IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • FISU president joins FASU leaders in Rwanda for general assembly

    {KIGALI – On 18 March 2017, African University Sports Federation (FASU) has started its General Assembly in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, as FASU is celebrating its 45th Anniversary this year. The meeting, which took place one day before FISU-FASU Strategic Dialogue, was attended by honorary guests including FISU President Oleg Matytsin, AUSF President Xue Yanqing, EUSA President Adam Roczek and others.}

    The meeting in Kigali brought together representatives from 20 FASU member countries. The official opening of the Assembly was preceded with a visit by all delegates to the 3rd FASU Cross-Country Championship. The championship, held on the campus of the National University of Rwanda, saw teams from African universities competing on a 10-kilometer course, and before the winners received medals from the hands of FISU and FASU Presidents, all official delegates took part in an improvised 100-meter run.

    The General Assembly in Kigali is set to approve FASU events calendar for 2017-2018, the budget of the organisation as well as admission of new members. 6 new countries became FASU members: Burundi, Somalia and Madagascar, with their delegates being present in Kigali. The remaining three are São Tomé and Príncipe, Niger and Marocco.

    Welcoming the delegates, Oleg Matytsin stressed the importance of the African continent for a well-balanced development of university sports in the world. According to Mr Matytsin, with one of FISU Vice-Presidents coming from Africa and three board members, the voice of Africa will always be heard at FISU meetings. FISU President assured that participants that FISU will continue to support Africa in its strive to promote university sports.

    Source:Euro Sport

  • Call to support DRC electoral process

    {The Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders have appealed to the international community to support the DR Congo hold peaceful and credible elections.}

    They made the appeal in a communique following the SADC extraordinary summit in Swaziland on Saturday.

    DR Congo was expected to hold a General Election by the end of 2017 as stipulated in a power-sharing deal reached on the New Year’s Eve.

    However, the United Nations has criticised the lack of progress towards implementing the deal, which also called for the establishment of a transitional council.

    {{The disarmament}}

    The Swaziland summit also urged all parties in the DR Congo to embrace the disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation and reintegration and resettlement programme to urgently to address the needs of those in the refugee camps and the surrender of those still in combat.

    DRC’s central region of Kasai has seen a spike in violence since September, leaving at least 400 dead in an uprising that erupted when government forces killed a tribal chief and militia leader Kamwina Nsapu.

    {{Security situation}}

    Nsapu was leading a rebellion against President Joseph Kabila.

    The Swaziland summit also mandated the Facilitator and the Oversight Committee to closely monitor the political and security situation in the Kingdom of Lesotho during the election period.

    Elections in the mountain kingdom are set for June 3, following a motion of no confidence on the prime minister.

    {{Third time}}

    The June 3 polls will be Lesotho’s third time in five years.

    SADC has 15 member states namely, Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    King Mswati III of Swaziland is currently the SADC chairperson.

    Source:Africa Review

  • CNLG welcomes Papal apology

    {The National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG) has welcomed Pope Francis apology on behalf of Catholic Church and its members for involvement in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi but say they find the message lacking in pointing out those continuing to trivialize genocide. }

    Pope Francis made the apology yesterday as president Kagame was in Vatican for one day visit.

    Talking to RBA, the executive secretary of CNLG, Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana has appreciated the efforts of apologizing for the entire church saying it is different from what Rwanda bishops did last year.

    “It is a commendable step by the Pope because from 1996 Pope John Paul II had requested Catholic Church in Rwanda and individual accomplices of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi to plead guilty and apologize,” he said.

    “That is the first great step of accepting that the church turned against its flock and some clergy participated in genocide,” he added.

    Dr Bizimana has explained that the apology of Pope Francis reflects that the courts decisions of convicting members of the Catholic Church for complicity in genocide were not biased.

    The convicts include father Seromba Athanase handed a life sentence, nuns from Sovu tried in Belgium among others.

    It is twenty one years since Pope John Paul II requested clerics to individually apologize for their participation in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

    Dr Bizimana explained that Catholic Church in Rwanda and abroad protected genocidaires such as Father Munyeshyaka shielded by Church in France.

    He explained that the apology of Pope Francis differs from the one of Pope Jean Paul II for having accepted that the church as a community turned against its responsibilities.

    Bizimana explained that the apology from Pope Francis depicts him as a fair and vigilant person knowing the role of Catholic Church in genocide especially the deeds of Bishop Class and Father Perraudin who spread writings of hatred on behalf of the church.

    He noted that Pope Francis apology is, however, wanting because he didn’t talk on clerics undermining and denying genocide perpetrated against Tutsi yet such acts are equivalent to genocide.

    The executive secretary of CNLG, Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana

  • MINEDUC suspends courses in 10 universities, to support students’ transfer

    {The Ministry of Education has suspended various courses at 10 higher learning institutions and universities operating in Rwanda following a forensic audit that found them with incomplete requirements. }

    The Executive Director of Higher Education Council, Dr. Mugisha Sebasaza Innocent has explained that the suspension is meant to overhaul higher learning institutions and get universities focus and stick to what they were licensed to teach.

    “A total of 10 schools received first communication and each given six months to rectify the errors. Let’s make it clear, we did not close schools. Suspending a course, an institution or program is granted by law to the Ministry of Education,” he said.

    Dr Sebasaza explained that no school can be allowed to launch activities in Rwanda without meeting requirements. However what follows is to make an audit establishing whether commitments are respected.

    “In some cases contracts of competent lecturers expire and not extended.They however replace them with others with lower academic status.On the other hand you find a laboratory with inadequate equipment compared to the number of students.The other concern is how schools are run between management and owners,” he said.

    The Minister of Education Dr Musafiri Papias Malimba said that carrying out audits after licensing schools is a continuous process.

    “The first step is that a school applying for license presents its programs, structural set-up, academic staff and implementation agenda. The rest is to make an audit to gauge whether commitments are respected,” he said.

    “If the first step fails to bear fruit through discussions, the second is suspending the services until standards are observed. Musafiri explained that when the situation is not normalized within six months of warning, the license is rescinded.

    {{Students promised support }}

    The Minister explained that suspending courses is in line with protecting quality of education among Rwandans.

    “Students are the most affected. But this has been done for their sake. Better to be patient other than obtaining a useless degree. Otherwise those who will be able to return when the schools reopen will witness remarkable reforms,” he said.

    “As the Ministry of Education we promise support to those who need to be transferred to other schools to continue their courses,” he added.

    {{Closed higher learning institutes and universities:}}

    Rusizi International University operating in Rusizi district

    SinghadTehcnical Education Society (STES) in Kicukiro district

    Mahatma Ghandi University-Rwanda inGasabo district

    Nile Source polythechnic of applied arts operating in Huye district

    {{Schools whose courses have been provisionally suspended }}

    University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB) based inGicumbi district

    Open University of Tanzania based in Ngoma district

    University of GitweinRuhango district

    JomoKetta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kicukiro

    InstitutCatholique de Kabgayi (ICK) in Muhanga district

    Institut d’EnseignementSuperieur de Ruhengeri (INES-Ruhengeri) in Musanze district

    The Minister of Education Dr Musafiri Papias Malimba

  • President Kagame lauds Pope’s apology

    {President Paul Kagame has lauded the apology of Pope Francis on behalf of Catholic Church for members who were involved in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.}

    Pope Francis made the apology yesterday as he met President Kagame during a visit to Vatican following an invitation from the Pope. He arrived on Sunday.

    President Kagame was accompanied by first lady and foreign affairs minister, Louise Mushikiwabo.

    They were warmly welcomed, held talks and exchanged gifts where Kagame gave a Rwandan decorated rod.

    Their talks revolved around Rwanda’s resilience, role of Catholic Church in development where Kagame commended the Church’s development activities over the past 100 years especially in health and education sectors.

    They also discussed on the role of Catholic Church in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi where Pope Francis made the apology begging forgiveness for the “sins and failings of the church and its members” during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide against Tutsi, and told President Kagame that he hoped his apology would help heal the country.

    In an extraordinary statement after Pope Francis’ meeting with President Paul Kagame, the Vatican acknowledged that the church itself bore blame, as well as some Catholic priests and nuns who “succumbed to hatred and violence, betraying their own evangelical mission” by participating in the genocide.

    During the 100-day genocide, many of the victims died at the hands of priests, clergymen and nuns, according to some accounts by survivors, and the Rwandan government says many died in the churches where they had sought refuge.

    During the 25-minute meeting in the Apostolic Palace, Francis “implored anew God’s forgiveness for the sins and failings of the church and its members,” the Vatican said.
    He “expressed the desire that this humble recognition of the failings of that period, which unfortunately disfigured the face of the church, may contribute to a ’purification of memory’ and may promote, in hope and renewed trust, a future of peace.”

    Following the meet with Pope President Kagame expressed gratitude for the apology made by the Pope.

    “Great day/moment and meeting with Pope Francis, new chapter in relations between Rwanda & Catholic Church/Holy See!Being able to acknowledge/ apologise for wrongs in circumstances/cases like this is an act of courage and moral high standing typical @Pontifex,”said Kagame in a tweet.

    President Paul Kagame and the delegation that accompanied him to Vatican yesterday.They were warmly welcomed, held talks and exchanged gifts where Kagame gave Pope Francis a Rwandan decorated rod.

  • Course on Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers starts at Rwanda Peace Academy

    {The Rwanda Defence Force in partnership with the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative have launched a training program for RDF personnel aiming at combating across the world, inter alia through Peacekeeping Operations, the recruitment and use of Children in armed conflicts. }

    The launching of the program was marked by the opening ceremony of the Basic Course on Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers at Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA), in Musanze District . The two weeks long course is attended by 30 RDF officers.

    While officiating the course opening ceremony on behalf of the RDF Leadership, the RPA Director, Col Jules RUTAREMARA underlined the relevance of the training. “This initial course is very important because it marks the beginning of the operationalization of the joint framework of cooperation between RDF and the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative”, Col Rutaremara said.

    He further urged participants to take the course very seriously. “It is from this group that some of you will be selected to attend the Training of Trainers Course and to serve as trainers at a later stage” he said.

    Col Rutaremara noted that through the existing partnership, capacity building in this area will continue until the RDF builds the required critical capability integral to all RDF units that will be deployed in peacekeeping missions.

    On behalf of Gen Roméo Dallaire, The Director of Training at the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, Mr. Darin Reeves, noted that the Basic course on Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Children during Armed Conflict for members of the RDF is a significant milestone in equipping the RDF to plan, organize and conduct its own training on preventing the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The course will also offer a unique opportunity for the RDF “to build a better, common understanding in dealing with children and child soldiers in a proactive, not reactive way”, he said.

    Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative brings a huge wealthy of knowledge and expertise in combating the recruitment and use of child soldiers in armed conflicts. It is against this background that Rwanda Defence Force and the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning training partnership on combatting the recruitment and use of child soldiers in May 2016.

    Source:Minadef

  • Police breaks drug trafficking ring, 450kgs of cannabis seized

    {Police in the City of Kigali have discovered a house in Kimisagara Sector of Nyarugenge District that was being used as a store for narcotic drugs.}

    The house located in Karwangabo Village, Kamuhoza Cell, where 13 sacks of cannabis weighing about 450kgs, were recovered on Sunday night, and three people arrested over the crime.

    Those arrested include the storekeeper identified as Ezekias Mvunabandi; the landlord called Samuel Ahobantegeye, and a motorcyclist identified as Felix Kwizera, who was caught red-handed as he was at the time loading about 4200 pellets of cannabis from the house, which were supposed to be delivered to yet unknown place.

    According to the executive secretary of Kimisagara Sector, Serge Ruzima, the store-house was reported by a teenager earlier that day “out of suspicion.”

    This prompted local leaders to deploy community patrol commonly known as Irondo, to keep an eye on the house as they waited for the arrival of the police.

    “However, at about 5pm, the motorcyclist arrived, entered the house together with the storekeeper, got a sack of cannabis, but they were both intercepted by Irondo patrol as they attempted to leave the scene,” Ruzima said.

    Mvunabandi was released from prison in January this year after serving his two-year term over similar crimes.

    The store allegedly belongs to a woman identified Jeannette Uwamahoro, who is also Mvunabandi’s sister, who is linked to various drug trafficking crimes, and still in the hiding.

    Uwamahoro’s husband, their daughter and two brothers are also in prison after they were arrested recently in Nyarugenge over drug-related crimes.

    In her store in Kimisagara, police also recovered weighing scales that she was reportedly using while selling to her potential customers or retailers.

    The one-bedroom house had no window as the only window had been sealed-off and a hole drilled in the wall to help the suspected criminals to see what was going on outside.

    Meanwhile, the suspects and the narcotics were presented to hundreds of residents of Kimisagara on Monday as Rwanda National Police (RNP) sent a warning message against drug dealers and called for stronger partnership and information sharing on those involved.

    The central region Police commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rogers Rutikanga, praised the teenager, whose vigilance, instinct and courage led to the seizure of the quantities of cannabis, and arrest of the suspects.

    “A house that is always closed with vehicles and motorcycles dropping and loading luggage during the day and night, should have raised suspicion even before, and reported. It is your role as neighbours and Rwandans to report anything suspicious, even when you are not very sure of your instincts,” ACP Rutikanga said.

    The house has been reportedly in use for the last two months.

    “Drug dealers are your neighbours, friends or relatives. Just call the police anytime you suspect anything, and let us investigate and unearth the truth,” the RPC added,

    He urged them to always call the police in case they have information on suspected drug dealers.

    The contacts include 0788311128, for RPC, 0788311100, 0788311177, and 0788311166 for the DPCs of Gasabo, Kicukiro and Nyarugenge, respectively.

    The mayor of Nyarugenge District, Kayisime Nzaramba, wondered how a person can live in the pretext of providing basic necessities to their family on the cost of other Rwandans, whose children a consumed by illicit drugs.

    “We can’t let such harmful substances continue to endanger our children, families and our communities. We need the children of this country to have the best including education; families and communities have to be safer and free from such drugs which are the source of insecurity, and this is a task we all have by identifying and reporting anyone you suspect to be involved,” the mayor said.

    She also task local leaders in Kimisagara, one of the most drug-prone sector in Nyarugenge, to double their effort in recording new members in their villages and always endeavor to know more about where they are coming from, adding that “some of them are fleeing suspected criminals.”

    She gave an example of Uwamahoro, who had shifted from Cyahafi in Gitega Sector where she was also wanted over similar crimes, but managed to run another store in Kimisagara without anyone asking and knowing where she was coming from.

    Uwamahoro is also wanted in last week’s similar crimes in which 18 people were arrested in Rwezamenyo and Gitega, also in Nyarugenge, where 300kgs of cannabis were recovered.

    Source:Police

  • Intensive medical treatment can reverse type 2 diabetes

    {Intervention induced several months of remission in up to 40 percent of clinical trial participants}

    Type 2 diabetes can be reversed with intensive medical treatment using oral medications, insulin and lifestyle therapies, according to a study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

    Type 2 diabetes is typically thought of as a chronic condition. As it progresses, individuals with type 2 diabetes often need to use a healthy diet, exercise and an increasingly complex combination of medications to manage the condition.

    “By using a combination of oral medications, insulin and lifestyle therapies to treat patients intensively for two to four months, we found that up to 40 percent of participants were able to stay in remission three months after stopping diabetes medications,” said the study’s first author, Natalia McInnes, MD, MSc, FRCPC, of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. “The findings support the notion that type 2 diabetes can be reversed, at least in the short term — not only with bariatric surgery, but with medical approaches.”

    One in 10 American adults has type 2 diabetes, according to the Society’s Endocrine Facts and Figures report. The condition occurs when an individual doesn’t produce enough insulin — the hormone that allows cells to absorb glucose in the blood — or the pancreas isn’t making insulin as efficiently as it could. As a result, blood sugars build up in the body and the cells do not receive the energy they need.

    To study ways to put type 2 diabetes into remission, the researchers randomly divided 83 individuals with the condition into three study groups. Two of the groups received an intensive metabolic intervention where they were provided with a personalized exercise plan and a suggested meal plan that reduced their daily calorie intake by 500 to 750 calories a day. These study participants met regularly with a nurse and dietitian to track their progress and received oral medications and insulin at bedtime to tightly manage their blood glucose levels. One group underwent the intervention for eight weeks, while the other was treated intensively for 16 weeks. After the intervention, individuals in both groups stopped taking diabetes medications and were encouraged to continue with lifestyle changes.

    The two intervention groups were compared to a control group of individuals with type 2 diabetes. Participants in this group received standard blood sugar management advice from their usual healthcare provider for the duration of the trial, and they received standard lifestyle advice. Participants in all three groups received usual diabetes care if they experienced a diabetes relapse.

    Study participants had their average blood glucose levels from the past two to three months measured using a HbA1C blood test at eight, 20, 28 and 52 weeks to gauge how well their blood sugar was controlled. They also undertook oral glucose tolerance tests.

    Three months after the intervention was completed, 11 out of 27 individuals in the 16-week intervention group met HbA1C criteria for complete or partial diabetes remission, compared to four out of 28 individuals in the control group. Three months after finishing the eight-week intervention, six out of 28 individuals in that group met the same criteria for complete or partial diabetes remission.

    “The research might shift the paradigm of treating diabetes from simply controlling glucose to an approach where we induce remission and then monitor patients for any signs of relapse,” McInnes said. “The idea of reversing the disease is very appealing to individuals with diabetes. It motivates them to make significant lifestyle changes and to achieve normal glucose levels with the help of medications. This likely gives pancreas a rest and decreases fat stores in the body, which in turn improves insulin production and effectiveness.”

    The senior investigator on the trial, Hertzel C. Gerstein, MD, MSc, FRCPC, of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences added, “We chose to use metformin, acarbose and basal insulin glargine in this trial as these medications have all been shown to slow or prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. However, other drug combinations could lead to higher remission rates and need to be systematically studied with regard to this outcome.”

    One in 10 American adults has type 2 diabetes, according to experts. The condition occurs when an individual doesn't produce enough insulin or the pancreas isn't making insulin as efficiently as it could.

    Source:Science Daily

  • Ngoma: CPCs asked to enhance community hygiene

    {About 230 members of Community Policing Committees from Zaza Sector of Ngoma District have been urged to take part in sensitizing residents on improving their hygiene in a bid to improve public health and human security.}

    The call was made by the District Police Commander (DPC), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Janvier Mutaganda in a meeting that was also attended by local leaders.

    The DPC informed them that where there is no hygiene, security cannot prevail, noting that poor hygiene can be a security issue when diseases turn into a calamity.

    “A community that lacks hygiene is prone to diseases and the end result is that people are not safer…it creates a state of insecurity,” he said.

    “As opinion leaders, you should take the lead in ensuring that your neighbourhood is clean at all times,” he added.

    “When it comes to improving the quality of life, security and hygiene are inseparable, that’s why we must stick to them at all times,” said SSP Mutaganda.

    During the same meeting, the Executive Secretary of Zaza Sector, Jean Claude Singirankabo also urged members of CPC to put much effort in encouraging people to improve hygiene in their homes.

    “Sanitations starts with an individual on their body and in their homes, and the entire community they leave in. if we use this approach, there is no doubt we will achieve a lot,” Singirankabo said.

    Singirankabo also reminded them that security and hygiene are the source of development. He also put much emphasis on environmental protection.

    The CPC members also committed to fighting drug abuse.

    Ngoma is one of the transit routes used to smuggle cannabis into the country from the neighboring countries.

    Source:Police

  • Deep brain stimulation provides long-term relief from severe depressions

    {Treatment with deep brain stimulation can provide lasting relief to patients suffering from previously non-treatable, severe forms of depression several years into the therapy or even eliminate symptoms entirely. This is the finding of the first long-term study on this form of therapy, conducted by scientists at the Medical Center — University of Freiburg. Seven of the eight patients receiving continuous stimulation in the study showed lasting improvements in their symptoms up to the last observation point four years into treatment. The therapy remained equally effective over the entire period. The scientists prevented minor side-effects from appearing by adjusting the stimulation. The study was published in the journal Brain Stimulation on 1 March 2017.}

    “Most of the patients respond to the therapy. The remarkable thing is that the effect is also lasting. Other forms of therapy often lose their effectiveness in the course of time. This makes deep brain stimulation a highly promising approach for people with previously non-treatable depression,” says principal investigator Prof. Dr. Thomas Schläpfer, head of the Interventional Biological Psychiatry Unit at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Medical Center — University of Freiburg. Deep brain stimulation is a method based on mild electric impulses that can be used to influence selected brain regions with great precision.

    Stimulation Takes Effect from the First Month On

    The eight test subjects had suffered continuously for three to eleven years from a severe depression that responded neither to drugs nor to psychotherapy or treatments like electroconvulsive therapy. The doctors implanted razor-thin electrodes and stimulated a brain region that is involved in the perception of pleasure and is thus also important for motivation and quality of life. The doctors evaluated the effect of the therapy each month with the help of the established Montgomery-Asberg Rating Scale (MARDS). The patients’ average MARDS score fell from 30 points to 12 points already in the first month and even dropped slightly further by the end of the study. Four patients achieved a MARDS score of less then 10 points, the threshold for diagnosis of depression.

    Some of the patients suffered briefly from blurred or double vision. “We managed to alleviate the side effects by reducing the intensity of the stimulation, without diminishing the antidepressant effect of the therapy,” says Prof. Dr. Volker A. Coenen, head of the Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Unit at the Department of Neurosurgery of the Medical Center — University of Freiburg. The doctors did not observe personality changes, thought disorders, or other side effects in any of the patients.

    {{Larger Follow-Up Study Aims at Registration of Therapy in Europe}}

    If a further five-year study with 50 patients currently underway at the Medical Center — University of Freiburg confirms the effectiveness and safety of the therapy, Prof. Coenen sees the possibility of registering the therapy in Europe. This would allow the therapy to be used outside of studies: “In a few years, deep brain stimulation of this kind could be an effective treatment option for patients with severe depressions,” says Prof. Coenen.

    Source:Science Daily