Author: Publisher

({{Office of the President}})-{President Kagame today said Success belongs to those who can innovate, seize the available opportunities. While addressing the Transform Africa Summit co-organised by the Government of Rwanda and ITU and attended by President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Blaise Compaore of Burkinafaso, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali, Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, President Kagame said that a digital revolution that has power to transform society was underway:}

“ICT has the potential to boost our economy and to improve the living standards of our people. We want to equip the African youth with these technologies and accelerate our development because we believe that success belongs to those who can innovate and those who seize the available opportunities. We are here from all sectors to forge partnerships that will benefit all our people. Let us expound on specific ways that we can leverage ICTs and work together to transform our continent during this interaction.”

President Ali Bongo said African leaders have a vision and a resolution to implement and that Africa has to wake up and make their dream come true and that though Africa has many priorities, ICT is the top priority now:

“ICT can make us take the biggest jump into the twenty first century. ICT makes information not only available but also affordable, and presents opportunities, among them e-government, e-education, e-health. I think the starting point should be education, if we are to transform the lives of Africans. That’s why in my point of view, the One Laptop per Child program is very important and should be extended to all African countries and made one of the priorities of the African union.”

President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan said by partnering with neighbouring countries, his country which is the newest nation in Africa, would strive to catch up with others in the endeavor to transform the lives of the people of South Sudan.

Presidents Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali underscored the importance of Africans embracing ICT as a tool for transformation of their lives.

President Blaise Compaore of Burkinafaso said the African continent has come a long way, overcoming many challenges like slavery and colonialism and now Africans were talking about transformation. He emphasized that laying out ICT infrastructure was key in the bid to transform the lives of Africans in this era, and that looking at the enthusiasm and will of African leaders like President Kagame, this transformation was possible.

President Uhuru Kenyatta congratulated Rwanda for the tremendous advancement in the ICT sector and said:

“The true and single driver that will propel us from a developing to a developed world in the shortest time possible is to recognize that the railway lines and seaways of yesterday, is broadband today. Broadband gives us the ability to leapfrog and catch up with the rest of the world. Broadband gives us the capacity to bring minds, innovation and create opportunity for our people. Africa is full of young minds craving and looking for opportunity and broadband is one way of creating a vast new world for young people and propelling Africa to prosperity.”

President Museveni said for ICT to be useful to people, it has to be relevant to their lives:

“ICT must help Agriculture and other fundamental sectors like industry and services for it to be a relevant tool. ICT is not only a facilitator but also a sector in itself. If we have to avoid problems, we have to integrate ICT in the entire economy, because making it a standalone sector would lead to problems.”

Dr. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) pointed out that only Africans can transform Africa and that this is what the Transform Africa Summit was about.

“The leaders here today dared to dream, shared their dreams with their people and it became a vision. It is time to move from mobile revolution to broadband revolution.”

Jean Philippe Prosper Vice President of the International Finance Corporation for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean said IFC was committed to partnering with Africa to invest in ICT as one of the key economic drivers. He cited ICT as one of the reasons of Rwanda’s recent ranking by the World Bank as one of the best places to do business in the world, after emerging 32nd in the world.

Lee Suk-chae, the Chairman of Korea Technology, said Africa needed to embrace ICT in order to catch up with the rest of the world in development. Lee Suk-chae launched the 4GLTE network in Rwanda, the first place it has been launched in the region.

In 2007, Rwanda and the ITU hosted “Connect Africa”, a conference that aimed to champion broadband connectivity. Since then, broadband connectivity has greatly increased and global ICT trends are now driven by innovation that is largely boosted by Internet and mobile technology. The Transform Africa Conference aims to bring together all stakeholders to answer two key questions concerning where Africa is today in regard to resolutions set during Connect Africa in 2007 and how Africa can leverage broadband to transform communities, governments and the private sector.

{{Elections were peaceful and met key democratic electoral benchmarks}}

{Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma today released the final report of the Commonwealth Expert Team that observed the 16 – 18 September 2013 Legislative Elections in Rwanda.}

The Secretary-General said the Team found that overall, the elections were peaceful and provided for the key democratic electoral benchmarks such as freedom of association, expression, and universal suffrage.

The Team further noted that the National Electoral Commission was well prepared and mobilised to conduct the elections.

“The Team noted with satisfaction the electoral reforms that have taken place since the 2010 Presidential Elections. Of particular note, in this context, is the establishment of the Rwanda Governance Board, which now has the mandate to register political parties,” Mr Sharma said.

The Secretary-General added: “While much progress has been made, the Team found that much more can be done to ensure continued confidence in the electoral process. The Team urged the relevant authorities to consider putting in place fairly equal requirements for registration and allocation of Parliamentary seats for independent candidates and political party candidates, and to significantly strengthen the capacity of the media, particularly in terms of investigative reporting and political commentary and analysis.”

The report provides further recommendations on key aspects of the Rwandan electoral and related processes, which the Team believes could bolster the country’s electoral capacity for future elections.

{One of Africa’s fastest growing airlines wins impressive award.}

{The news came as a pleasant surprise when CEO John Mirenge announced to his staff that RWANDAIR is the winner of BEST AFRICAN AIRLINE SHORT-HAUL for the Africa Travel Awards 2013. }

The Pan African Award Committee made up of travel professionals and journalist from across Africa chose RwandAir as Best African Airline Short-Haul. As can be expected congratulatory emails immediately poured in from all competitors for a job well done.

The choice was based on quality of service and operations in the region.

The atmospheres at headquarters as well as out stations have been a mixture of satisfaction, pride and a sense of accomplishment.

RwandAir is honored to receive this significant recognition by the aviation family.

“To know that the tourism and trade sectors continue to take notice of airline and find us worthy of such an award, keeps the RwandAir family motivated to keep striving for greatness. Since we began operations 10 years ago and have been dubbed one of the fastest growing carriers on the continent, RwandAir is on a mission to be a household name synonymous with reliability, safety and punctuality.” Says the statement from RwandAir.

The statement adds RwandAir looks forward to continued growth and providing excellent service to all customers.

“We are truly grateful for this award especially since it’s our first time partaking in the AKWAABA activities. We are humbled by this award and ever more determined to provide superb service in all other areas.”

Operating from Kigali as its hub in the heart of Africa, RwandAir is one of the fastest growing airlines on the African continent. RwandAir’s fleet currently consists of four Boeing 737 series aircraft and one Bombardier Dash-200 series.

Two brand new Bombardier CRJ-900 NextGen regional jets arrived in November of 2012. RwandAir serves daily flights to many regional cities such as Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, and Kilimanjaro. The airline also serves Johannesburg, Dubai, Lagos, Libreville and Brazzaville. For this year, added Accra and Juba as two new destinations, this makes an impressive 15 cities that we fly to.

{A new partnership between KLM and Educat will enable Rwandan entrepreneurs to gain access to valuable opportunities around the world via a generous donation of 20 flight tickets.}

On Wednesday the 30th of October, KLM and the International NGO Educat will sign a contract that will enable young Rwandan entrepreneurs- Educat’s clients- to fly to any destination within KLM’s network.

The flight tickets will be awarded to high potential entrepreneurs in Educat’s accelerator programs. The first ticket will be awarded in November as part of the 2013 REAL Entrepreneurship Award, an annual entrepreneurship competition facilitated by Educat during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

In conjunction with Educat, the winner of the Award will strategically choose a destination where they will be able to meet with investors, experts in their field, and potential partners. The remaining tickets will mostly be used by entrepreneurs who are a part of Educat’s REAL Business Accelerator program, set to launch in December. A few tickets will also be used to fly international consultants and business and entrepreneurship experts to Rwanda.

“KLM will help facilitate international success for entrepreneurs taking those crucial steps into the international and regional market by connecting them to investors, advisors, and business partners worldwide. They are a visionary airline and are truly helping to build a prosperous Rwanda”-Andreas Nørlem Christiansen, CEO of Educat

{Nyarugenge court of first instance has decided to postpone the trial of former senator Nzirasanabo Anastase who is being charged of genocide crimes and other crimes against humanity.}

The trial was postponed this morning because Nzirasanabo’s lawyer had a death in the family and was not available to represent his client in court.

Therefore, the court hearing has been postponed to November 21st, 2013. Alex Niyimpaye one of Nzirasanabo’ s lawyers claimed there was a group of people who were planning to black mail the charged.

Nzirasanabo has been accused of 3 crimes; which, includes the support of genocide practitioners who took part in the 1994 genocide and committing other crimes against humanity. And also establishing and developing various violent groups including the youth which amortized the number of killings that took place in Mataba.

Nzirasanabo is also accused of being involved in the murder of Dr. Theoneste Gafaranga, who was killed near the main roundabout of Kigali city on May 16th 1994. In addition to this, Nzirasanabo will stand trial in the murder of two other individuals.

Moreover, in relations to his charge of crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide; Nzirasanabo is accused of taking the lives of 6 victims in Mataba and Gakenke sectors.

Nzirasanabo denies all charges against him and claims that he’s innocent. The accused mentioned a group of people who he alleges purpose to destroy his reputation and taint his name.

The people he mentioned include: Makuba Aaron and Ntahondi Ezekiel. Nzirasanabo added that he possesses the recordings which can act as the evidence to help prove his innocence.

These recordings were supposed to be heard today in court but unfortunately the hearing has been postponed to 21st November this year.

However, Nyarugenge court of first instance postponed the case hearings today in the presence of Nzirasanabo and some of his defendants.

According to Nsengiyumva Stratton, one of the accused’s lawyers, insists that his client is innocent and is in the right position to be free after the case is concluded on 21st of November this year.

This case was transferred to the Nyarugenge court of first instance after the gacaca local juridical because his crime is in the first category of the genocide crime rankings.

Nzirasanabo Anastase was a senator in the Rwandan parliament representing the PSD party where he was also one of its leaders before the Rwandan 1994 Tutsi genocide, which led to the massacre of more than 1million innocent people.

Richard Mugarura