Superintendent of Police (SP) Evode Nkurunziza, the District Police Commander (DPC) for Nyanza, said that information about the alleged fraud was provided by a local resident, who saw Nshimiyimana sneaking and hiding the bales in a house.
“Police officers were deployed to search the said house where they recovered the four bales and arrested Nshimiyimana at the scene.
Nshimiyimana admitted to be the owner of the second-hand clothes and disclosed that he smuggles them into the country from Burundi, through porous border points,” SP Nkurunziza said.
The DPC commended the responsiveness of the resident, who provided the information on fraud, and facilitated the seizure of the goods and arrest of the suspect.
“Any business has to be conducted in accordance with the law. Smuggling and fraud are punishable by law and anyone involved in such illegal business will also face the law accordingly,” he warned.
He further observed that such illegal cross-border smuggling and unnecessary movements can fuel further spread of novel Coronavirus, and urged the residents to always report such unlawful and risky practices.
Under the East African Community Management Act, which is applicable in Rwanda, seized smuggled goods under article 199, are auctioned.
A statement from the Kigali City Administration said the market would be opened on Thursday, September 3, 2020. It goes on to say that before its opening, its management is required to develop “an efficient handwashing method, lines that show the imitators where to go and reduce the apparent density and be done by September 02, 2020”.
The market was closed at the same time as that of Nyabugogo known as Mutangana; but the City of Kigali has announced that due to the nature of the latter one it will “continue to close”. Traders and food buyers will continue to operate on at Giticyinyoni and at Nzove.
Although the Kigali City Market is about to open, it will be open to only 50% of the traders.
The markets were closed after the Ministry of Health said the increase in Coronavirus cases in the country was tracked from people in markets in the City of Kigali where it was largely due to the fact that people were reluctant to fight the pandemic.
There are now 4063 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in Rwanda; these numbers has increased in the last few days, wherein about eight days the country recorded 974 new cases.
The group came from eight different sectors in Kirehe, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, said.
He added that they were at the time found congested under the rock at about 6PM, from where they were praying.
They included the majority 88 women, six men and 24 young people aged below 16 years.
“Information about the risky and prohibited gathering came from local residents, who called local authorities and the Police,” CIP Twizeyimana said.
“The group was made up of believers from different religious denominations, which came from eight sectors in Kirehe and converged in the bushy and rocky place.”
“Literally, they had violated all the standard and directed safety guidelines; such gatherings are prohibited, they came from different places and they were congested, no facemask and some of them were laying hands on others praying for them. 39 of them are from Nyamugari Sector, which is a COVID-19 risky zone in Kirehe,” the spokesperson explained.
CIP Twizeyimana warned against such inappropriate behaviors and actions, which can easily lead to the fast spread of the virus.
“This is not the time to engage in social practices and gatherings based on beliefs. It’s the period to listen to the safety instructions and abide by them to be safe from the pandemic and to protect others,” CIP Twizeyimana said.
The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting on August 26, 2020 to ensure that the activities of the Public Sector will continue while respecting prevention measures of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that each level of government is required to employ no more than 30% of all employees, leaving others to work from home and later take turns going to the office.
The Minister of Public Service and Labor, Rwanyindo Kayirangwa Fanfan, addressed a letter to all Ministers, Secretaries of State, Director General of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Gas, on of August 29, 2020, indicating that something needed to be changed.
The decision was taken on the basis of an audit conducted at all levels of government from July 30 to August 4, 2020 to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 epidemic prevention guidelines, which indicate that “Only 38 out of 121 audited agencies complied with the required number at the time.”
MIFOTRA called on all government agencies to “publish a list of staff assigned to work in the office and home based workers and when the Department rules that take they will be taking turns, this will help the authorities to ensure that no more than 30% of the workforce in the office as mentioned”
“Suspension of the use of the fingerprint machine or the signature of the staff and any other means of controlling the spread of the pandemic, to control the productivity of employees, both office workers and home based workers” said Minister Rwanyindo.
She also urged them to continue to sensitize staff and government agencies to make better use of ICT in providing the services they need.
Kayirangwa urges them to “make it easier for Public Transport Workers to get to and from work, to return home at 03:00 PM so that they can reach their homes before 7:00 PM.”
Normally, government staff worked from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. MIFOTRA also called on the Ministry in particular to monitor the implementation of the COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures.
The establishments are Cuppa Coffee in Downtown, Nyarugenge District, Cincinnati and Miami Family in Niboyi and Gikondo, respectively, both in Kicukiro District.
At Cuppa Coffee, authorities, on Friday, found 21 youngsters holding a birthday party in a congested room.
Birthday parties and other social gatherings are prohibited in this fragile period of COVID-19.
At Miami Family owned by one Emmanuel Minani, authorities found 14 people in a social gathering drinking at about 8 PM, the time when everyone was supposed to be home.
Nine people were also found drinking at Cincinnati bar owned by one Alphier Bizimana.
Bars are among the businesses that are still closed.
Innocent Iyakaremye, the manager at Cuppa Coffee regretted allowing the group of youth to hold the birthday party for their colleague at the facility.
Cuppa Coffee proprietor, Damien Sibomana wondered why his manager went against the clear directives.
“The government directives are clear and in addition to that, I also personally gave them instructions against any parties, to allow not more than 35 people inside, clients to wash hands before entering and to ensure that they sit according to the sitting arrangement organized in respect of social distancing,” Sibomana said.
He added: “We invest our money in these businesses and violating the given instructions can hurt the business. My manager probably looked at his interest but not the general interest of business and above all, the safety of the people.”
Nyarugenge District Executive Administrator, Emmy Ngabonziza emphasized that any business found operating contrary to the safety guidelines will face severe consequences, including closure.
“Parties or social gatherings are prohibited; it’s our role as local leaders in partnership with Rwanda National Police and hospitality establishments to ensure that everything is done in compliance with the directives,” Ngabonziza said
“Most of these social gatherings are organized or involve the young people, who, as we know, are among the majority infected with COVID-19. We, therefore, urge the young generation to value and protect their lives by ensuring maximum compliance.”
He further mentioned the role of parents and guardians to educate their children on the pandemic and the safety guidelines to prevent them from engaging in such risky events.
Some of those found holding a birthday party are as young as 15 years.
Owners or managers of hospitality establishments, he said, should take the lead to ensure that nothing contrary to the directives is conducted in their facilities.
RNP spokesperson, CP John Bosco Kabera cautioned that the “warning period is over; it’s time for immediate action to violators.”
“The directives are very clear and have been elaborated even to those who seem not to have understood them. We ought to know that the pandemic is still in our midst and it kills.
Social events or gatherings are prohibited, bars are closed, everyone should be home by 7 PM, wearing of facemask is not an option when you leave your home. It is now time for immediate repercussion to errand violators but not just issuing caution,” CP Kabera said.
He took time to also warn those, who might use their private vehicles and motorcycles to transport people out of Kigali at a fee, and contrary to the directives, to other parts of the country.
“Any vehicle or motorcycle found transporting people beyond Kigali, contrary to the new directive, will be impounded for a long time and driver or rider severely penalized,” CP Kabera warned.
He advised the public on proper planning to avoid unnecessary movements, adding that those who brag for violating the directives or post their photos on social media platforms are not doing any good but rather influencing bad attitudes and actions especially among the young people, which will not be entertained.
The training was organized by the University of Rwanda and Media High Council that Christophe Hitayezu, a Journalist and Pandemic Media Mentor at Internews asked Ewen MacAskill to explain how Rwandan journalists can still investigate and present their stories just by the use of their smartphones.
“The great thing about mobile phone these days is that you can pretty much do everything, you can take a video, edit it and have it uploaded in less than 30 minutes.” Said MacAskill “in the wide world, almost 70% of the population follow news using their phones; and what they are doing is watching videos. Mobile journalism is where the future is, and all you need is a smartphone.”
“Before, we used to carry heavy camera and sophisticated equipment when going on field that can be quite intimidating in different areas; yet it was found that when you are using your phone in recording, people are willing to share information with you,” he added.
MacAskill said that mastering the technique is not the only purpose of the Mobile journalism (MoJo) program; he explained that with all the techniques every journalist has to also remember that every new has a structure of storytelling.
At the beginning of the year 2020 the Mobile journalism (MoJo) competition was started worldwide and Ewen MacAskill was among the mentors for Thomson Foundation.
The MoJo training that organized by UR and MHC have been conducted at Musanze District last Week from Monday to Friday, and brought together 23 trainees.
“When we asked people to send in stories, quite often they would send nice videos, but they were not connected to the news. You know having Mobile journalism technique is only one half, the other half is having an understanding of what the news story is,” said MacAskill.
In the middle of MoJo course, the COVID happened. As part of the course people were asked to go out and do news stories on video and then send their edited program. MacAskill was one of the judges, but because of COVID-19, it was difficult for people to go out and do their interviews, so all their original plans have to be abandoned, and people had to produce stories in the new COVID19 environment.
MacAskill said that during those times some people responded well “Just because of the COVID, it doesn’t mean you can’t do interesting stories … you don’t take risks, don’t break the law and you can still produce interesting stories,” he said.
MacAskill said that COVID-19 should not be an excuse for people to stop being good journalists because the pandemic has affected everybody in the world, “You should always be producing stories. There is a huge appetite everywhere for stories about the COVID-19,” he said.
Ewen MacAskill is the former defence and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian having worked for the UK media organization for 22 years.
He played a key role in reporting the revelations from computer analyst whistle-blower Edward Snowden about the mass surveillance by US and UK intelligence agencies. He has received a number of prestigious awards for this work and was a member of the Guardian team who, along with the Washington Post, received a Pulitzer Prize in 2014.
During his career with The Guardian he held a number of senior editorial roles including Washington bureau chief, diplomatic editor, and chief political editor.
Before joining The Guardian he was political editor of The Scotsman.
Ewen has worked on a number of projects with the Thomson Foundation and is acting as a mentor for participants on the Thomson Foundation digital and multimedia summer course. He is also assisting participants from the Journalism Now e-learning programme on investigative journalism techniques.
The Sunday statement, August 30, 2020, shows that new patients have been identified in “Kigali: 170 (Kigali market cluster), Rusizi: 5, Rubavu: 2”
So far, 16 people have succumbed to the virus while active cases are now 2,086.
Due to the increasing number of new infections, the number of active cases has exceeded the number of recoveries.
Health authorities in Rwanda say that by helping Coronavirus patients to be treated in their homes, about 46 have recovered.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty breathing. It is transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are required to continue complying with government regulations, especially with frequent washing of hands and water and soap, wearing masks when leaving home or in public.
The Eastern Province Police Spokesperson for the Eastern Province, CIP Twizeyimana Hamdun, told IGIHE that the accident happened around 5.30 pm when a Jeep Toyota Prado that was heading from Nyagatare to Kigali hit a cyclist identified as Alphonse Habimana in Rwamagana town.
The Prado collided with an Actros Mercedes Benz before killing a taxi moto rider and his passenger.
The driver of the Prado identified as Etienne Ruzindana was trying to escape from police after he made a hit and run on a cyclist who luckily cheated death.
The car later lost the balance and hit the tree on the roadside, leaving the driver in critical condition.
One of five persons he was carrying identified as Aloys Niyonzaba died in the accident while others were seriously injured.
Police Spokesperson said that the accident wouldn’t have been as fatal as it was had the driver not tried to escape.
“The police stopped the driver after hitting the cyclist but he opted to escape and I don’t think he was running against the clock to stick to curfew hours because he would have reached on time without considering going at the highest speed,” CIP Twizeyimana said.
The driver who caused the accident was immediately transferred to Kanombe Military Hospital for treatment.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to Rwamagana Hospital for autopsy tests; while those who were injured during the accident were hospitalized at Rwamagana Hospital.
Early in the morning, the first passengers boarded a truck from Mahama camp to the Rwanda-Burundi border in Nemba in Bugesera District, donning masks, drinking water and seated in a bus respecting social distance as a measure of preventing Coronavirus spread. The total number of registered applicants is 1,800, but Burundi has announced that it will receive about 500 in the first phase.
The Burundians returned home voluntarily, expressing great joy at their returning home five years after fleeing the political turmoil that erupted when President Nkurunziza sought to run for a third term.
“When I heard that they had a refugee resettlement plan, I immediately decided to return. I was happy to be back in my country. I came to Rwanda 2017 from Kirundo.” Said Ndezi Nastivine
“I was pleased by the news of going back home. It is time for me to return to my former job at the bank, I no longer have a reason to be kept in refugee,” Said Philbert Harerimana another refugee.
{{Some refused to return home}}
Burundian refugees, who have returned, are voluntary registered but some say they refused to return.
“I ran away from being persecuted by the television and it didn’t end there. In 2014, my house was burned to the ground, when I found new a place to live, they would come and spy on me at night and decided to run away,”Niyonzima Prudence said.
Niyonzima said he would return to Burundi if security was assured.
“Some are still dying, others are still being persecuted. I will go back when I hear that no one is being persecuted, no one is being killed, no one is disappearing,” he said.
Rwanda hosts about 72,000 Burundian refugees. From 2015 to March when the border was closed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, about 5,922 had voluntarily returned to Burundi.
Jean Paul Niyonsaba, was arrested at his shop located in Gacurabwenge Sector, Gihinga Cell where he was also found selling alcohol and narcotics to his customers.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Aloys Bugingo, the acting District Police Commander (DPC) for Kamonyi, said that Niyonsaba was apprehended at about 10PM.
“Police had information from local residents that Niyonsaba is a drug retailer using his shop as cover,” CIP Bugingo said.
He added: “When the deployed Police officers arrived at his shop on Tuesday at about 10PM, they found ten other people drinking and during the search they recovered 52 pellets of cannabis.
He had turned his shop into a bar and narcotics retailing spot. Bars are closed in this period, it was time when everyone was supposed to be home as per the directives, no facemask or social distancing and worse still using the shop to cover his criminal narcotics business.”
Niyonsaba admitted to selling cannabis for a while now. He disclosed that this time, he had bought 500 pellets of cannabis from his supplier, and the 52 rolls he was caught with were remaining.
The suspect was handed over to RIB at Gacurabwenge station alongside the exhibits.
The DPC said that the ten other people, who were found drinking were educated and penalized accordingly for violating the directives meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
CIP Bugingo thanked the residents who provided information on the criminal acts and breach of the directives on COVID-19.
