In a statement released following the meeting, council attributed the decision to Ntazinda’s ‘failure to adequately fulfill his responsibilities’.
Ntazinda was in his second term as Mayor, having won re-election in the 2021 local elections after serving his first five-year term. His prior experience includes a role as the President of the Rayon Sports Volleyball Club.
Ntazinda’s academic qualifications include a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Laval University in Canada, which he earned in 2001.
Patrick Kajyambere, the district’s Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Development, will serve as the interim Mayor.
Field Marshal Birhanu Jula’s visit, which began on April 13 and is scheduled to conclude on April 16, involved several high-level engagements aimed at strengthening the long-standing military cooperation between Rwanda and Ethiopia and exploring new areas of collaboration.
The visit follows a March 13 visit by Rwanda’s Chief of Defense Staff, Gen Mubarakh Muganga, to Ethiopia, during which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defense cooperation was signed.
Upon his arrival in Rwanda, Field Marshal Birhanu Jula met with Rwanda’s Chief of Defense Staff, Gen Mubarakh Muganga, and held discussions with Minister of Defense, Juvenal Marizamunda.
As part of his itinerary, the Ethiopian military leader visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi to pay tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and receive a detailed briefing on the history of the genocide.
He also visited the Campaign Against Genocide Museum at the Parliament, where he learned more about the efforts of the former RPA forces in stopping the genocide.
Rwanda and Ethiopia have maintained military cooperation for over 20 years, initially focusing on joint military training. This partnership has since expanded to include collaboration between the police forces of both countries.
Beyond defense and police cooperation, Rwanda and Ethiopia have established strong bilateral ties in various sectors, including agriculture, trade, and education.
In the past seven years, agreements have also been signed in air travel services to facilitate cooperation between RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
Notably, this visit occurred shortly after President Kagame received a special message from Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, delivered by Yassine Fall, Senegal’s Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs.
In an official statement, the French presidency criticized Algeria for what it described as a sudden breakdown in diplomatic relations.
The statement confirmed the expulsion of 12 Algerian diplomatic and consular staff from French territory and the recall of French Ambassador Stéphane Romatet for consultations.
The diplomatic fallout marks a new low in already strained ties between the two nations. Recent months have seen rising tensions, in part due to firm policies from France’s interior ministry.
Although both countries had expressed a willingness to mend relations during Barrot’s visit to Algiers on April 6, relations soured further after French authorities indicted an Algerian consular official, suspected of involvement in the 2024 abduction of a political dissident.
Rwanda Meteorological Agency (Meteo-Rwanda) announced that between April 10 and 20, 2025, the rainfall amount ranging between 50 -150 mm is expected across the country, which is above a range of Long-Term Mean.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road accidents globally claim approximately 1.3 million lives, with a majority of these accidents attributed to reckless driving behaviors.
The RNP spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Boniface Rutikanga, highlighted the main risks associated with carelessly driving during the rainy season, urging all road users to take necessary precautions to prevent accidents.
“Rainfall leads to increased risk of accidents because some roads surface becomes deteriorated and slippery while other roads develop puddles that cause hydroplaning. The presence of mist and fog also leads to reduced visibility of motorists while driving, all of which contributes to preventable road accidents,” said ACP Rutikanga.
“We urge vehicle owners to ensure their vehicles are inspected and meet roadworthy standards, to slow down and increase following distance so that there is enough time to react when the vehicle in front firmly slows down or has to stop, use headlights and make sure their vehicles are in good condition with adequate tire tread and functioning wipers,” he added.
The RNP Spokesperson also advised motorists, when the downpour progresses, to wait for it to subside and avoid parking beneath trees, under bridges or in areas disposed to floods.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan Anita Kiki Gbeho said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that armed clashes and aerial bombardments have injured over 250 people and displaced an estimated 125,000.
Four humanitarian workers have been killed, and six health facilities have shut down due to looting and damage.
“This latest surge in violence must stop,” Gbeho said, warning that it comes amid rising humanitarian needs and dwindling funding, with 9.3 million people across South Sudan requiring assistance.
Clashes between government forces and the White Army militia continue to restrict humanitarian access.
A cholera outbreak has further strained resources, with nearly 49,000 infections and 919 deaths reported.
The UN warns that with the rainy season approaching, unhindered aid access and critical supply delivery are urgently needed to save lives.
Into this tense void stepped Dr. Charles Murigande, a soft-spoken mathematician turned politician, who found himself pitted against the Vice President Paul Kagame in a parliamentary vote to choose Rwanda’s next leader.
Speaking on The Long Form podcast, Dr. offered a rare glimpse into that pivotal moment—revealing Pasteur Bizimungu’s defiance against the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) and his own unexpected role in a contest that shaped modern Rwanda.
At 42, Murigande was a respected RPF secretary general, but nothing prepared him for the call to stand as a candidate against Kagame, the party’s towering chairman.
“We were in a post-genocide transition with a constitution stating that if the president resigned, the RPF would propose two candidates for a parliamentary vote,” he recalled. “I was selected with Vice President Kagame after an internal party vote where I came second.”
The crisis began on March 23, 2000, when Bizimungu, Rwanda’s first post-genocide president, tendered his resignation.
Dr. Murigande, however, saw it coming. “Bizimungu’s resignation was both a surprise and not,” he said. “There were internal RPF problems, especially over forming a new cabinet.”
The RPF, determined to root out corruption, had decided no ministers from the 1994 cabinet would continue, a move to reset governance in a nation reeling from genocide’s aftermath.
Bizimungu, appointed president in 1994 to signal unity, disagreed. He insisted on retaining one minister, Patrick Mazimhaka, believing his presidential authority trumped party decisions. “He thought as president he had authority, but he was wrong,” Murigande stated bluntly.
The tension escalated when Bizimungu delivered what Murigande called a “violent speech” during the swearing-in of a new cabinet led by Bernard Makuza.
“It was an attack on nearly every institution,” he recounted. Bizimungu criticized the RPF’s accountability processes, which were probing mismanagement, and lashed out at parliament’s efforts to curb corruption. Dr. Murigande believes the speech was Bizimungu’s breaking point.
“Probably, he preempted it because he knew that the political bureau had the capacity to remove him. So, instead of waiting for him to be removed by the political party he resigned,” he explained.
Two days later, Bizimungu resigned, leaving Rwanda leaderless and the RPF scrambling to stabilize the transition.
Enter the parliamentary vote of April 17, 2000. Dr. Murigande, a refugee-turned-scholar who’d once starved in Burundi’s camps, faced Kagame who’d led the RPF to victory in 1994.
The stakes were immense: a misstep could unravel Rwanda’s fragile recovery. Yet Dr. Murigande harbored no illusions of winning.
“I didn’t want to win,” he admitted with characteristic humility. “I told journalists if I were a voter, I’d choose Kagame. He was the better candidate.”
Kagame secured 81 of 86 ballots, with Murigande garnering five. For Murigande, the outcome was a relief. “No regrets at all, especially seeing how Rwanda has evolved over 25 years under Kagame,” he said, reflecting on the nation’s journey from ashes to prosperity.
Bizimungu’s defiance, Dr. Murigande revealed, stemming from a misunderstanding of power. As vice chairman of the RPF, Bizimungu saw himself above the party, a view that clashed with the RPF’s collective ethos.
“He was wrong.” The episode exposed fault lines in the government of national unity, formed under the Arusha Accords to bridge ethnic divides. Bizimungu, hoping his resignation would spark protests, was mistaken.
“He thought the Hutu population would rise up,” Murigande said. “Nobody demonstrated. Shops stayed open, and the situation remained calm.” Rwanda’s trust in the RPF’s maturity held firm.
Dr. Murigande, who returned to his RPF duties post-vote, saw it as a moment of clarity. “The people knew the RPF was in control,” he said, crediting the party’s discipline for averting chaos.
Kagame’s ascent marked a new chapter, one Dr. Murigande endorsed wholeheartedly. “The RPF trusted I could be a good president if chosen, but I campaigned for him,” he reiterated.
Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the UK, Johnston Busingye, confirmed the graduation of Yuhi Cesar and Mugisha Blaine (a son of Assistant Commissioner of Police Kuradupagase Augustin) on April 15, 2025.
“A colourful Sovereign’s Graduation Parade at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Friday, 11th April 2025. Warm congratulations to our own Officer Cadets Mugisha Blaine and Yuhi Cesar,” he posted on his X account.
Family members, including Ambassador Cesar and High Commissioner Busingye, were present at the graduation ceremony to celebrate the graduates’ achievement.
Graduates from military academies, whether Rwanda’s Gako Academy or foreign institutions like Sandhurst, are usually integrated into the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) with the rank of Second Lieutenant.
A colourful Sovereign's Graduation Parade at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Friday, 11th April 2025.
Warm congratulations to our own Officer Cadets Mugisha Blaine and Yuhi Cesar. Muri ishema ry'Igihugu. Tubifulije ishya n'ihirwe. #Turikumwepic.twitter.com/BdFIbT036g
Amb. Igor delivered this message on April 12 in Berlin, as the Rwandan community in Germany commemorated the 31st anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The commemoration event included a Walk to Remember and the lighting of the Flame of Hope. Participants also observed a moment of silence to honor the victims of the genocide.
Addressing the gathered participants, Amb. Igor emphasized the historical context of the genocide, stating, “The genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda from April to July 1994 was the culmination of decades long ethnic based hate and ideology of division instigated, taught and spread since the colonial period in Rwanda by the colonial administrations, the Catholic White Fathers, the missionaries that led Rwanda and built their policies on ethnic division and hatred against Tutsi.”
He further detailed Belgium’s direct involvement, explaining, “This led to recurring cycles of genocidal violence, waves of unpunished killings and massacres of Tutsi between 1959-1963 under the supervision of Belgian military officers mandated by the Belgian Administration.”
According to the ambassador, this “colonial administration installed a culture of impunity, enabling the deep-rooted hatred that led to the planning and execution of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.”
The Ambassador also criticized Belgium’s contemporary stance, asserting, “Genocide ideology and genocide denial prevails and it is still being spread in neighbouring countries and abroad, under the cover and support of some western countries among which Belgium, a country that has deep rooted responsibilities in Rwanda’s tragic past.”
Amb. Igor also expressed his disapproval of recent political decisions in Europe, pointedly referencing the cancellation of a genocide commemoration event in Belgium.
He argued that “suspending a commemoration because of a tense political climate sends a clear message: that remembrance and commemoration is optional…That it can wait,” directly challenging the idea that remembrance is secondary to political considerations.
He concluded by stressing the fundamental importance of memory and its role in confronting difficult truths, stating, “But memory, by definition, disturbs. It questions. It confronts. It forces us to face what others prefer to forget.”
Judence Kayitesi, President of Ibuka Deutschland, underscored the vital role of youth in preserving history, rejecting all forms of discrimination, and ensuring that genocide never occurs again.
“You must be the voice of truth, challenging harmful ideologies wherever they emerge. You must be agents of change, guardians of memory, and defenders against denial and distortion,” she noted.
Kayitesi, President of Ibuka-Germany, reminded participants that remembrance is not merely ceremonial but a shared responsibility.
“Kwibuka is everyone’s responsibility,” she stated, calling on the international community to stand firmly against genocide denial and distortion.
He was speaking at the 31st commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, held in Kibeho, Nyaruguru District, on April 14, 2025.
The commemoration focused on the events of April 14, 1994, when thousands of Tutsi who had fled to Kibeho Parish from the former communes of Mubuga, Rwamiko, and Kivu were brutally attacked.
Interahamwe militias, supported by soldiers and gendarmes, attacked and set fire to the church, resulting in the deaths of over 30,000 people.
The atmosphere of ethnic hostility in Kibeho prior to the genocide was described by Marc Manirakiza, a genocide survivor from Nyange Cell, Kibeho Sector.
Manirakiza recounted an incident in 1992 where he was subjected to ethnic insults while working at his brother’s restaurant, being told that Tutsi had no right to conduct business there.
He also recalled a disturbing event at GS Marie Merci, where students staged a mock funeral for their Tutsi headteacher, symbolically burying bundles in a gesture of hate.
Manirakiza’s testimony directly addressed the role of the clergy during the genocide. He stated that on April 14, 1994, “the killers did not spare the church, and the clergy did nothing to help.”
He further accused the clergy of actively collaborating with the perpetrators, revealing, “The clergy in Kibeho, who were not being targeted, collaborated with killers. They held meetings with Munini Sub-Prefect Damien Biniga, ignored our cries for food and water, and instead prepared the massacre of Tutsi at Kibeho.”
Following his escape from Kibeho, Manirakiza fled to Karama in Huye, then to Nyumba Parish, and eventually sought refuge in Burundi, where he later joined the RPF liberation forces.
Christine Muhongayire, First Vice President of Ibuka, highlighted the prolonged duration of the genocide in Nyaruguru, attributing it to the presence of “Zone Turquoise,” the French-declared zone that provided a safe haven for genocidaires.
Muhongayire stressed the importance of remembrance as a tool for educating the youth and urged individuals with firsthand knowledge of the genocide to share their testimonies or document their experiences.
In his address, Minister Bizimana expressed his deep sorrow over the transformation of Kibeho, a place once considered holy, into a site of immense suffering.
“Kibeho Parish was established in 1934, and by the time the genocide happened, teachings had been delivered there for 60 years. It was a parish known for having many clergy members, which should have helped those who sought refuge there to survive—but that’s not what happened,” he lamented.
“Take for example Father Emmanuel Uwayezu, who had students from GS Marie Merci killed and even encouraged other children to kill their fellow students. All of this was the result of hateful ideology that had spread throughout the country, including among members of the clergy,” added Dr. Bizimana.
To illustrate the pervasiveness of hate propaganda, Minister Bizimana referenced an article in Issue 70 of the Urunana newspaper, published at Nyakibanda Major Seminary in October 1990.
The article contained a seminarian’s description of the RPF (Inkotanyi) as “anti-Rwandan,” demonstrating how deeply ingrained divisive ideologies had become within religious institutions.
NSW Police said in a statement this morning that the NSW Emergency responded to reports of an aircraft crash at about 7:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday at an airstrip in the small town of White Cliffs in northwest NSW.
The male pilot of the aircraft died at the scene but has not been formally identified.
Initial inquiries indicated that the man was the sole occupant of the aircraft, said the police.
Police officers as well as ambulance paramedics, firefighters and personnel from the NSW State Emergency Service were deployed to the scene.
Police established a crime scene and have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident with assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
