The cabinet maintained the curfew but extended the curfew by one hour, from 8p.m to 9p.m (until 5a.m), allowing couples to have civil weddings with only 15 attendees.
Under the new measures which will run for 15 days until June 1, the government eased some restrictions.
The new developments are contained in a communication of cabinet decisions reached on Monday, signed by Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente. Government also announced that inter-provincial travel (including to and out of City of Kigali) and taxi-moto transport will resume on June 1.
These are some of the latest Covid-19 decisions:
The Government has introduced a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am, when the total lockdown was partially lifted on May 1. Yesterday, the curfew was reduced by one hour and will now be observed between 9 pm to 5 am.
Since late-March, social gatherings, including weddings, have been banned. Under the new guidelines, however, civil weddings with 15 people are allowed; but related ceremonies such as church services and receptions are not permitted.
The cabinet statement said that borders will remain closed, except for goods and cargo, as well as returning Rwandan citizens and legal residents.
All returnees will be subjected to mandatory quarantine in accordance with existing health guidelines at their own cost.
Quarantine services for people returning from abroad were initially free.
The quarantine normally lasts for 14 days.
Moto taxis have been suspended from carrying passengers since the lockdown was ordered on March 21. But they are allowed to carry goods and other essential supplies. This will continue to be the case until June 1.
The cabinet also retained major coronavirus preventive measures.
For instance, schools remain closed until September, while churches and bars are still not allowed to open.
Major preventive measures such as wearing masks, keeping the required 1-metre distance between people and washing hands remain a requirement for everyone.
Some parents made arrangements with teachers for home-based learning, after the government directives to close schools until September due to the virus, where children from different families are brought together in groups to take lessons.
“People who are bringing teachers to their homes are violating the directives to prevent COVID-19. It is not allowed,” CP John Bosco Kabera, the spokesperson for Rwanda National Police, said in a tweet.
Kabera said that in response to a tweet from one Sylvie Nsanga, who pointed out that it was difficult for teachers and their students to observe physical distancing during home-schooling, especially during grouped sessions.
“We are bringing teachers in our homes to teach our children not knowing where they have touched and we are doing homeschooling in groups of different families,” reads one of her series of tweets.
The Police spokesperson explained that teachers were not allowed to find students in their homes.
He urged parents to adopt e-learning practices or following lessons that are being broadcast of public radio and television.
“Coaching in a sense where a teacher will bring together a few students to teach them is against the directives on social distancing that is in place, and so is prohibited at the moment,” Gaspard Twagirayezu, State Minister for Primary and Secondary at the Ministry of Education, said.
Irenee Ndayambaje, the Director-General of the Rwanda Education Board (REB) encourages students to study using the available online platforms, saying that the online learning materials are available for free for those who have access to the internet.
“The systems are interactive since there are tutors to help students and other users. The lessons on YouTube will not require internet charges after partnering with Telecom companies to finance the project,” Ndayambaje added.
For the students who are unable to access the e-learning platforms, the option is to follow the lessons through radio and television.
The sad news of his death was confirmed by one of his family members who was attending to him at the time.
Born March 20, 1950, Prof Laurent Nkusi served in different government positions.
Nkusi served as literature and language lecturer at the University of Rwanda for 24 years between the years of 1976 and 2000, before he was appointed Minister of Land and Environment for three years.
Nkusi was later appointed Information Minister before he served as the vice-rector in charge of academics at the Institute of Agriculture, Technology, and Education of Kibungo (INATEK).
Thereafter Nkusi was elected to the senate and completed his term last year.
He leaves a widow and five children.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Vincent Biruta confirmed, in a press briefing on Friday that an agreement had been reached with Tanzania and trucks would resume moving on Saturday morning.
“Talks have been concluded. Movement of trucks to start tomorrow,” Dr. Biruta told the Press in a short message.
Tanzanian truck drivers were resistant to adhere to the measures put in place by Rwanda, where they would be required to hand over their trucks to their Rwandan counterparts who would transport the goods to their final destination, in order to minimise cross border transmission of COVID-19.
Similarly, Rwandan trucks in direction to Dar es Salaam were blocked by protesting Tanzanian drivers in revenge for the measures instituted by Rwanda. Dr. Biruta said that since the implementation of the measures, cross-border infections of coronavirus cases declined tremendously.
“We had a previous meeting where we were not able to conclude on two particular points,”
“One was on swapping of drivers at Rusumo border post. The other one was related to the escorting of trucks with perishable goods and fuel because those ones could not offload at Rusumo. So, we were stuck on those particular points,” Dr. Biruta had said earlier before the countries reached an agreement.
He said Rwanda had made proposals to Tanzania which would be discussed on Friday afternoon, adding that there was no option of not agreeing because both countries were looking to ensuring that the central corridor route is restored as soon as possible.
Dr Biruta said that businesswise, both Rwanda and Tanzania were losing given the situation in Rusumo and Benaco and both needed to find a solution.
“What we are discussing here is business. Rwanda is not the only party to lose in this standoff. It is business, I guess Rwanda is losing money in this situation, Tanzania, the same. We need to find a solution,” Dr Biruta said.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of the East African Community (EAC) Prof Manasseh Nshuti said that Rwanda remains focused on the measures to stop the spread of New Coronavirus, including cross border transmissions which are proving to be a problem in the region.
Dr Biruta explained that Tanzania had opted out of the Consultative Meeting of EAC Heads of State which was held on Tuesday, chaired by President Paul Kagame, the sitting chair of the EAC. Tanzania said it was more interested in bilateral talks with Rwanda to resolve the standoff.
At the same time, Kenyan Truck drivers were also protesting measures of handing over trucks to Rwandan drivers at Kagitumba One Stop Border Post but the situation has been resolved and trucks have started moving according to Dr Biruta.
Prof Nshuti said that a solution had been agreed on with Kenyan, which would see Kenya test truck drivers before arriving setting off for regional countries and they would be tested again at the destination, those tested positive are not cleared to ferry the goods.
He said relations with Tanzania remained jovial despite the situation, but the two countries would arrive at a solution, citing the deal for Rwandair to transport Tanzanian fish from Mwanza to the European market as an example of positive relations between the two countries.
Dar es Salaam Port handles 80 percent of the goods imported into Rwanda.
The development has been announced during the daily update from the Ministry of Health. The two cases were obtained from 2,041 tests- the highest since March 14 when the country confirmed the first case of Coronavirus.
In total, the country has so far conducted 48,239 tests of COVID-19 since the outbreak.
As a result of strict directives in the fight against the COVID-19, Rwanda’s recovery cases have since May 11 surpassed active ones and the country has reported no deaths from the virus so far.
Rwanda recently eased COVID-19 lockdown and allowed some businesses to continue operations for two weeks, and the government is expected to give an update on the partial lockdown on Monday, May 19.
Meanwhile, citizens are still urged to abide by COVID-19 precautionary measures such as regular washing of hands and self-distancing and the wearing of face masks when in public or multi-family compounds.
According to the daily updates from the Ministry of Health, no new case was recorded among 895 samples that were tested in the previous 24 hours. The total cases are 287 and active cases remain 119, many of wo were truck drivers and their assistants from Tanzania.
Since the ease of the lockdown, on May 4th to May 18th, which allowed most businesses to resume operations for two weeks’ time, eryone has been urged to put on facemasks in public and in multi-family compounds, to continue washing hands regularly, and to practice social distancing among other directives.
The public is also reminded to always call 114- the toll-free line of Rwanda Biomedical Center, whenever they experience symptoms of this pandemic such as fever, dry cough and shortness of breath.
The online event was organized by the Rwandan embassy in Beijing aimed to promote Rwandan coffee which is available on the Chinese e-commerce market, thanks to the eWTP (Electronic World Trade Platform).
The 3000 bags of coffee (500grams each) packed by Gorillas Coffee Rwanda were sold at ¥ 118 (Yuan) per packet, equivalent to Rwf15, 536 each, making a total of about of Rwf46.6million in just 60 seconds.
Rwanda and the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2018 signed an agreement that opened doors for small businesses in Africa to take part in the cross-border electronic trade by availing their products to the Chinese market through the eWTP platform.
As a result of the agreement, Rwandan coffee is available on Alibaba’s platforms and coffee lovers in China can access the product through Tmall, a subsidiary online platform of Alibaba.
This is the second time for such an event to be organised by the Rwandan embassy in China. Earlier this year, in a similar event held in Hangzhou City, up to 2,000 packets of Rwandan coffee were sold in about 10 minutes.
Rwanda’s Ambassador to China Amb. James Kimonyo and Eric Jing; Alibaba Group Director and Executive Chairman of Ant Group, joined a live-streamed sale event dubbed “National Treasure” organized by Alibaba Group Thursday evening.
“It is something that is very important. It removes middlemen between the Rwandan farmers and Chinese consumers. This increases the prices (for the farmer) naturally. That has made our farmers earn 4 dollars more. Before they were selling a piece for 8 dollars, now after joining the eWTP, the price went up to 12 dollars,” said Rwanda’s Ambassador to China Amb. James Kimonyo.
David Ngarambe, the CEO of Rwanda Coffee Company, said that such live streaming assists them in creating brand awareness, and make sales.
Wang Jiaxin, the Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese embassy, in Rwanda said that Rwandan coffee has become more and more popular in China, and some branded coffee chains have it, for instance, Starbucks.
He added that well-developed e-commerce is greatly contributing to the increasing popularity of Rwandan coffee in the Asian country.
Last year, Gorillas Coffee Rwanda sold on the same platform a batch of 2000 packets of aroma coffee in just 20 minutes, meaning that this time around the sale was a historical record of its own.
The soldiers, Privates-Patrick Ndayishimiye, Fidele Nishimwe, François Gatete, John Gahirwa, and Theoneste Twagirimana, are accused of committing several acts of aggression against citizens of Kangondo 2 village, Nyarutarama cell in Remera sector, Gasabo District in the month of March this year.
Military Prosecution said that the alleged crimes were committed on separate occasions and there is evidence from victims’ testimony that the crimes were committed and so asked court to remand the suspects pending an in-depth investigation before trial hearings.
The defense lawyer, Moses Sebudandi argued during the earlier hearing, on Monday, that there was no sufficient evidence that the crimes were committed and the allegations leveled on his clients were not based on the legal provisions to suite a proper reason for detaining any of the accused.
Sebudandi, came to agree with the prosecution on testimonies collected but asked that all the suspects be released on grounds that the allegations were not sufficient to have them detained for 30 days.
The court said that there was enough reason to suspect the crimes were committed however found no sufficient evidence on one of the charges in which the suspects are accused of forming a terror group.
“Court finds no reason to suspect the accused of forming a terror group because they didn’t know each other and only met as a result of abandoning duty at their respective posts,” said Presiding Judge Major Gerald Muhigirwa.
“The six suspects, however, have five days to appeal the remand ruling,” the presiding judge advised.
All the suspects were taken for custody at a military facility pending the next appearance in 30 days, which can be extended depending on how much more evidence is needed before trial.
The four leaders, being Their Excellencies President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda; President Uhuru Kenyatta of the Republic of Kenya; President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the Republic of Uganda and President Salvar Maryardit Kiir of the Republic of South Sudan, decided that partner states adopt a harmonized system for certification and sharing of COVID-19 test results.
The leaders took note of the current status of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the region and commended the ministers responsible for health, trade, transport, and EAC affairs for their initiative in adopting a regional approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a subsequent announcement, the four Presidents also took note of the regional response plan and directed the ministers responsible for health, trade, transport and EAC affairs “to ensure that it complements the partner states’ national COVID-19 response plans.”
The heads of state commended partner states, the World Health Organization (who) and African Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) for the efforts being made towards addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, and the steps taken to contain the disease and prevent further spread in the EAC region.
EAC heads also agreed to undertake bilateral engagements to address cross-border challenges and recognized findings of the EAC Secretariat mission that assessed the situation on clearance processes at the borders during the pandemic.
The Presidents directed partner states to prioritize regional value/supply chains to support local production of essential medical products and supplies including masks, sanitizers, soaps, coveralls, face shields, processed food and ventilators as part of efforts to combat COVID-19 in the region.
Also, in the post-COVID-19 period, countries are also directed to support agro-processing and value chains as an import substitution measure and establish special purpose financing schemes for small and medium enterprises, to cushion them from the negative effects of the pandemic.
The leaders agreed to establish special purpose financing schemes for small and medium enterprises, to cushion them from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statement from the meeting says “The Heads of State designated the ministers responsible for Health, Transport and East African Community affairs to be the focal persons for the regional COVID-19 response under the leadership of the Ministers of Health,”
The Heads of State directed the focal persons to immediately work on a regional mechanism for testing and certification of truck drivers prior to their departure at the point of origin and every two weeks, and report to the Heads of State.
They agreed to meet regularly to address the response efforts. And they expressed the need for flexibility in the application of the EAC rules and procedures when faced with a crisis such as the current pandemic.
The trial of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) soldiers and civilians accused of raping three women after beating them up kicked off in Kigali with prosecution asking the military high court to send them on remand pending further investigations.
The case involves five non-commissioned soldiers, at rank of Private, identified as Pvt Patrick Ndayishimiye (the patrol leader), Pvt. Fidele Nishinwe, Pvt. François Gatete, Pvt. John Gahirwa and Pvt. Theoneste Twagirimana.
The case also involves two civilian accomplices namely Donat ‘Rajab’ Ntakaziraho and Mukamulisa Diane who have also commissioned community-based night patrols officials in Kangondo 1 cell where the alleged crimes happened on different dates in the month of March 2020.
During the 5-hour hearing of a 30-day remand hearing, six suspects were present in court and all denied charges leveled against them with consultation of their defense lawyer, Moses Sebudandi. One suspect, Diane Mukamulisa was missing on grounds of her maternal rights to take care of her newborn baby.
Military prosecution led by Captain JB Maniraguha presented evidence from the victim’s testimonies and investigation reports conducted by the military teams on several incidents in which the suspects are accused of the six counts.
Prosecution says that both Patrick Ndayishimiye (the patrol leader) and Fidele Nishinwe were directly involved in committing all six charges especially raping three women at different occasions, and being involved in physically assaulting suspects in a place where they were not assigned duty.
Prosecution alleges that Patrick Ndayishimiye was at the time of the crime, the group commander. Some of his colleagues testified against him on physically assaulting and harming Joseph Niyobuhungiro and Ngabonziza Shema who were found in the houses of the female victims.
“Patrick also has a criminal record of theft and was in 2018 released after serving a one year sentence. In his affidavit he methodically confesses and narrates how he raped one, Madeleine Uwamariya as evidenced by testimonies from his colleagues (Gahirwa John and Gatete François),” the prosecution said.
It is also said that his counterpart Nishimwe, also raped two women, starting with Chantal Uwamariya and Angelique Cyuzuzo on two separate occasions.
“We have testimonies of citizens who were able to identify the two suspects during an identification parade that was done soon after,” Prosecutor Maniriguha said.
On other suspects Donat ‘Rajab’ Ntakaziraho and Mukamulisa, Pvt. Twagirimana Theoneste, the Prosecutor Captain Maniriguha said that they were present during the crimes and concealed information about what had transpired.
The prosecutor asked the court to remand the suspects for 30 days pending further investigation, though, he said, they already have enough evidence that pins the suspects.
The accused Ndayishimiye and Nishimwe defended themselves saying that they have never been assigned to the Kangondo zone and on the said dates in which the citizens accuse them of committing the crimes, they were in the Kami Barracks on other duties.
“In the month of March I didn’t get assigned in Kangondo but I used to pass by the area doing surveillance work. I am surprised prosecution says it was me who committed the crimes yet the description of the uniforms and soldiers identified by residents do not match my description,” Patrick Ndayishimiye said.
He added that during the patrols he used to be assigned to the areas of Batsinda and Utexrwa where he worked with many other soldiers who are not in court.
In his defense, Nishimwe also said that he does not know the area and never stepped in Kangondo zone.
“ I only knew the name when I was arrested and paraded among suspects who were accused of committing these crimes. I am innocent,” Nishimwe said.
Their defense attorney, Sebudandi intervened saying that the prosecution accusations are not in line with the penal code and also that the fact of being present during a crime doesn’t make one an accomplice unless they assisted in one way or the other.
“For example the so-called terror group would be valid if there was intent or purpose and evidence that the accused had met and planned on their actions. We cannot call some of my clients as accomplices just because they were there,” Sebudandi said.
On the case of rape, he said he agrees with the investigation (testimonies) collected by the prosecution but there must be more evidence to prove this happened.
The lawyer dismissed the theft charges saying that there must be more evidence to show it really happened.
From that background, he asked the court to immediately release one suspect, Twagirimana Theoneste because “there is nothing leveled on him either in testimonies of victims or evidence of prosecution.”
This thinking was also backed by one of the suspects, Donat ‘Rajab’ Ntakaziraho who told court that Twagirimana actually was the only soldier who tried to stop his patrol commander (Ndayishimiye Patrick) from beating citizens but in vain.
“That tall soldier (Twagirimana ) is innocent. He asked Ndayishimiye why he was canning citizens with no reason but this didn’t make any difference,” Ntakaziraho said.
After listening to all sides and requests of both prosecution and defense team, Military Judge Major Gerald Muhigirwa assisted by three other judges ruled that the reading of the case outcomes will be pronounced on Wednesday, May, 13.
