Author: Nicole Kamanzi Muteteri

INADES -Formation is a network of pan-African associations, recognized for providing public utilities, which work for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. It advocates for a more egalitarian and supportive society, through the promotion of the common good.

The purpose of this year’s general assembly is to discuss major themes on which the organization will be working in the next three years and examine the activities to be implemented by each member state.

The general assembly is held every after three years, bringing together members from 10 different countries.

Alexis Rukundo, the president of the Rwandan INADES executive committee, said that this year’s general assembly is an opportune moment in Rwanda to learn more best practices.

“INADES Rwanda has demonstrated good performance especially in the management system, creating new partnerships and strengthening collaboration with the government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources,” he said.

Rukundo, however, noted that the number of interventions that call for their supports are increasing yet the financial means are still insufficient, “hindering us from offering adequate services to those that come to us.”

INADES Formation in Rwanda has 8,984 members among who 4174 have joined legal associations and cooperatives with about 6608 saving groups.

Headquartered in Ivory Coast, the member countries are Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Tanzania Chad, Togo, and Rwanda.

Dr. Octave Semwaga, the Director-General of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, who was also the guest of honor in this meeting, applauded the development that INADES in bringing to the agriculture and animal resources sector in Rwanda.

“INADES Formation has played a great role in the renovation of the agriculture and animal resources sector; they will keep doing it up to the year 2024. They offer training, and support farmers to join cooperatives, to know the appropriate seeds that are more productive, train farmers on savings and management of their incomes, among other interventions,” he said.

Rwanda INADES Formation, operates in districts of; Nyaruguru, Nyamagabe, Huye, Bugesera, Rwamagana, Ngoma and Kirehe.

INADES -Formation Rwanda also supports partners in building reservoirs from which irrigation water is drawn. Other interventions include; biogas system, small domestic livestock breeding, modern produce and livestock markets modernized market places for the trade of their cattle, and agriculture products.

INADES has also participated in the ‘Girinka’ program, giving out cows to poor citizens in Bugesera and Nyaruguru districts.

Richard Erpicum, who founded the organization in Rwanda in 1976, said that they have reached an amazing level and have achieved their purpose.

“Our first objecting in to make a better world, where everyone has food and lives in peace; we cannot say we have achieved that yet, but we have made huge steps. Our purpose was to bring people together and encourage them in their development,” he said.

It is the first time the biennial Global Gender Summit is hosted by an African country. It attracted different leaders from across the continent including the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, former Malawian President Joyce Banda, African Development Bank President (AfDB) Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and other high ranking dignitaries.

Rwanda’s First Lady Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat attended the opening ceremony.

“Women are our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters…..whenever women gain, everybody gains, and nobody loses,” said President Kagame

President Kagame said that being a man in a position of leadership, at any level, means never having to think about your gender, but being a woman leader means always having to think about how gender impacts your work.

“I think it is past time for men to become much more conscious of gender, so that women can afford to enjoy the same freedom, to just get on with a business that men take for granted,” he said.

President Kagame announced the start of the annual Sixteen Days of Activism campaign, which he urged the audience to make use of.

On his part, the AfDB President Dr. Adesina commended President Kagame and the First Lady Mrs. Kagame for being at the forefront of the fight for gender equality and empowerment of women, adding that the reason President Kagame is often regarded as a very successful leader is that he has a great partner.

“The challenges are not about gender, the challenges are about under-representation and lack of empowerment for women, period,” Dr. Adesina said, urging the summit to focus on issues that affect women directly, not just looking at the numbers of gender parity.

“Let us focus on women, let us focus on solutions for the gender disparities we see, that affect women,” he said, adding that women are winners and life-givers.

Dr. Adesina said that research has shown that when women are given the incentives, they deliver better than women, wondering why women, who are bearers of life, are denied access to basic services such as inheriting a land.

He said that for many centuries, women have been subjected to discrimination when it comes to accessing basic services such as financial services yet records show that women are better managers of resources when given the opportunity.

Dr. Adesina said that Africa must end all forms of child marriage and sexual violence which affects women.

“To the men, hear me clearly: leave our girls alone. Marry your own age mates. We cannot sacrifice the future of our girls…let our girls stay in school. Let our girls thrive. Let our girls excel,” he said.

On her part, President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia highlighted the milestones her country has registered over the years, pointing out that the country has come from a very low base and today 50 percent of the cabinet is made up of women. She added that women occupy high ranking positions in government as well, including hers.

She pointed out that for the first time in Ethiopia’s history, women in the cabinet have been trusted with posts such as defence and security.

“The work has just started, not finished….there is a gap we have to fill. We have to have women filling middle-level leadership positions as well,”

“There is so much collective wisdom on this continent. Women working together are a formidable force to be reckoned with,” President Zewde said, adding that women have proved that they can deliver and that there is no template to follow.

The117 refugees from Libya landed at Kigali International Airport Sunday midnight, a majority of who are women and children from Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.

Ahmed Baba Fall, UNHCR’s Country Representative, thanked Rwanda government for the willingness to receive the refugees.

“These are 117 people that have been restrained to Libya for a long time, leading a miserable life; now that they are in Rwanda their life will change for the best, and for that, we thank Rwanda government,” he said.

“They will be taken to Gashora camp where they will be assisted just as the previous group,” he added

Ahmed explained that the UNHCR had been receiving donations from different countries to support this project, where last week the European Union donated Euros 10 million and Norway donated $ 5.5 million.

Ahmed added that he hopes other countries will follow the example of Rwanda in finding solutions for the refugee problem.

Rwanda signed agreements to host refugees stranded in Libya on 10th September 2019 with the African Union (AU) and UNHCR, all 500, following revelations that thousands of people from across Africa were stranded in the country and subjected to slavery after their failure to reach Europe.

As he was officially opening the YouthConneck summit in Kigali where about 10,000 were participating, President Paul Kagame spoke about what motivated Rwanda to host the refugees.

Kagame explained that these refugees have three options whereby Europe can come and choose who they want to take, those chasing to go back home can be facilitated in an orderly manner while the third option is allowing them to stay in Rwanda if they don’t prefer any of the two options mentioned above.

“They will live like our citizens, we don’t give too much because we don’t have too much but whatever we have, we share and we live decent lives. That is the arrangement under which this thing has been done and anybody can do it, any other country can do it. We just felt we needed to exercise the possibility we had to do things decently and provide a decent life to these people,” he said.

The President who was Thursday launching inaugurating headquarters of Carnegie Mellon Africa, in Kigali Special Economic Zone under the Kigali Innovation City Project observed that since the reconstruction of Rwanda started after the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis, one of the greatly improved areas is education.

Carnergie Mellon University (CMU) opened doors in Rwanda in 2012 with 20 students, a population that has since grown to 196 from 19 countries.

Kagame said that Rwanda embarked on the reconstruction journey, the country was always challenged by lack of local required expertise that Rwandan students had to always be sent abroad to study from countries such as India, South Africa, Europe, and America among other places.

“As the country grows, we now have means and partners to build up the education system in Rwanda, so as to address the needs we had and no longer have to send people abroad for education,” Kagame said.

Kagame talked of the discussions that took place in the USA with the directorate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and how they supported the idea of bringing the university to Rwanda.
“Not everyone thought this project would succeed; some even thought is was a waste of time, but there were also many that supported the project and they put a lot of effort until it came through,” Kagame said.

President Kagame thanked the leadership of CMU for having trust in Rwanda and its leadership and all that played a part in getting the project completed including; MasterCard Foundation, Smart Africa and Africa Development.

The President of CMU Africa, Farnam Jahanian, thanked president Kagame for his good leadership that led to the success of Carnegie Mellon Africa project.

“The inauguration of this new building marks a great step for Carnegie Mellon in Rwanda and in the world. This great building will play an important role in promoting technology and engineering in the Kigali Innovation City project,” he said.

In the next ten years, about 800 experts in technology will have graduated from CMU Africa.

CMU-Africa is the first center of excellence to be located in Kigali Innovation City, whose goal is to drive Rwanda’s economic growth through digital transformation. With a major focus on the continent’s emerging knowledge-based economy, CMU-Africa’s graduate programs are educating future leaders who will use their hands-on, experiential learning to advance technology innovation and grow the businesses that will transform Africa.

On 19 November 2019, the management of Water Aid Rwanda shared sanitation and hygiene practices as they joined Bugesera residents in marking the World Toilet Day (WTD).

The Head of Policy Research and Advocacy at WaterAid, Vestine Mukeshimana said that lack of proper sanitation does not only bring about diseases, it also rips people of their dignity.

“Lack of proper sanitation can cause many diseases; but more than that, it rips you of your dignity. It is improper to see a parent defecate in bushes.” She said

WaterAid built 328 toilets in Nyamagabe and 76 toilets in Bugesera districts as a way of marking the World Toilet Day.

Epiphanie Gahongayire, one of the beneficial of these sanitary facilities from Water Aid, thanked them saying she is now very proud of the toilet facilities she has.

Bugesera vice mayor in charge of social affairs, Yvette Imanishimwe encouraged all citizens to build proper sanitation facilities for it is their responsibility but the district will work with partners to support those who do not have the capacity to do so by themselves.

WaterAid started operations in Rwanda in 2010, supporting the government in extending water, hygiene and sanitation services to citizens in mainly Bugesera and Nyamagabe districts.

The bodies of Aswab Mudatenguha, from the family of Ahmed Nsengiyumva, and his cousin Afia Benimana, both three years, were found in a pit in the middle a banana plantation in Buhaza cell, Rubavu sector on Monday 18th.

Confessing her crime, Nyirarukundo explained that the second wife of Nsengiyumva a one Umubyeyi Bibienne, had given her the poison and paid her Rwf 10,000 to poison the children. It is reported that she threw them in a pit as poison started causing them excruciating pain and were still agonizing.

The spokeperson of RIB, Marie Michelle Umuhoza confirmed the gruesome act and arrest of both women.

“Both Nyirarukundo Claudine and Umubyeyi Bibienne are in custody at Rubavu RIB station; they are both accused of the murder of two children. For now, we are doing a deep investigation on the case,” she said.

After he was taken through the different facilities of the Ministry of Defence yesterday, Omar Faye held discussions with Rwandan minister of defence, Maj Gen Albert Murasira, at the Ministry headquarters.

Among the issues they talked about is how to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

Gambia minister said: “Rwanda and Gambia have a strong friendship; we appreciate how both President Kagame and President Adama Barrow are expending efforts in improving our countries’ collaboration and the unity of African continent.”

“Our goal here is to reinforce that cooperation; we shall, in the near future send some of our officers to train from here and Rwandan officers will also be welcome to train from Gambia. Our cooperation will continue to focus on building our defence forces and other institutions,” he added.

Sheikh Omar Faye was appointed the minister of defence early this year by President Barrow, after serving Gambia for many years in different capacities.

This next meet for meat event will take place on the 30th November 2019. All the more unique and special, parents will be able to take out their children that are already in holidays, for the delectable experience.

The ‘Nyama Choma’, Swahili for ‘roast meat’, is eaten on special occasions, such as a weekend family get-together, with ‘Ugali’ and the fresh vegetable salad, ‘Kachumbari’. The roast meat can be goat, chicken, beef, among others, served up as a kind of social lubricant, often aided by copious amounts of the local beer or any desired drink.
The management of Kigali Marriott Hotel observed that this event prepared more especially for their customers wanting to enjoy the last Saturday of the month out with friends and family.

Participants are given different types of meat, food, and drinks like Mützig draught on a 50 % discount. This is done with the purpose of bringing together their clients and give them moments of fun and relaxation.

Just with Rwf20,000, a person can enjoy meat with a drink.

All this takes place at Iriba Bar & Terrace where the evening is given pomp with soothing music played out by professional DJs and famous live bands like Mico Band to cap off their week.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation yesterday wrote to the EAC Secretary General requesting him to notify partner states that the meeting that was set to be in Arusha – Tanzania on November 30 will not take place.

According to a letter signed by Olivier Nduhungirehe, the State Minister for EAC affairs, the postponement was at a request sent by a member of the Summit who was not disclosed in the announcement.

However, the meetings of senior officials, the coordination committee and the Council of Ministers, as well as the Business and Investment Summit that were meant to take place alongside the meeting will take place as initially planned, according to Nduhungirehe’s letter.

The session of the Council of Ministers and Heads of EAC Organs and institutions is scheduled to take place November 29, looking into issues like reviewing and finalization of the new structure of EAC Organs and institutions approved in October this year.

The council of ministers will also look into the budgeting and recruitment processes and the administrative and budgetary matters, including reduction of the recurrent budget and elaboration of an Administration of the EAC Secretariat Act.

Rwanda is the current chair of the six-member regional bloc.

Gen Nyamvumba announced this yesterday as he took over the reins of the ministry that was previously under the Ministry of Justice.

On 4th November 2019, President Paul Kagame made some changes in different institutions of government where some functions where added to the Ministry of internal security under the stewardship of Gen Patrick Nyamvumba who has been Chief of Defence since 2013.

As Gen Nyamvumba received office yesterday, he pledged total commitment towards upholding Rwandan security.

“I am very familiar with security, and so is everyone else that we are partnering with; but it is the responsibility of everyone to work hand in hand in assuring the security. This means there is still a lot to do and we will have to combine our efforts where needed,” he assured.

“To be given responsibilities is one thing, but to fulfill them is a very different thing. When you are entrusted with a job, you have to put all efforts and all knowledge to fulfill it,” he added.

Nyamvumba asked all Rwandans to work hand in hand with authorities to ensure their own security, stating that security starts with an individual.

The Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye thanked staff in all the institutions they have been working with for three years, especially the Rwanda National Police (RNP), which was restored under the leadership of the Minister of Internal security.