Among others, 312 new cases have been found out of 4247 sample tests while 232 have recovered.
The statement released last night shows that new cases were found in Kigali: 186, Gicumbi: 22, Nyanza: 18, Rulindo: 13, Musanze: 13, Ngoma: 11, Gatsibo: 9, Karongi: 8, Muhanga: 7, Nyagatare: 4, Rubavu: 4, Gakenke: 4, Nyamasheke: 4, Rusizi: 2, Kamonyi: 2, Nyamagabe: 2, Gisagara: 1, Ruhango: 1 and Huye: 1.
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March last year. Since then, 11860 people have been tested positive out of 808,584 sample tests of whom 7812 have recovered, 3895 are active cases while 153 have succumbed to the virus.
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 urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
The Mission bid a final farewell to the fallen peacekeeper yesterday in a memorial ceremony held at MINUSCA force Headquarters. In attendance were the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in CAR Denise Brown, the MINUSCA Force Commander General Sidiki Traoré and CAR Army Chief of Staff, General Zephirin Mamadou.
The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General Denise Brown saluted Sgt NSABIMANA Jean D’amour: “United Nations appreciates his sacrifice to fight for the protection of civilians, peace services, stability and CAR population dignity” she said while also appreciating the dedication of Rwandan Contingent.
On behalf of the President of the Republic of CAR, the Inspector General of Central African Armed Forces, Major General Leopord Bruno Izamo, posthumously awarded Late Sgt NSABIMANA Jean D’amour ‘Medaille de chevalier d’ordre de la reconnaissance Centrafricaine’, one of the highest honor in the CAR.
Biden, sworn in at 11:49 a.m. ET, used a 21-minute inaugural address to call for unity and offer an optimistic message that Americans can get through dark moments by working together. The ceremonies were scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic, with heightened security measures arising from the Capitol riot exactly two weeks ago.
“Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge,” Biden said early in his address. “Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause: the cause of democracy.”
Biden pivoted to the challenges ahead, acknowledging the surging virus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States and become a polarized issue unlike in most other countries. Biden looked out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic’s deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation’s renewed reckoning on racial injustice.
“Those 400,000 fellow Americans — moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbours and co-workers — we’ll honour them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be,” he said, before asking for a silent prayer on their behalf.
Biden called on Americans to overcome divisions, declaring that “without unity, there is no peace.”
“We must end this uncivil war that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” he said. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.”
There was, he said, “much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain.”
“Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged, or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now.”
Biden also hailed the historic achievement of his Vice-President Kamala Harris. Harris took the oath administered by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, becoming the first Black, South Asian and female vice-president.
Harris, who spent some of her teen years in Montreal, was said to be using a Bible in the swearing-in ceremony that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice.
Biden and his wife, Jill, began the day by attending a service at Washington’s Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Along with Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, those in attendance included: both Senate leaders, Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Chuck Schumer, as well as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Biden is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history after John F. Kennedy, and St. Matthew’s is the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Washington.
A Capitol police officer hailed as a hero for his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol accompanied Harris and Biden at the west front. Officer Eugene Goodman, a Black man, confronted the overwhelmingly white insurrectionists and led them away from Senate chambers.
{{Family Bible brought out again}}
Prominent U.S. politicians past and present proceeded to the west front shortly before 11 a.m., with 44th president Barack Obama and wife Michelle getting a notable round of applause. Two other past presidents arrived with their wives — Bill and Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush and his wife, Laura — while the oldest living president, 96-year-old Jimmy Carter, had sent his well wishes.
Vice-President Mike Pence was the highest-ranking official from Donald Trump’s administration to attend the inauguration, but not Trump, the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago.
Biden used a Bible for his swearing-in that has been in his family since at least 1893. Several inches thick, it is the same Bible he used twice when being sworn in as vice-president and seven times as a senator from Delaware.
Although the festivities were radically scaled down due to the pandemic as well as security threats, a steady stream of A-list names signed on, headlined by Lady Gaga singing the national anthem, with Jennifer Lopez singing This Land Is Your Land and America the Beautiful and Garth Brooks performing Amazing Grace.
An invocation was given by the Rev. Leo O’Donovan, a former Georgetown University president, and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Andrea Hall, a firefighter from Georgia. Amanda Gorman, the first national youth poet laureate, gave a riveting address, while the benediction was given by a Biden family friend, Rev. Silvester Beaman of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Del.
Biden, Harris and their spouses paused on the steps of the U.S. Capitol while leaving to observe the procession of ceremonial military regiments. Several groupings passed by the steps, with military members saluting the new president and musicians playing traditional patriotic tunes such as Yankee Doodle Dandy.
The couples were then joined by the three former presidents and their wives at Arlington National Cemetery for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by a brass band and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
As Biden was ushered in, congratulations poured in from around the world, including statements from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Pope Francis sent a message to the second Catholic U.S. president, saying he hoped Biden’s decisions would be guided by justice, freedom and respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those with no voice.
{{Long political career}}
Biden becomes just the seventh person to have served as senator, vice-president and president and the first to achieve that feat since Richard Nixon. While on paper that wealth of previous experience may give the impression of inevitability to his becoming president, there were two failed bids and multiple points along the way where one could reasonably doubt he’d ever become commander-in-chief.
Biden took his first oath of office as a Washington politician just over 48 years ago, in a hospital room in Delaware as his two sons recuperated from a car crash that killed Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and their baby daughter, Naomi.
During his years in Congress, he earned the slings and arrows that come along with serving in the Senate — a strong reputation for bipartisan work and criticism for his handling of Anita Hill’s testimony at Clarence Thomas’s confirmation hearings from both parties. There were also a pair of brain aneurysms in the late 1980s, one of which was life-threatening.
In 2008, he was picked by Obama to serve as his running mate. Biden, not thrilled with playing second fiddle, later wrote of being persuaded to take the VP job in no small part by his 91-year-old mother, Catherine, who impressed upon him the history of serving under the first Black president. Catherine Biden died in 2010, eight years after her husband, Joe Sr.
Biden had every intention of running for president in 2016, but was waylaid by another tragedy. His oldest son, Beau, expected to become a prominent national politician himself, died at 46 of brain cancer.
As in the past, Biden proved a survivor in the 2020 Democratic race after a slow start, winning the nomination and the general election on Nov. 3.
In addition to his wife Jill, whom he married in 1977, their son Hunter, daughter Ashley and several grandchildren were on hand to watch him become the next U.S. president.
A slimmed-down version of the traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue did take place in the end. The Bidens, wearing masks, walked an abbreviated part of the parade route, and then through a military cordon lining the White House driveway with the flags of U.S. states, leading the first couple to the main entrance under the North Portico.
Harris and Emhoff followed shortly after, also walking the abbreviated route wearing masks, accompanied by their extended family.
The inaugural parade featured 1,391 virtual participants, 95 horses and nine dogs.
{{Democrats take control of Senate}}
Biden was expected to immediately begin working, with a stack of executive orders on immigration and other matters awaiting his signature.
One of Harris’s first orders of business was to swear in three new senators, giving Democrats the majority in the Senate and across a unified government to tackle the new president’s agenda at a time of unprecedented national challenges.
Harris drew applause as she entered the chamber to deliver the oath of office to Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock and Alex Padilla just hours after taking her own oath at the Capitol alongside Biden.
The three Democrats join a Senate narrowly split 50-50 between the parties, but giving Democrats the majority with Harris able to cast the tie-breaking vote.
The framework will enhance cooperation between the above parties and improve the region’s competitiveness as a tourism destination.
As part of the agreement, the partners will collaborate on addressing challenges faced in the region’s travel industry and explore a range of solutions and initiatives that can help transform businesses in the sector, market the region’s tourism offerings to new audiences and promote regional travel.
The partnership will see RDB, RCT and KATA cooperating to implement Rwanda’s and Kenya’s tourism marketing and promotional programmes by conducting joint-marketing activities that will drive visitors to the countries’ attractions and experiences.
The institutions will also organise familiarization trips and educational webinars to promote regional travel, thereby creating increased opportunities for private sector actors in the travel industry.
Other activities agreed upon in the agreement include; the provision of opportunities for exchanging knowledge, expertise and best practices on travel; promoting the exchange of familiarisation visits between Kenya and Rwanda, encouraging tourists flows between Kenya and Rwanda, sharing the countries’ respective calendar of events for stakeholders information and attendance and engaging other African regional blocks through the new Africa Continental Free Trade Area which was launched on 1 January, 2021.
The partnership was announced in the presence of Amb. Richard Masozera Rwanda’s Ambassador to Kenya, Ms. Agnes Mucuha, the Chief Executive Officer for KATA, Fred Odek, the EATP Chairman and Robert Okumu the RwandAir Country Manager, Kenya.
Commenting on the partnership, Clare Akamanzi, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Development Board said: “We are very excited about this cooperation and look forward to working more closely across the board with all the players in the travel and tourism industry as we look to increase tourism revenues and create more jobs within the sector. Kenya and Rwanda are already one of the most popular destinations for the growing regional tourism market and we look forward to having more people visit and taste the unique offerings in these destinations.”
Aimable Rutagarama, Chaiman of the Rwanda Chamber of Tourism said, Rwanda and Kenya are adored by local and foreign visitors alike noting that the increased cooperation between the two countries will see an uptick in the number of travellers interested in visiting both countries.
“Today’s strategic partnership lays strong foundations to tap the potential of Kenya and Rwanda as a promising traveller destination for the regional and international market,” he said.
Agnes Mucuha, Chief Executive, Kenya Association of Travel Agents also expressed delight for the partnership with Rwanda Development Board, Rwanda Chamber of Tourism, and the East Africa Tourism Platform highlighting that the collaboration will allow for greater sharing of ideas, resources, and expertise.
“This partnership places Rwanda and KATA on the path to becoming a regional and continental lead in creating safe travel experiences, yet meet the needs of travellers,” she noted.
Fred Odek, Chairperson of the East Africa Tourism Platform said: “This partnership will shape the course of regional tourism. This is the best time for the region to come together to grow its tourism and the associated economic gains for its industry players.”
Robert Okumu, RwandAir’s Country Manager for Kenya explained that ‘RwandAir (WB) will be the Title Sponsor for the Air Tickets during the familiarization trips to Rwanda facilitating the much-needed product knowledge and experience’.
He added that RwandAir has also released special discounted airfares and holiday packages for the Kenyan public to visit and explore the land of thousand hills.
Mr Okumu said this while noting that an average of 1,000 passengers travels from Nairobi to Kigali monthly for business and leisure.
In closing, Amb. Richard Masozera noted: “The signing of these agreements between RDB, RCT, KATA and EATP represents a visible result of the thriving Kenya-Rwanda relationship. The partnership is also in line with our efforts to transform and build new travel and tourism industry capabilities. As we chart a new path forward for the travel sector, it is crucial to focus on growing local travel for us to help the industry to rebound.”
Tourism is a vital aspect of Kenya-Rwanda bilateral cooperation. Kenya is one of the most popular destinations in Africa for Rwandan visitors and continues to attract more visitors every year. Equally, Kenyans have been increasingly choosing Rwanda as their regional destination of choice with the City of Kigali and other in-country destinations on a list of places to visit by Kenyans.
The cabinet meeting held on 18th January 2021 put Kigali city under total lockdown and called on Rwandans to heighten vigilance in observing COVID-19 health guidelines in order to slow the spread of the virus.
The meeting also decided that only essential services will continue to be offered.
In order to comply with the directives, RDB has issued new guidelines for tourism activities to be respected until further notice.
As per issued guidelines, travel for tourism within Kigali, other provinces and districts is permitted with strict adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures.
The guidelines also read that arriving and departing passengers must present a negative SARS-CoV 2 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) taken within 120 hours prior to arrival or departure.
Designated hotels for arriving passengers will remain open under strict COVID-19 preventive measures.
{{Other guidelines}}
Tourism activities including visits to national parks, museums and other tourist attractions as well as city tours will remain open to international and domestic tourists countrywide with strict adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. All tourism service providers facilitating guests will be required to inform and share itineraries with RDB.
Travelers including drivers, traveling to tourism within entities within Kigali and other provinces and districts are required to fill and submit movement requests together with copies of negative COVID-19 test results to visitrwanda@rdb.rw at least 24 hours prior to the trip.
Tourism establishments are required to apply for clearance for their staff on weekly basis at least 24 hours prior to movement.
Hotels will only be permitted to host essential conferences with a written approval by RDB.
RDB has reminded the public to adhere to health and safety directives issued by the Ministry of Health to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus patient on 14th March 2020. Since then, 11 548 people have been tested positive out of 804 337 sample tests of whom 7580 have recovered, 3820 are active cases while 148 have succumbed to the virus.
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 urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
She has revealed this in a talk show aired on RBA following the imposition of lockdown in Kigali city to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting held on 18th January 2021.
“People seeking to visit farming activities out of Kigali will be facilitated to do so. We have delegated two staff members partnering with Police in such activities. Everyone in need to follow up own agricultural activities can contact them for support,” she said.
Dr. Mukeshimana also assured that upcountry farmers supplying food will continue as usual.
MINAGRI has also allowed people using bicycles and motorcycles to deliver milk to Kigali. These include farmers from some districts including Gicumbi and Rwamagana.
Among others, any vehicle transporting agricultural produce will be given pass.
During the two week-lockdown to be reviewed upon health assessment, markets selling foods and other agricultural produce are among services allowed to continue operations.
Col Simon Ndamukunda was the commander of Rwandan Contingent deployed in Darfur in 2017. He was at the rank of Lt. Colonel and promoted to Colonel in the same year.
Speaking to IGIHE, the spokesperson of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), Lt. Col. Ronald Rwivanga has confirmed that Col Ndamukunda but didn’t provide much details about his death.
In July 2007, Col Ndamukunda who held the rank of Major received a recognition medal known as “Combat Action Ribbon” for outstanding contribution to the country.
He presented copies of credentials yesterday to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Taher Siala during a ceremony which took place at the ministry’s headquarters in Tripoli, capital city of Libya.
Minister Siala welcomed Amb. Kalisa to new duties and wished him well in his future endeavors.
Amb. Kalisa also thanked Libya for ambitions to restore peace to the country that has been engulfed by wars.
Amb. Kalisa will represent Rwanda in Libya and Algeria with residence in Egypt.
He commended Rwanda’s commitment to build strong relations rooted on mutual beneficial cooperation between both countries.
The ceremony was also attended by Khalifa Al-Rabibi, the head of African Affairs in Libya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2019, Rwanda signed agreement to received 500 asylum seekers and refugees stranded in Libya.
In the same year, President Paul Kagame attended a meeting along with his counterpart of Egypt , Fatta al Sisi aimed at seeking together remedy to address security issues in Libya and Sudan.
The seminar was organized by Harvard University from the United States of America.
Rwanda’s Presidency has via Twitter handle revealed that President Kagame attended the seminar and spoke to participants.
“President Kagame is now speaking on leadership at the virtually held Africa Rising Seminar with students, faculty and members of the community of Harvard Business School,” reads the Tweet.
Other participants who delivered talks include Andy Zelleke, a lecturer at Harvard School of Business and Nigerian businessman, Hakeem Belo-Osagie. Hakeem is also the chair of Metis Capital Partners an organisation focused on brokering and delivering attractive, large-ticket transactions in Africa to select blue chip international investment partners. He was once listed by Forbes Magazine as the richest man in Africa. Hakeem is among alumni of Harvard School of Business.
President Paul Kagame is among leaders who delivered talks at Harvard University in 2016 and 2017.
In August 2017, Kagame received a delegation of 56 top African executives undergoing a special programme at Harvard Business School in the United States.
The executives were undergoing a programme dubbed Senior Executives Program-Africa (SEPA) offered in collaboration with the University of Pretoria (South Africa) and University of Lagos Business School in Nigeria.
As part of the training, participants met with President Kagame who gave them personal insights on Rwanda’s development path, leadership strategy among other things.
At the time, Prof. Srikant Datar from Havard Business School said that the team was inspired by Kagame’s approach to addressing several challenges the country faced to be where it is.
Harvard is one of top global universities renowned for training executives and acquainting other students with deeper knowledge leadership skills, politics and business.
The decision follows the cabinet meeting held on 18th January 2021 that placed Kigali city under lockdown for two weeks as part of ongoing measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus to be reviewed upon health assessment.
“Following the cabinet announcement on 18th January 2021; MINISPORTS informs City of Kigali residents that sports activities are not permitted during lockdown,” reads part of the statement released by MINISPORTS.
“Exercising at home is encouraged. Individual walking/jogging is also permitted but strictly within limits of the village of residence, and in compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures. Group sports and exercise are strictly prohibited,” adds the statement.
The communal bi-monthly physical exercise known as ‘Car Free Day’ had resumed in September last year following months of suspension after the first Coronavirus case was confirmed in Rwanda on 14th March in 2020.
