IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • Kicukiro: Security personnel, local leaders acquire fire safety skills

    {A cross-section of security personnel and grassroots leaders in Kicukiro district have equipped with fire safety and control techniques.}

    The training held recently is part of the Rwanda national Police(RNP) Fire and Rescue Brigade to equip and improve capabilities of different stakeholders against fire outbreaks across the country.

    Beneficiaries included police officers, members of district security administrative organ – DASSO – youth volunteers in community policing.

    The training included skills to use different gadgets to put out fire and how to detect and prevent the causes.

    Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Jean Baptiste Seminega, the commanding officer of fire and rescue brigade at RNP, urged the trainees to put to use the acquired skills, where necessary and extend the skills to others.

    “Having such skills is significant as a preventive measure and knowing exactly what to do to use the available means to prevent the fire from escalating.”

    Trainees acquired knowledge on the causes of common fire outbreaks and means to minimize the impact if fire inevitably breaks out.

    He said that control measures if well observed, can lead to fire incident free.

    He said domestic fire accidents can be avoided by ensuring that home electronic appliances are switched off if not in use, not overloading the electricity wiring system and using substandard cables.

    He asked them to always contact the fire and rescue brigade whenever there is any outbreak for advanced response.

    The toll-free for fire rescue is 111 or contact 0788311200

    Present at the same function was also the mayor Kicukiro, Dr Jeanne Nyirahabimana, who lauded Rwanda National Police for ensuring that security in sustained, and empowering the public to ensure their own safety.

  • How carnivorous plants acquired a taste for meat

    {For a plant, the evolutionary pathways to becoming a carnivore may be limited, researchers say.}

    To the average plant-eating human, the thought of a plant turning the tables to feast on an animal might seem like a lurid novelty.

    Now, science is showing just how remarkable these macabre traits really are.

    A new study probes the origins of carnivory in several distantly related plants — including the Australian, Asian and American pitcher plants, which appear strikingly similar to the human (or insect) eye. Although each species developed carnivory independently, the research concludes that the biological machinery required for digesting insects evolved in a strikingly similar fashion in all three.

    The findings hint that for a plant, the evolutionary routes to carnivory may be few and far between.

    “It suggests that there are only limited pathways for becoming a carnivorous plant,” says University at Buffalo biologist Victor A. Albert. “These plants have a genetic tool kit, and they’re trying to come up with an answer to the problem of how to become carnivorous. And in the end, they all come up with the same solution.”

    The research, “Genome of the pitcher plant Cephalotus reveals genetic changes associated with carnivory,” which will be published on Feb. 6, 2017 in Nature Ecology and Evolution. It was conducted by an international team led by Mitsuyasu Hasebe, PhD, of the National Institute for Basic Biology in Japan and SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) in Japan; Kenji Fukushima, PhD, of the same institutions and the University of Colorado School of Medicine; Shuaicheng Li, PhD, of BGI-Shenzhen in China; and Albert, PhD, a professor of biological sciences in UB’s College of Arts and Sciences.

    How to become a pitcher plant: a narrow evolutionary road

    Pitcher plants capture insects by luring them into a pitfall trap — a cupped leaf with a waxy, slippery interior that makes it difficult to climb out. A soup of digestive fluids sits at the bottom of this chamber and breaks down the flesh and exoskeletons of prey.

    Australian, Asian and American pitcher plants possess these features despite having evolved independently to become carnivores, as Albert and colleagues discovered in a 1992 study published in the journal Science.

    The new paper builds on this older work, conducting a deeper investigation into how unrelated pitcher plants came to share so much in common.

    As it turns out, the path to carnivory was remarkably similar for the three species examined — Cephalotus follicularis (the Australian pitcher plant, related to starfruit), Nepenthes alata (an Asian pitcher plant related to buckweat) and Sarracenia purpurea (an American pitcher plant related to kiwifruit). A genetic analysis, which included sequencing the entire genome of Cephalotus, found strong evidence that during their evolution into carnivores, each of these plants co-opted many of the same ancient proteins to create enzymes for digesting prey.

    Over time, in all three species, plant protein families that originally assisted in self-defense against disease and other stresses developed into the digestive enzymes we see today, genetic clues suggest. These enzymes include basic chitinase, which breaks down chitin — the major component of insects’ hard, exterior exoskeletons — and purple acid phosphatase, which enables plants to obtain phosphorus, a critical nutrient, from victims’ body parts.

    Enzymes in a fourth carnivorous species, the sundew Drosera adelae, a relative of Nepenthes that is not a pitcher plant, also appeared to share this evolutionary road.

    ‘Constraints on the available routes’ to carnivory

    The findings represent an example of convergent evolution, in which unrelated species evolve independently to acquire similar traits, say co-authors Hasebe and Fukushima.

    “Such parallel development often points to a particularly valuable adaptation,” Hasebe says.

    As Fukushima explains, “Carnivorous plants often live in nutrient-poor environments, so the ability to trap and digest animals can be indispensable given the dearth of other sources of nourishment.”

    It’s striking that the plants studied took such a similar route to becoming predators, the co-authors say. Convergent evolution often works this way: For example, Albert and colleagues showed in a previous study that while coffee and chocolate plants developed caffeine independently, they co-opted closely related proteins to produce caffeine.

    The new study’s results “imply constraints on the available routes to evolve plant carnivory,” the authors write in Nature Ecology and Evolution. This prospect is underscored by unusual commonalities between digestive enzymes in Cephalotus and Nepenthes plants.

    During the course of evolution, building blocks of enzymes called amino acids are often swapped out and replaced by other amino acids. In C. follicularis and N. alata, basic chitinases and purple acid phosphatases share numerous identical or highly similar amino acid substitutions that don’t occur in non-carnivorous species, suggesting that these alterations may help these enzymes function in special, carnivorous ways.

    Similarly, the enzyme RNase T2, which breaks down a material called RNA in insect cells to produce food for plants, had multiple evolutionarily convergent amino acid substitutions in C. follicularis and a common ancestor of N. alata and D. adelae.

    Cephalotus follicularis, the Australian pitcher plant. Photographed here in its native range in Western Australia, this carnivorous plant evolved to digest insects through a strikingly similar evolutionary pathway as other plants that developed the same capability independently, a new study finds.

  • No need for anti-corruption court—Rugege

    {The President of Supreme Court, Prof. Sam Rugege has said that Rwanda needs no particular court for corruption and economic crimes because such cases are not rampant in the country. }

    Rugege has revealed this today in a press briefing preceding the launch of Judicial anti-corruption in which several activities including finalizing corruption court cases will be held across the country.

    He was commenting on the recent appeal by Transparency International Rwanda and the Ombudsman Office before the parliamentary commission for political affairs and gender equality in establishing a particular court with specific focus on corruption and economic crimes.

    “The corruption court is not yet necessary because such crimes affecting the national economy are not so many. Corruption in Rwanda is not like an epidemic as it is in other countries,” he said adding that available courts can handle the situation as it is today.

    Information from the ministry indicates that 324 corruption-related court cases were resolved between February 2016 up to date and about 27 out of 51 will be finalized during the judicial anti-corruption week while 24 will be resolved later.

    The Judicial Anti-Corruption Week will be concluded on 10th February 2017.

    The President of Supreme Court, Prof. Sam Rugege

  • Kigali City executive secretary resigns

    {The executive secretary City of Kigali city, Matabaro Jean Marie has resigned today morning.}

    The spokesperson of Kigali city, Bruno Rangira has told IGIHE that Matabaro has sent a letter to the City of Kigali advisory council tendering in his resignation.

    “It is true that he has sent a resignation letter this morning,” he said.

    Matabaro has been the executive secretary City of Kigali city since 2010.

    His resignation follows the recent cabinet appointment of the mayor of Kigali city, Monique Mukaruliza the ambassador of Rwanda to Zambia.

  • Domestic Violence: 64 killed, 10 suicides in 2016

    {Rwanda National Police has released a report which indicates that over 64 people including 45 women and 19 men were killed by their spouses while eight men and two women committed suicide in 2016.}

    The deaths are attributed to domestic violence, sex related violence, property, physical and crimes of passion.

    The report was released yesterday during discussions that brought together over 200 members of ‘Urunana rw’Abanyarwandakazi’ and various government organizations under the auspices of Family Magazine that focuses on ending domestic violence.

    Some women who attended the talks attributed violence to lighter punishments handed to culprits and failure or fear by victims to expose their tormentors.

    “In most cases women refrain from reporting their tormentors for fear of putting away the family bread winner, the husband, and other essentials such school fees for children among other needs. Besides, when culprits are released, they return with a vengeance for revenge,” said one of the participants.

    Nizeye Leonie, a member of Urunana rw’Abanyarwandakazi says that exposing domestic violence boomerangs back to especially women.

    “Reporting violence cases dents wives’ image in the family as family members gang against them in case the husband is punished. They so choose keep quiet.They call you a hopeless woman,” she said.

    The police spokesperson, ACP Theos Badege said that releasing statistics on domestic violence doesn’t mean that all efforts to arrest the situation are in vain but rather to encourage individuals report to authorities whenever the vice looms.

    Statistics from RNP Police indicate that 254 women were beaten by their husbands while husbands beaten by wives are 52 in 2016.

  • Former DASSO member strangles wife to death, on the run

    {A former member of District Administration Security Support Organ (DASSO) in Kayonza district identified as Hategekimana Edgar is suspected of having strangled his wife Musabyimana Agnes, to death after which she fled the area. The deceased was 25.}

    The police spokesperson in Eastern Province, IP Emmanuel Kayigi has told IGIHE that Hategekimana, 32, is suspected to have committed the murder yesterday morning hours.

    IP Kayigi explained that clashes between Hategekimana and wife erupted in the evening of Saturday 4th February 2017 around 6.00pm.

    He said that Hategekimana had deserted DASSO service and lived in Bara village of Rubimba cell if Kabare sector.

    Kayigi has told IGIHE that Hategekimana had two children with the deceased but their relationship soured when he got another concubine that might have caused the misunderstandings.

    Kayigi said that clashes were ignited by heated arguments when Hategekimana started beating the wife who has accused him of adultery, she tried to run away but was restrained by the husband.

    “It is apparent that such a fight caused the death because Hategekimana called his little brother at 5:00 hours asking him to come and stay at his house saying he had a trip,” he said.

    The brother arrived at 7:00 pm with the door open and found the woman dead at the bed with signs that he had been strangled.

    IP Kayigi said that residents witnessed their fight but never reached out to them considering it a minor clash. He however said that neighbours will be brought to book for keeping quiet over the incident which culminated into death.

    The police spokesperson in Eastern Province, IP Emmanuel Kayigi.

  • RDF takes army week medical services to Iwawa Rehabilitation Centre

    {On 3 February 2017 a two weeks long Medical outreach was concluded at Iwawa Rehabilitation Centre. The medical outreach provided Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision and Behavior Change Communication services to 1325 former street youth and drug addicted. }

    The just concluded medical outreach had been organised by RMH in partnership with Society for Family Health (SFH) and JPHIEGO, an international, non-profit health organisation affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University. It is part of a wider campaign aimed at fighting HIV among the youth and such activities will continue across the country according to Lt Col (Rtd) Dr Frank Rwema, in charge of medical outreach program at Rwanda Military Hospital.

    The coordinator of Iwawa Rehabilitation Centre, Mr Niyongabo Nicolas expressed deep gratitude to organisers, saying that in addition to vocational training package, the youth benefited different medical services and leave the center knowing how to protect their health. “This is a gift offered to you by the Government that cares for your life. The only way you can recognise this effort is to change your life style and leave this centre determined to be good citizens”, he advised the youth.

    Speaking on behalf of RMH Col Dr Osee Karangwa advised the youth to get rid of drug that endangers their future, and to embrace a new life. “You have been trained in different professions such as carpentry, construction, tailoring and others, just apply this knowledge when you are back to your villages, this will make your future very bright” he told over 4 thousand youth currently undergoing rehabilitation training.

    Partners at Iwawa Army Week medical outreach thanked the RDF and Rwanda Military Hospital in particular.

  • The heart of Africa’s new medical school

    {Rwanda has achieved some of the most dramatic gains in health and poverty-reduction in the world. This small, landlocked African country (the size of Massachusetts, but with twice the population) has developed a primary health-care system with near-universal access to clinical care and insurance.}

    Rwanda has reduced both economic and health-care inequality, and demonstrates how “health equity” helps to build strong societies.

    The secret to Rwanda’s success is that its leaders are building “modern institutions on traditional values.” They built a system of community justice, called Gacaca, which integrated their need for nationwide reconciliation with an ancient tradition of clemency. They breathed life back into a civic tradition of Umuganda, where one day a month, citizens, including the president, gather together to weed their fields, clean their streets, and build homes for the poorest among them.

    In 2015, the government of Rwanda and the Boston-based Partners In Health (PIH), with the help of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Cummings Foundation, established the private, not-for-profit University of Global Health Equity (UGHE). The university is founded on the principle that every member of a community deserves the same care and opportunity, and focuses on the delivery of quality health care to those who need it most. Agnes Binagwaho, a co-founder of UGHE who is a former minister of health and an adjunct professor at Harvard Medical School, once said to me, “Why would I want to raise my children in a nation where all children don’t get the same medical care as they do?”

    Rwanda’s government has already pledged $43 million to UGHE in land and infrastructure support. Its leaders have launched a two-year, part-time Master of Science in Global Health Delivery to teach how to create national health care in developing countries. Lecturers from Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, Harvard Medical School, Yale University, and Tufts University taught Rwandan students everything from epidemiology to budget management.

    Last summer, UGHE began construction on a 250-acre campus in Butaro. This year, 250 professionals from as far away as Mexico and Australia will compete for 25 spots on that campus. Undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing and oral health, and non-clinical programs in research and health management, are next.

    In 2018, UGHE’s campus will also be home to a school of medicine. It will provide space for generations of health professionals to learn how to heal patients, comprehend the sociology of disease, and build the health systems that make a strong society.

    UGHE’s founders believe that, by the time the university celebrates its ten-year anniversary, 480 students will have graduated; another 870 will be earning their degrees; and over 2,500 professionals will have attended executive education courses. They expect that over 1,000 of the students passing through the UGHE’s doors in that first decade will arrive from the rest of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

    Rwandans will invite these international students to visit their communities to observe their traditions and learn how to care for their people. The young men and women will attend Rwandans’ weddings and funerals, learn to prepare and enjoy their foods, and acquire some of their language, the portal through which to view their sturdy values. Rwandans will teach their international guests that in Africa, family is an all-encompassing concept, and that, in Rwanda, an entire generation treats the next as its own children. The international network of UGHE alumni, unified by their commitment to realise health equity for their own communities, will become a global force for change.

    UGHE will also strengthen Rwandan society. Though regarded by many as one of the safest and least corrupt societies in the world, Rwanda faces a great shortage of doctors and nurses. There are 684 physicians in Rwanda, a total that is far below the 1,182 physicians proposed by the Ministry of Health, and only 27 per cent of the World Health Organisation’s recommended minimum of 2,576 physicians.

    UGHE has already generated jobs, by hiring local labourers, and has increased access to the region, by creating new roads. It could boost Rwanda’s GDP by 0.5 per cent per year, and every dollar invested in UGHE could generate $2 worth of return in economic development, according to McKinsey & Company.

    Some social scientists assert that poverty is not just a matter of poor nutrition, lack of medical care, and inadequate shelter; it also means exclusion from global networks of trade, science and commerce. This isolation is pernicious, because it destroys people’s hope and aspirations for a better life.

    UGHE will be Rwanda’s newest institution, a public-private collaboration based on traditional values: community, trust, hard work, and optimism about the future. It will integrate each citizen of Rwanda into global networks of learning.

    The Rwandans will accomplish this, as they do many things, because they believe that the only investment that can bring infinite returns is in their children, and because graduates of the University of Global Health Equity will be their sons and daughters, too. – Project Syndicate

    Rwanda has achieved some of the most dramatic gains in health and poverty-reduction in the world. This small, landlocked African country (the size of Massachusetts, but with twice the population) has developed a primary health-care system with near-universal access to clinical care and insurance.

    [The heart of Africa’s new medical school->http://timesofoman.com/article/102047/Opinion/Columnist/The-secret-to-Rwanda’s-success-is-that-its-leaders-are-building–ldquo;modern-institutions-on-tradit]

    Source:Times of Oman

  • Man drowns in King Fisher Hotel pool

    {A man identified as Biziyaremye Evariste, 25 , has drowned in the pool of King Fisher Hotel at Lake Muhazi beach in Gasabo district near Rwesero. }

    The death has been confirmed by the spokesperson of police in Kigali city, Spt Emmanuel Hitayezu.

    “The young man drowned in the swimming Pool. He was retrieved and taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The incident took place on Saturday around 14:00 hours,” he said.

    It is said that the deceased worked in a bar located in UTC building in Kigali town.

    King Fisher Hotel is located at Lake Muhazi beach in Gasabo district near Rwesero.
    The pool in which the man drowned.

  • Rwandan diaspora in US hold leadership retreat

    {Rwandans in the USA have been hosted by Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana in Washington DC during a leadership retreat in which they discussed the role of Ubutwari in Rwanda’s liberation and development. }

    This meeting was an opportunity to celebrate Heroes Day with community leaders and to discuss the 2017 action plan for community empowerment and continued engagement with Rwanda.

    As the Rwandan Diaspora in the U.S. continues to grow, community leaders are increasingly involved in ensuring that they are harnessing the potential of their community members, actively engaging them, and continuing the conversation on the diaspora’s contributions to the development of their country, Rwanda.

    This retreat was also the first opportunity for the newly elected committee to meet face to face since their elections which took place in December 2016.

    Professor AimableTwagilimana, the current president of the National Leadership welcomed those present and thanked them for having honored the invitation. “Your presence here is a testament to your commitment to serve our communities across the United States. I trust that we will work together to bring about the goals we set for 2017,” said Prof. Twagilimana.

    In her opening remarks, Ambassador Mukantabana reflected on the role of Intwari and how Rwandans are benefiting from their Heroic acts. “We are here because of the hard work of many who came before us, and the fruits we bear will benefit the generations ahead,” said Ambassador Mukantabana.

    In observance of Heroes Day, Colonel Vincent Nyakarundi, the Defense Attaché to the Embassy of Rwanda in Washington, D.C. gave a talk on Ubutwari as one of the strong values of Rwandan culture. USRD leadership retreat explored Ubutwari as a pillar for community organizing and mobilizing. Ubutwari is being prepared to sacrifice your life for the greater good for your people, your communities, and your country,” said Col Nyakarundi as he reminded the leaders that being a hero doesn’t necessarily mean being in the battlefield. He urged those present to carry on their duties as community leaders with the same heroic spirit that many Rwandans have embodied in order for the nation to develop.

    First Counselor Lawrence Manzi presented on the efforts of the Embassy to reach out to Rwandans across the U.S. by encouraging the creation of new structured communities, consolidating the existing ones, identifying and reaching out to untapped communities.

    Mr. Manzi encouraged those present to use their skills and networks to actively contribute to the development of Rwanda by giving an example of the Atlanta community that recently committed to focusing on supporting TVET in Rwanda. “It is our duty, as leaders, to uphold and nurture the Rwanda brand. It is hallmark that our country has built. We must sustain it,” urged Mr. Manzi.

    Leaders engaged in a conversation on lessons learnt from the previous years and agreed to be increasingly accountable for the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon them by their community members, maintain communication and leverage sub groups of their communities such as youth and women to drive the progress in their communities. Prof. Twagilimana concluded this session by reflecting back to the lessons learnt from the leadership of President Paul Kagame. “The exemplary leadership that we have in Rwanda must trickle down to the community level. The sacrifice of those who liberated our country must not be taken for granted,” said Professor Twagilimana.

    During this meeting, participants reviewed the 2016 diaspora activities and evaluated their mobilization strategy in their respective communities. Conversation on reaching out to more Rwandans ensued, and leaders made a new commitment to increase their presence within their community and to engage many who are still isolated from communities.

    Participants also held a conversation on leadership core values and shared best practices in dealing with challenges that arise in the diaspora such as genocide denial and misleading media propaganda. They re-committed themselves to increasing awareness in their communities at large by way of events such as Walk to Remember, Kwibuka, Kwibohora, Elections 2017, and going forward, the celebration of Heroes Day.

    The Leadership Retreat is a yearly event that brings together all elected leaders from Rwandan communities across the United States and the embassy for discussion on how to sustain existing communities and explore avenues for further growth.

    Rwanda's ambassador to US, Mathilde Mukantabana.