Author: Publisher

{{Volunteers from MTN Rwanda will again cast the spotlight on the digitisation of teaching and learning, when the company’s annual employee volunteer programme, 21 Days of Y’ello Care kicks off on 2 June.}}

For the third consecutive year, MTN employees will unite under the theme of “Investing in education for all”, as they embark on various educational projects for 21 days in June.

This year’s Y’ello Care projects will focus on setting up Childhood Development facilities in schools, training teachers and learners in ICT and establishing digital content and libraries for Universities.

“Digitisation of learning and teaching is in line with MTN’s new vision ‘To lead in the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers’ and further contribute towards closing the digital divide in our communities,” said MTN Rwanda CEO, Ebenezer Asante.

“The objectives of our volunteer programme are to make a visible and sustained contribution to our society in which we operate and provide an opportunity for MTN staff to actively contribute to community development.”

MTN will provide infrastructure for Cloud Computing and Virtualisation training to universities as a way of empowering learning and digital content for Education.

Professors and students will be able to access these virtual servers via remote connections.

21 Days of Y’ello Care was instituted by MTN Group in 2007 to give all MTN employees an opportunity to contribute towards improving the welfare of their communities.

It has now become a prominent feature in MTN’s calendar, and is also one of MTN’s flagship Corporate Social Investment programmes.

{{A group of twenty local leaders in Nyagatare district have been relieved of their duties following accusations that they abused laws and procedures on land use.

Among the suspended include two Cell Executive secretaries and the Agriculture officer of Rwimiyaga sector.}}

Their suspension follows the growing encroachment on grazing land which was sold to migrants from other districts. More new houses have been built on this grazing land and extended cultivation gradually covering the land.

More than Hundred families had illegally encroached on Grazing land and have thus been evicted after district authorities noticed grazing land had turned into gardens and settled on.

This prompted district authorities to evict the encroachers but after compensating them and showing them land onto which they would resettle.

Eviction of the encroachers is still ongoing and affected families are currently hopeless as they claim they don’t have funds to start new lives as all they had was invested on the land they are being evicted from.

Nyagatare district authorities told IGIHE that there have been several community meetings where residents are sensitised on how to use their land specifically warning them not to cultivate and build on Grazing land.

However, owners of grazing land have been selling off some of their land to migrants but all this has allegedly been happening in the full notice of local leaders in Rwimiyaga.

Sabiti Fred the mayor of Nyagatare told IGIHE that the local leaders have been suspended as a way of punishing them for not properly directing residents on land usage yet they are actually well informed.

james@igihe.com

{{This Saturday a community court at Gitagara village in Masaka Sector tried a case involving a couple that had never stayed together despite having legally married in November 2013.}}

Until May 31, Mr.Modeste travelled all the way from Ruhango district to locate his wife that had stealthily left her parents home and got employed in Kigali without informing her lawful husband.

In November 2013, Mr. Modeste and Kubwimana Angelique agreed to legalise their marriage while living in Ruhango district and their union was legalised at Mbuye sector.

However, the couple also agreed that they would start living together as husband and wife only after conducting the traditional and religious wedding ceremonies. So they agreed to live apart to give time to the Girls parents to find money for the traditional wedding as Modeste would also look for money for the religious wedding ceremony.

The traditional and church wedding ceremonies were rescheduled to January 2014. As the Rwandan cultural tradition would have it, the lady stayed at her parents’ home as her legal husband worked and mobilised for funds.

Accordingly, the traditional marriage ceremony (give-away) is always handled by the Bride’s parents. But early this year when Mr.Modeste visited his wife to inform her that he was ready for the traditional and religious marriage ceremonies, his in-laws told him they hadn’t mobilised resources and thus postponed the marriage to May 31 2014.

In February, Mr Modeste visited the in-laws and when he inquired about his wife, he was told she had traveled to Kigali where she had attained a job. He was provided with contacts that would enable him reach his wife.

Mr. Modeste later found out that his wife was living and working as a maid in Gatagara village, Gatagara cell in Masaka sector a suburb of Kigali. He travelled all the way from Ruhango to locate her.

On reaching Masaka sector, he notified the area authorities who acknowledged that indeed the woman he was looking for was actually working as a maid.

Thus During the community work-Umuganda, the matter was brought before area residents to find a solution.

During the community court hearing, Modeste requested his wife to publicly agree or disagree that the two would return to Ruhango as a couple.

The woman neither denied nor admitted that she was still in love with or interested in going back to Ruhango with her lawful husband.

Mr. Modeste requested his wife to write a document publicly denouncing him as his husband so that he would start processing for a divorce.

Kubwimana however, wrote stating that, “As requested for by my Husband. I agree to his request that we are not married anymore”. However, the Community members rejected the document saying, she should state whether she is returning to Ruhango with her husband or she was no longer in love with Modeste and not interested in staying with him as husband”.

The members of the community court instructed the local area authorities to written a Report on the case and give a copy of the letter to Modeste which he would return with back to Ruhango.

The area authorities wrote stating that Kubwimana was not in love with her lawful husband anymore and was not interested in returning with him back to Ruhango to their legal home.

The document was signed by Kubwimana and Modeste including area authorities and community members present during the trial.

Mr. Hodari Niyitegeka the Gatagara village leader told IGIHE that Kubwimana’s employer (Mr. Sibomana jovite) has been instructed to take her back to her parents in Ruhango so that she can settle the matter with her husband and also avoid any inconveniences that might arise.

Mr Modeste is expected to return to the Cell offices at Masaka to have the document stamped and return to Ruhango district where he is expected to begin processing for divorce.

{{Masaka residents arrive for the monthly Community work. After Umuganda, the communtiy court convened and attempted to re-unite a couple from Ruhango that had not lived together.}}

{{Police is holding a 45-year old man identified as Vincent Nkende detained at Ruhuha Police Station in Bugesera district after he was arrested with four sacks of factory fertilisers meant for farmers.}}

The fertiliser, UREA type is normally given to farmers by the government to increase their production and according to investigations, the suspect is not among the beneficiaries.

In the night of May 31, community night patrols in Shyara sector sighted Nkende carrying bags on a motorcycle and stopped him.

However, when they asked him what he was carrying and tried to search the bags, he speed-off.

They then informed police which pursued and arrested him in his house in Nyamabuye cell, where the fertilisers were also recovered.

Police handed the fertilisers too Shyara local authority.

The Eastern region Police Spokesperson, Senior Supt. Bénoit Nsengiyumva, warned traders over such acts of tricking, buying and selling fertilisers from beneficiaries, destined to increase their production.

He observed that such an illegal business impacts on the government’s agricultural development initiatives and appealed to the public to shun it

He lauded Nyamabuye residents for ensuring their own safety and fighting such acts that affect their development efforts.

RNP

{{Rwanda Peacekeepers (Rwanbatt 41) medical team serving in the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), on 28 May 2014, provided Abushouk Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) with medical care and other medical assistance comprising of toothbrushes and tooth paste.

After identifying that many of IDPs suffer from dental diseases, Rwanbatt 41 medics arranged what they termed “dental therapy outreach” for the most affected people.

More than 100 patients were given dental medical care and received medical assistance.

Aboushouk IDP camp is one of the two IDP Camps under protection of Rwanda Peacekeepers ( Rwanbatt 41), Seven kilometers from El Fasher Super Camp.

It accommodates more than 55,000 Internal Displaced Persons.}}