Author: Samson Iradukunda

The juvenile deliquents pardoned had been found guilty of rape, defilement, drug abuse and sale among other crimes.

The oldest of the 16 children pardoned was born in 1998 with the youngest having been born in 2003.

Of twelve who sat for National Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), four passed with grade I, eight in grade two, one in grade one and three ‘O’ level candidates in grade two.

The children were officially released from jail this Thursday, January 17th in an event held at Nyagatare Juvenile Prison. They were accompanied by their parents. They will now continue their secondary studies out of prison.

Salma Uwamahoro, 17, had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after she was convicted of terrorism. A resident of Kamembe Sector, Rusizi District, Uwamahoro had served only two years of her sentence.

After her release, Uwamahoro said it is a very joyous day to her and commended the Government of Rwanda for having given chances to juvenile prisoners to have access to education while in prison.

She said her release is an opportunity she will never take for granted and will study hard.

Last year President Kagame also exercised his prerogative of mercy to grant early release of 18 juvenile deliquents who had sat for both PLE and O’ level exams and passed well.

Jean de Dieu Habiyakare, 21, a resident of Butare Cell, Nduba Cell of Gasabo District reportedly told neighbors that the girl with whom they had cohabited for two weeks had gone missing on January 7th and that he assumed she might have left to her parents’ home which was not known.

However, neighbors questioned the allegation failing to understand how the young woman who was a tailor could have left without bidding farewells to any neighbor or friend.

“He failed to account for how her girlfriend had left when they asked where she had gone,” Nduba Sector Executive Secretary, Jean Damascène Harerimana told IGIHE.

On Monday, as nobody could establish the whereabouts of the deceased, neighbours decided to go to his house for a search.

“During the searching process, they found a mattress stained with with blood spots which he had tried to wash out. They later discovered a ditch covered with banana leaves with a swarm of flies hovering about it. When they dug up the ditch, they found the deceased body which had started decaying,” Harerimana explained.

Habiyakare was arrested by neighbours and handed him to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) along with two other suspects including his father who is accused of hiding information from officials yet, it is suspected, that knew his daughter in law had been murdered. Also arrested is a neighbor who had not disclosed that he saw the suspect digging the pit.

The deceased was only known as Mahoro, but her official identity is not yet established.

It is said after the husband killed her wife, he had remarried his first wife they had been separated.

The launch of the review was officiated by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Fatina Mukarubibi who said Rwanda as a country with a small land area needs to have well designed and modern land use master plan.

“Rwanda’s population is growing fast. We need this master plan to guide how we will use the land today and in the future in accordance with Vision 2050,” Mukarubibi said.

Through the review process, a deep study will be done to show the land needed by different activities and city designs.

The new land use master plan will replace the masterplan designed from 2007 to 2010 which had been set according to Vision 2020. It was being used after approval by the Cabinet meeting held on January 19, 2011.

2652 households in Ngoma District were connected to electricity through a project financed by the Belgian Government that saw Kayonza, Ngoma and Rwamagana Districts get power in the last three months according to the Manager of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) in Ngoma District, Benoît Niyonkuru.

Viateur Sindambiwe, 27, said that two weeks after his area of residence was connected to electricity, he founded a hairdressing salon in Nyaruvumu Cell of Rukira Sector.

“Now our area is developed, I started a hairdressing salon. I also bought a television set. It is really fine now,” he said.

Sindambiwe told our reporter that his daily income is between Rwf1,500 and Rwf3000 with food bills excluded. He plans to start another haircutting salon in which he will employ other young people.

It was not easy for residents of the rural Rukira Sector to get where to get their maize, sorghum and cassava milled. They say the price to mill their foods reduced to Rwf20 from Rwf50 per kilo when they used a generator.

“Before my house was connected, I used paraffin to light lamps which would cost me Rwf2000 per month; now I use electric lamps. This will help my two school children revise well their books,” Bonaventure Kwizera, a resident of Gatonde Cell, Kibungo Sector says.

Jean de Dieu Ndaruhutse, the Executive Secretary of Nyaruvumu Cell says that before their Cell got connected to power, residents used to use paraffin lamps that pollute the air,, had health risks all of of which have since changed.

“Electricity actually means development. It has changed our lives a lot. Now, a plot of land that was worth between Rwf200,000 and Rwf500,000 can’t be sold at less than one million,” Ndaruhutse said.

{{Easy access to clean water}}

Rukira and Kibungo Sectors are two sectors in Ngoma District in which it was difficult to get access to clean water.

Emmanuel Twizeyimana, an official in charge of distributing clean water to population in Ngoma District, said now electricity helps operate water pumps.

Emmanuel Twizeyimana, an official in charge of distributing clean water to population in Ngoma District, said now electricity helps operate water pumps.

“Electricy helps us use water pumps. The water we get is from valleys and we use electrical pumps which are affordable compared to generators operated by fuel,” he said.

Twizeyimana says that a jerry can of 20 liters of water is bought at Rwf20 with electrical pumps while it was Rwf25 for water pumped using generators.

“Generators are also not easy to use; transporting them to valleys is difficult. They frequently get faulty calling for incessant repairs but with electricity, such problems are no more,” Twizeyimana said.

Connected households in Ngoma District account for 46% according to REG statistics with two other projects under implementation in Kazo, Mutenderi, Murama, Sake and Zaza Sectors projected to see 6,000 households connected this year.