IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • RNP conducts counter-terror, public order management exercises

    {Rwanda National Police (RNP) has started a Command Post Exercise (CPX) and a Field Training Exercise (FTX) of 326 police officers aimed at testing capabilities and readiness of the force in counter terrorism and public order management, respectively.}

    The CPX and FTX are being conducted concurrently at the Counter-Terror Training Centre in Mayange in Bugesera District and Police Training School (PTS) in Gishari, Rwamagana District, respectively.

    The Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye, while following up on the proceedings of the FTX in Bugesera, yesterday, thanked RNP for organizing such exercises adding that they fit in the modern state of policing that requires readiness at all times to decisively respond and combat any security threats that are largely facilitated by technological development.

    Present were also the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Operations, Dan Munyuza and DIGP in charge of Administration and Personnel, Juvenal Marizamunda, and senior RNP officers, among others.

    DIGP Munyuza, while speaking earlier on at PTS in Gishali, said that managing demonstrations lies under RNP’s mandate but “should be contained in line with the legal framework.”

    “Administration, anger management and being bound by the law are key aspects in policing and in responding to a crime or acts that present threats to security like demonstrations,” DIGP Munyuza said.

    At least 266 officers are taking part in the public order management exercise while about 60 others are attending the Command Post Exercise in Mayange.

    The FTX particularly focuses on assessing crowd dynamics and taking into account the legal framework in public order management; quickly restoring the situation to normalcy, and familiarizing the officers with various operational equipment.

    Both, the command post and the field training exercises, however, consider the aspect of media and how journalists are also protected and given access to information.

    Source:Police

  • 7 things you do on the first date that will make him think about you all night

    {What if you had the key to a man’s heart just after the first date? What if you could make him fall for you just after the first date of being with you? What if you could actually make him think about you all night long after that first date?}

    All these things aren’t impossible, and they can be achieved with just these simple tips.

    {{1. Bring along your smiling face }}

    A smiling face is worth more than all the expensive make-up kits you have in your closet. There’s a certain charm that surrounds you when you smile. Just be cheerful and smile a bit more; it’ll make him attracted to you in a different way.

    {{2. Look amazing }}

    You can’t look like a roadside vendor and just win his heart all of a sudden. People will first of all judge you based on what they see, before they discover more about you. Just look good, and he’ll love it.

    {{3. Be exciting to be with }}

    Bring your exciting personality along with you; be willing to talk and laugh and be excited about being on that date. You’ll find him addicted to you in no time.

    {{4. Don’t try to be all flirty and sexual }}

    Cut every sexual advances; if you want to win his heart and not his body, then sexual advances should be off the table. This will even thrill him more.

    {{5. Compliment him genuinely }}

    Look for certain things to compliment about him, but it has to be genuine. He’ll feel special when you do this.

    {{6. Let him feel your positive energy }}

    Come to the date with a positive energy, and your positive energy will also transfer to him. From your facial expression, your body language, tone of communication and everything — you should be positive.

    {{7. Let your mind be on the date }}

    If you are on the date, then your focus should be on that date. Distractions like your phone and passers-by shouldn’t kill the date. Let your focus be on him.

    Enjoy that first date with him, and that’s the key to winning him over.

    Source:Elcrema

  • Karongi: Parents cautioned against child labour

    {Police in Karongi District have appealed to parents and guardians to shun all tendencies of involving the children in hard labour activities.}

    The call was made at a community outreach exercise conducted by police in conjunction with the district administration, held in Rubengera Sector on February 8.

    It brought together parents, grassroots and opinion leaders. The campaign is expected to be conducted in all sector of the district.

    Inspector of Police (IP) Jean Baptiste Rutebuka, while speaking at the event, reminded them that a child is any person under the age of eighteen, and that should be protected from all hard labour activities.

    “The child’s place at this age should be in school not working for money or otherwise,” IP Rutebuka said, warning people who could as well be employing minors as house help.

    He noted that some parents involve children in domestic chores, work without rest, which also amount to child labour which is a crime.

    Deo Bitegetsimana, the director of labour in Karongi, said that “all children must be in school for at least twelve years for free Primary and secondary education.”

    Article 6 of the law regulating labour in Rwanda states that a child shall be subject to the work which is proportionate to his or her capacity; cannot be employed in the nocturnal, laborious, unsanitary or dangerous services for his or her health as well as his or her education and morality.

    Under the penal code, any person who imposes forced labour on another person shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of six (6) months to two (2) years and a fine of Rwf500, 000 to Rwf2 million, or one of these penalties.

    Source:Police

  • Device emulates human kidney function

    {Model kidney could replace animal, human testing.}

    {Instead of running tests on live kidneys, researchers at Binghamton, University State University of New York have developed a model kidney for working out the kinks in medicines and treatments.
    }
    Developed by Assistant Professor Gretchen Mahler and Binghamton biomedical engineering alumna Courtney Sakolish PhD ’16, the reusable, multi-layered and microfluidic device incorporates a porous growth substrate, with a physiological fluid flow, and the passive filtration of the capillaries around the end of a kidney, called the glomerulus, where waste is filtered from blood.

    “This is a unique platform to study interactions between drugs and cells or tissues, specifically in the kidney, where current models were lacking,” said Sakolish. “These platforms will, hopefully, in the future, be used as an animal alternative during pre-clinical testing to more accurately direct these studies toward successful results in humans.”‘

    “This is tissue engineering, but not for the purpose or replacing an organ or tissue in a person,” said Mahler. “The idea is that we can recreate the major organ functions in a simplified way for use as a drug screening tool. Finding new drugs is very hard, expensive and inefficient. We hope that by using human cells in a physiological environment we can help to direct resources toward the most promising new drug candidates and determine that other new drug candidates will fail, faster.”

    Results suggest that cells grown in the device exhibit more natural behaviors than when grown in traditional culturing methods, and the filtration by the glomerulus is necessary for healthy cell function.

    “We found that the more complex, dynamic culturing conditions (like those used in this project) are necessary to accurately predict renal drug toxicity in human systems,” said Sakolish. “When we compared physiological renal function and drug toxicity in traditional static culturing against our new model, we found significant differences in the ways that cells behaved. In our platform, cells looked and acted like those that you would find in the body, showing more sensitive responses to drugs than traditional static culturing.”

    Mahler said that while others have developed microfluidic models of the proximal tubule before, this is the first to offer glomerular filtration.

    “This type of device uses human cells in a dynamic, more physiologic environment, potentially making it better at predicting the body’s response to drugs than animals (animal effectiveness studies often don’t translate to humans) or static cell cultures, which are the most commonly used preclinical screening tools,” said Mahler.

  • 6 key signs it’s time to end your relationship

    {Sometimes we are so deep in love with our partner that we don’t see the relationship is toxic and we need to quit ASAP.}

    Here are 6 key signs it’s time to end your relationship

    {{1. Physical abuse }}

    Never stay in a relationship in which your partner abuses you physically. It’s wrong to justify the abuse you receive from your partner. Whether it’s the first time or the 29th time, physical abuse shouldn’t be tolerated.

    {{2. Too much drama }}

    A relationship with too much drama isn’t the right relationship for you. If there’s always crisis in your relationship, it’s time for you to walk away and save your energy for someone better. Too much drama in a relationship isn’t good for anyone’s sanity.

    {{3. Your relationship is like a master and slave relationship }}

    If your partner seems to be in more in control and tends to dictate everything that happens in your life, it’s time to quit that relationship. A healthy relationship is between two partners and not between a master and slave.

    {{4. Your partner doesn’t respect you }}

    Respect is an important trait every healthy relationship has. If there’s no mutual respect between you and your partner, even during disagreements, then it’s time to quit that relationship. It’s time to call it quits if respect is lacking in your relationship.

    {{5. Your relationship lacks open communication }}

    In a healthy relationship, partners maintain an open communication between each other. If you don’t feel comfortable talking with your partner about everything, then you are in the wrong relationship and it’s time to quit.

    {{6. Your partner is deceitful }}

    You do yourself more harm than good being in a relationship with a deceitful partner. You should never be in a relationship with someone who withholds information from you, cheats on you or lies to you.

  • Phones banned at work among health practitioners

    {Hospital managers and other health practitioners have pledged to ban the use of mobile phones at work a decision set to go into effect from 1st March 2017. }

    The pledge was made yesterday during a retreat that brought together health practitioners, administrative boards of hospitals, district leaders and the Minister of Health, Dr. Diane Gashumba.

    The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Malick Kayumba has told IGIHE that the decision is not superimposed but rather a consensus reached among health practitioners following self-evaluation.

    “The decision has not been imposed by MINISANTE rather a consensus from their discussions. The decision came out as they evaluated themselves on health service delivery,” he said.

    The governance Scorecard presented on 31st January 2017 indicated that health service delivery scored low compared to other sectors at 72.93% last year.

    The Minister of Health, Dr.Diane Gashumba.

  • Ecobank launches US$500,000 Fintech Challenge for African start-ups and innovators

    {Ecobank, the leading independent pan-African banking group, has launched EcobankFintech Challenge, a competition for African technology start-ups to build and deploy innovative fintech and banking solutions across the continent. Ecobank is currently accepting applications at http://ecobankfintech.com/ from start-ups and developers in all 54 African countries. }

    Twenty finalists of the Fintech Challenge will be invited to an award ceremony and an innovation fair at the global headquarters of Ecobank in Lome, Togo. The top three start-ups at the fair will win cash prizes worth US$10,000, US$7,000, and US$5,000 respectively. The finalists will also be conferred Ecobank Innovation Fellows and will qualify to explore a once-in-a-lifetime partnership opportunity with Ecobank Group that includes:

    •Major start-up funding: worth up to US$500,000

    •Multinational product roll-out: for the most commercially viable start-ups to launch their products in Ecobank’s 33 markets across Africa

    •Service provider partner deals: for start-ups with deep capabilities to become a pan-African service partner within Ecobank’s country ecosystem

    •Mentoring and networking support: founders will be conferred as Ecobank Innovation Fellows for a period of one year, granting them access to networking and mentoring from Ecobank’s vast global network of technology leaders, fintech experts, investors and management coaches

    Ade Ayeyemi, Ecobank Group CEO said, “This is one of the biggest support packages put together by any bank or investor to support Africa’s technology start-ups. Fintech is the future of banking; that is why we are opening our doors and vast market infrastructure to support Africa’s brightest innovators.”

    Eddy Ogbogu, Ecobank Group Executive for Operations and Technology said, “At the core of EcobankFintech Challenge is a mission to drive Africa’s fintech revolution. Ecobank is committing resources to this initiative to support the most serious product innovators and fintech companies to grow.”

    EcobankFintech Challenge was designed in partnership with the advisory firm Konfidants and is supported by several partners across Africa and the world. Applications for the competition will close on 14 April, 2017.

    More information on the competition, benefits and how to apply can be found on the competition’s website at http://ecobankfintech.com/

    You can also interact with us on social media via our Facebook page (facebook.com/ecobankfintech ) and Twitter page (twitter.com/ecobank_fintech)

  • An opportunity for Rwanda and its small holder farmers

    {On Tuesday, February 7th the Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda together with Impact Hub Kigali invited the general public to an Open Discussion on the topic of feeding Rwanda’s growing urban population at the Impact Hub. From 18:30 the opportunities and obstacles were debated in a lively manner. }

    In his opening remarks Ambassador Michael Ryan, Head of EU Delegation to Rwanda, who facilitated the event articulated the burning question of the evening: “In a region where the urban population is projected to double by 2050, where still many are undernourished – how can we feed the people while still protecting the eco system?“

    {{Urbanization – A glocal challenge}}

    What does food security mean in the Rwandan context? And how does food production for urban areas foster business opportunities, economic development and regional integration? Those and more questions were being asked when the European Union’s Delegation to Rwanda hosted a public debate around urban food security on Tuesday evening.

    Makiko Taguchi from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) gave some global context for the following discussion: „Urbanization is a global trend – therefore we all need to thing about urban sustainable development. Food is something that connects us all – and many elements in our lives: land and water, food distribution, transportation and markets. We cannot just look at productivity. A lot of food is lost between production and consumer and 1/3 of all food produced in the world gets wasted. Urbanization brings a change of needs and culture. There are many challenges but also many growing opportunities.“

    While Dr. AthanaseMukuralinda from ICRAF Rwanda stressed the importance of organic matter and prevention of soil erosion for farming as fertile land is limited in Rwanda, Sarah Bilson form One Acre Fund Head tapped on the importance of capacity building: „The major challenge in Rwanda is to increase the productivity of small scale farmers to not only meet the needs of their own household. It is necessary to provide them access to funding, training and resources, but overall to train them in a business mind-set, so they are aware of the opportunities of the market.“

    {{Diversity of opinions}}

    The audience represented a large variety of professions, backgrounds and opinions, sprouting a lively debate that touched on numerous aspects of food security, rural food production and regional development in Rwanda and beyond. Among them was Honorable Minster of State from MINAGRI FulgenceNsengiyumva who contributed his views at the beginning of the evening.

    Recurrent points emphasized by all panelists were environmental topics like climate change, sustainability and chemicals in food production. Makiko Taguchi elaborated that some of these challenges can also be solutions „Garbage can be an issue in urban environments but as fertilizer it can become a resource“.

    Other points discussed were the importance of sharing agricultural knowledge, regional and cross-border trade as well as access to international markets, the role of women and the youth in agriculture, job opportunities arising from food production to „feed the cities“.

    The overall sentiment shared by the participants was that urban markets provide large opportunities for smallholders. AttaherMaiga from FAO Rwanda said “Access to urban markets is a great opportunity for farmers that must be supported through policies. He continued to emphasise that the incorporation of food production in the urban context to enable the provision of nutritious food for the whole population. Therefore cities need to understand where the food is coming from and take their surroundings into account. This is also key to build a more resilient food systems as climate change is bringing an additional challenge to the issue.“

    Participants during discussions on Tuesday.

  • MPs approve Swahili bill as one of official languages

    {Parliament has approved a bill that considers Swahili as an official language in the country in a move, if passed,that will see Rwanda employing three official languages.}

    The Minister of Sports and Culture, Uwacu Julienne yesterday presented the Swahilli draft law to parliament where-after it was confirmed.

    Uwacu requested parliament to approve the Swahilli draft law as it would facilitate the promotion of the interests of the country in the wider East African Community.

    MPs discussed readiness of government to adopt the language and whether the Ministry of Sports and Culture has collaborated well with the Ministry of Education for efficient teaching of the language.

    Uwacu explained that incorporating Swahili among official languages will facilitate integration of Rwandans with EAC citizens, ease cross border trade and cooperation.

    She explained that Rwanda has been prepared regarding Common EAC passport where the revised budget includes money reserved for the passport.

    Minister Uwacu said that more efforts will be put in teaching Swahili in schools and adult literacy.

    The 5th article of 2003 Rwanda’s Constitution as amended in 2015 states that the national language is Kinyarwanda while administrative languages are Kinyarwanda, French and English.

    The cabinet meeting of 12th December 2016 chaired by President Paul Kagame approved the draft of organic law confirming Swahili as official language.

  • Rwanda to assume the rotating chairmanship of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union

    {Rwanda is chairing the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AUPSC) during this month, February 2017. The council is a vital organ of the African Union and is mandated to make decisions on matters of peace and security on the Africa continent.}

    During this month, Rwanda is planning to convene an open session on the role of women protecting lives in challenging security environment in Africa, ensuring that there is a continued awareness and engagement on issues of GBV and concrete actions for more women in peace operations.

    During this period, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Louise Mushikiwabo, will preside over two Ministerial sessions that will feature two topics: issues related to the regional deployment capabilities and the free movement of people and goods and its implications for peace and security. The other topic will be on protecting children from fighting adults’ wars.

    The constitutive act of the African union in its article 5 (2) empowers the Peace and Security Council to decide on issues related to the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.

    Rwanda currently represented by Amb. Hope G. Tumukunde, replaces Sierra Leone which was chairing the AUPSC at the just concluded African Union Summit.

    In January 2016, Rwanda has been elected for a term of two years along with Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. The chairmanship of the Council is held by each of the 15 members for one month.

    Rwanda is represented by Amb. Hope G. Tumukunde at Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AUPSC)