector Education Officers, teachers, doctors, and parents committees and others to check if respected.

Twagirayezu urged the members of the group not to neglect their responsibilities, adding that it would be possible only with the involvement of all stakeholders.

“Our country has come a long way in avoiding Covid-19, there are lessons we have learned that we will continue to use in schools, but the important thing is to follow the guidelines which is why we have come together here to discuss them,” he said.

“But there is also a task force that we have set up that will monitor schools, see if the children are complying, well dressed and covered, if they have crossed the required distance, to see if there is enough information on the epidemic and on the protection of children who have it.”

“All this has been done to ensure that schools will continue to function properly without any worries. What we urge this team to do is to ensure that these activities are carried out without delay, which is related to providing all the information needed for prevention, and this will work well for leaders at all levels, from child to home, if they follow them and they feel that it is up to them, we will have no worries about closing the schools again.”

Some of the members of these groups, including those in charge of education in the sectors have said that they are ready to comply with their responsibilities so that the instructions to fight the covid-19 at the schools will be implemented, as it should.

The President was on Thursday October 29, 2020 meeting with over 1000 Officer Cadets at Rwanda Military Academy in Gako.

The Head of State urged the Officer Cadets to be ready mentally and physically to defend national interests at the highest level. “We must build our capacity to defend our interests, our development; our people… do the best you can do. Do everything to the best level that you can, with precision and the way it should be done”.

President Kagame reminded Officer Cadets that the rigorous training they undertake was to prepare them to handle challenging situations. “It teaches you to be aware, to alert you that life is not as smooth as everyone wants”.

The Officer Cadets who interacted with the President are in different intakes and faculties; Social and Military Sciences, Engineering, General Medicine, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics as well as the one-year Officer Basic Training intake.

The meeting of Officer Cadets with the President of the Republic and Commander-In-Chief of the RDF, the first of its kind at the Rwanda Military Academy, was also attended by the Minister of Defence, Major Gen Albert Murasira, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Jean Bosco Kazura, Security Advisor to the President, Gen James Kabarebe, Service Chiefs and the RMA Gako Commandant, Maj Gen Innocent Kabandana.

The new cases bring the total number to 5129 while no one was registered to have recovered, leaving recoveries at 4851 and while the active cases are now 243 active cases.

Of the new cases, two were found in Kigali, while in Kirehe recorded 40 new cases from new cases in a refugee camp, Nyamagabe also recorded two new cases.

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 required to continue to comply with government regulations, especially with frequent washing of hands and water and soap, wearing masks when leaving home or in public.

Gishwati Mukura landscape was declared as UNESCO biosphere reserve during the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (UNESCO MAB) International Co-coordinating Council meeting on October 27th-28th, 2020 at the organizations head offices in Geneva.

A biosphere reserve is made up of the parts of earth where life exists—all ecosystems, and extends from the deepest root systems of trees, to the dark environments of ocean trenches, to lush rain forests, high mountaintops, and transition zones like this one, where ocean and terrestrial ecosystems meet.

The UNESCO MAB Programme develops the basis within the natural and social sciences for the rational and sustainable use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere and for the improvement of the overall relationship between people and their environment.

“We are proud to welcome Gishwati Mukura Landscape Biosphere Reserve #Rwanda to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves,” the organization said in a Twitter message.

This means that Gishwati Mukura Landscape in Rwanda is now one of the 701 Biosphere Reserves globally where humans have played a role in co-existence with their eco-system around them.

“Congratulations to all partners involved in this historic achievement including Global Environment Facility (GEF), World Bank. This will bring a range of benefits for local communities and biodiversity in Gishwati Mukura,” said Juliet Kabera, Director General, Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA).

On Friday, May 22, 2020, Rwanda joined the international community in celebrating the National Day for the Protection of the Biodiversity Network celebrated with the theme: “Our solutions are in Nature”.

Rwanda used the opportunity to encourage planting trees, especially fruits because they give off fresh air and provide with seeds, avoiding waste everywhere and dumping contaminated waste wherever it occurs as it ends up in floodwaters during rainy seasons.

UNESCO also boosts of 252 natural World Heritage sites, 161 UNESCO Global Geoparks of which Rwanda is currently pushing to have three of its genocide memorial sites included in the former package.

The suspects identified as Felicien Kimenyi, Jean de Dieu Nizeyimana and Frank Dusengimana were intercepted in Rwempasha Sector, Ryeru Cell.

They were also caught with 16 litres of the illicit crude gin locally known as Kanyanga, which is outlawed and classified as a psychotropic substance in Rwanda.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Police spokesperson of the Eastern region, said that the suspects had used a porous border to sneak the outlawed polythene bags and kanyanga into Rwanda from neighboring Uganda.

“Members of the public residing on the borderline called the Police after they saw the three suspects using a porous border to cross into Rwanda from Uganda with the luggage.

Police officers were immediately dispatched and they arrested the trio carrying boxes of plastic bags amounting to 20, 000 pieces, and with 16 liters of kanyanga, which they had put in soft drink bottles to prevent being detected,” CIP Twizeyimana said.

He commended the role of the residents in fighting trafficking and selling plastic bags as well as narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Last month, three people were also arrested in Matimba Sector with four sacks of plastic bags.

Another suspected trafficker of plastic bags was also intercepted in Nyagatare town in July with 18, 600 pieces of the non-biodegradable products.

CIP Twizeyimana warned that such illegal cross-border movements could be the source of further COVID-19 spread, and urged the public to continue reporting such errant individuals.

Article 10 of law N° 17/2019 of 10/08/2019 relating to the prohibition of manufacturing, importation, use and sale of plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items, states that any person, who imports plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items is liable to the dispossession of those plastic carry bags and such items, and to an administrative fine equivalent to ten times the value of those plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items.

In article 11, a wholesaler of plastic carry bags and single use plastic items is liable to an administrative fine of Frw700, 000 and dispossession of those plastic carry bags and such items.

In article 12 of the same legal instrument, a retailer of plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items is liable to an administrative fine of Rwf300, 000 and dispossession of those plastic carry bags and such items.

On the other hand, kanyanga is listed among simple narcotic drugs under Ministerial Order Nº 001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorization.

Article 5 defines simple narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, precursors and unauthorised drinks as alcoholic drinks produced without complying with standards and other laws; chemical substances whose original intended use has been altered, and applied as narcotic drug; use of 116 controlled substances listed in the same Order.

Anyone convicted for simple narcotic drugs under article 263 of the law determining offences and penalties in general, face between seven and ten years in prison and a fine of between Frw5 million and Frw10 million.