IGIHE

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  • Rwandan rebels waged war on mobiles

    How to spearhead a deadly militia in Congo, from Germany ? In modern times, one only needs a mobile-phone and a laptop to unleash a humanitarian catastrophe. German prosecutors are convinced that two Rwandans waged a brutal war some 6,000 kilometres away via telephone calls and emails.

    Judges in Stuttgart this week will continue hearing evidence against two Rwandan rebel leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

    Known as the “The Doctor” for his PhD in economics, Ignace Murwanashyaka headed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. With the help of his deputy Straton Musoni, he maintained the militia’s website, signed press releases and gave interviews about the group’s struggle against Rwanda.

    But prosecutors in Stuttgart argue that Murwanashyaka and Musoni also directly ordered the burning of Congolese villages, the murder of 200 civilians, large numbers of rapes, recruitment of child soldiers and the use of human shields. Both men face a sentence of life in prison.

    Handcuffed
    They were brought to court last Wednesday, handcuffed but looking confident with six lawyers at their side. The prosecutor read out a total of 55 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes including mass killings and rapes as part of “terror campaign” in eastern DR Congo from 2008 until their arrest in 2009. 

    They allegedly led a terrorist organisation from their sitting rooms. “We are talking about the full range of atrocities that one can imagine in a civil war,” federal prosecutor Christian Ritscher told a panel of six judges in opening arguments. The defence, however, demanded a dismissal of the proceedings saying the trial is purely politically motivated.

    The trial poses a huge challenge for judges in Stuttgart. It is too dangerous for them to visit the crime scenes so it requires some imagination to picture what happened in small jungle villages thousands of kilometres away. Besides, they will also have to familiarise themselves with the history of the region, the type of crimes and the cultural context.

    Numbering between 3,500 and 5,000 fighters, the FDLR is notorious for using rape as a weapon of war. It consists of former Rwandan Hutu government soldiers and militias who carried out the 1994 genocide. Since they fled Rwanda that year, the former génocidaires tried to topple the Tutsi-dominated government in Rwanda, without success. Although its European leadership is behind bars, the group continue its brutalities in the dense forests of Eastern Congo, where they control gold mines and collaborate with other fighting forces to sell mineral products.

    Impunity
    The FDLR leadership enjoyed considerable impunity in Europe. While some of them already had a suspicious past in Rwanda, they were never seriously investigated. Murwanashyaka – who has been living in Germany since 1989 and presided the FDLR since 2001- had been arrested earlier in 2006. He was released because of lack of witnesses. But after new inquiries Murwanashyaka was arrested again in November 2009, this time alongside Musoni.

    Despite the many challenges, Human Rights Watch says the trial is groundbreaking. It is “a powerful statement that courts – even thousands of miles away from where the atrocities occurred – can play a decisive role in combating impunity,” says the organisation’s International Justice Advocacy Director Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner.”The German authorities took an important step in carrying out their legal obligation to prosecute these horrific crimes.”

    She says that Germany is “joining the expanding club of states that are willing” to fight impunity for international crimes. Although a local court in Frankfurt is dealing with a case against Rwandan genocide suspect Onesphore Rwabukombe since January, the FDLR trial will be an important test-case for Germany’s Code of Crimes Against International Law. Adopted in 2002 it allows prosecution of foreigners for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It is “extremely far-reaching” as it does not require any link to Germany says Mattioli-Zeltner.

    Universal jurisdicition
    Over the past two decades a dozen of countries adopted the principle of universal jurisdiction. They have allowed national courts to investigate and prosecute grave international crimes committed elsewhere. Most universal jurisdiction cases concerned Rwandans, allegedly implicated in the country’s mass-killings. Genocide suspects were recently arrested in Norway, Belgium and France, while a court in the US started a trial against a Rwandan last month and a Dutch appeals court is to deliver a judgement at the end of June.

    The case in Stuttgart will be closely monitored by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where Callixte Mbarushimana awaits his possible trial. After Murwanashyaka and Musoni were arrested, Mbarushimana worked as the executive secretary of the FDLR from Paris, where he was arrested last year.

    Meanwhile, the trial in Stuttgart is scheduled to run until at least July while observers say it may even take up to one year.

    (This story was first published by Radio Netherlands International)

  • EAC to study regional oil pipeline

    The
    East African Community is set to undertake a feasibility study on the
    construction of an oil product pipeline from Uganda to Rwanda, easing fuel
    supplies in the landlocked countries of Rwanda and Burundi, the EAC secretariat
    said early this week.

    The regional
    body has obtained a grant of at least $600,000 for the study from the African
    Development Bank, which will look at the viability of linking the two countries
    to a pipeline project running from the Kenyan coast to Uganda, the EAC cited
    Patrick Nyoike, the permanent secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Energy, as
    saying.

    “The
    plan is to link Kigali [in Rwanda] by a pipeline from Kampala [Uganda], which
    will allow petroleum products to be accessed from the planned refinery in
    Uganda, as well as the existing refinery in Mombasa [on the Kenyan coast] and
    international markets,” Nyoike was quoted as saying.

    Uganda is
    planning to build a 150,000 barrel-a-day refinery in its oil-rich Albertine
    Rift basin following the discovery of at least a billion barrels of oil in the
    past couple of years.

    In March,
    U.K.-based Tullow Oil PLC agreed on a joint-venture deal with France oil major
    Total SA and China’s CNOOC Ltd. for the development of the oil fields in the
    basin, which is expected to cost at least $10 billion.

    EAC member
    states are also planning to diversify energy sources within the region in order
    to enhance security of energy supply, Nyoike was cited as saying.

    The
    regional body has finalized studies on the proposed natural gas pipeline from
    the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam to Kenya’s Mombasa in order to end
    overreliance on limited forms of energy. In February, Tanzania said that its
    gas reserves had more than doubled to 7.5 trillion cubic feet following a
    number of discoveries off the Tanzanian coast.

    It is
    expected that the project will contribute to the reduction of energy costs and
    shield power generation from variability of weather and international crude oil
    prices, Nyoike was cited as saying.

    The EAC
    member states are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

  • Africa can make more money from tourism, says report

    The Africa Competitiveness Report 2011, produced by the World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank and the World Bank, states that the continent has many advantages on which to build its tourism industry, including price competitiveness, a strong affinity for tourism and rich natural resources supported by efforts towards environmental sustainability.

    “One out of every twenty jobs in Africa is in the tourism and travel industry ; worldwide it is one out of every ten. That shows you the potential that we have if we can get the travel and industry up to the level of the global average,” said Shantayanan Devarajan, the World Bank’s chief economist for the Africa region, during the launch of the report in Cape Town at the World Economic Forum on Africa.

    According to a study by the Natural Resources Consultative Forum, a US$250,000 investment in the tourism sector generates an average of 182 full-time jobs.

    Devarajan singled out Rwanda as a country that has made the most of its tourism potential by creating a thriving industry around its mountain gorilla population. “Rwanda was coming off the genocide in the mid-1990s and they needed a source of foreign exchange. They’ve got these beautiful gorillas . . . and they decided to promote an ecologically friendly, highly targeted tourism industry around the gorillas,” he noted.

    Rwanda has also involved the local communities in the gorilla industry. This creates employment and insures that villagers have a direct interest in the conservation of the gorillas’ natural habitat.

    The report notes that a number of challenges remain to advance the continent’s competitiveness in the tourism sector. These include improving safety and security, upgrading health and hygiene levels, developing numerous forms of infrastructure, and fostering the region’s human capital.

    In addition to harnessing Africa’s tourism potential, the report found that to improve the continent’s competitiveness, governments should focus on stronger integration into international trade and finance, improved educational systems, as well as enhanced entrepreneurial opportunities for women.

  • Nyabihu landslide victims interred

    A subdued mood hang on to Gakoro cell, Rugera Sector, Nyabihu District yesterday, as the 14 victims of Friday’s mudslide tragedy were buried.

    Top government officials including Senators, Members of parliament and Ministers James Kabarebe and Gen Marcel Gatsinzi joined friends and relatives joined thousands to to remember the victims who died when a collapsing hillside engulfed the homes of one family who were asleep in the wee hours of Friday morning.

    Shortly after laying wreaths at the mass grave in which the victims were laid to rest, Disaster management minister Gatsinzi thanked the residents for their quick response and extended the government’s sympathy to the bereaved family.

    “We greatly regret the death of these people and extend our heartfelt condolences to the people of Nyabihu,” Gatsinzi said.

    He noted that local residents should ensure they find safer places to settle to avoid such accidents in future. The landslide was triggered by a heavy downpour.

    Those who died included 39 year-old Jean Damascene Nzamuhabwanimana, his 11 children and three wives identified as Alphonsine Ntibarikure, Gorette Nyirahabyarimana and Esperance Akingeneye.

    During the funeral service, mourners were shocked with the extent of damage .

    The district’s Mayor, Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, said that environmental hazards were a major problem in the district.

    “Given the topography of this region, more measures should be taken in order to avoid the risk of further landslides,” Nsengiyumva said.

  • Immigration trial for Kobagaya replays horrors of genocide in courtroom

    The horrors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide are being replayed in a federal courtroom in Wichita as the second week of testimony begins Monday. The case involves a Rwandan man resident in Kansas, Wichita in the United States accused of inciting atrocities and then lying about his role to U.S. immigration authorities.

    Lazare Kobagaya was indicted two years ago on charges of unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 with fraud and misuse of an alien registration card. Prosecutors have said it is the first case in the United States requiring proof of genocide.

    The 84-year-old Topeka man says he is innocent.

    Prosecutors say they expect to wrap up their case either this coming week or early the following one.

    Several genocide witnesses and U.S. immigration officials are still left to testify for the government.

  • Leaders meet on progress for poorest countries

    • Fourth U.N. Conference on Least Developed Countries convenes next week in Istanbul, Turkey.
    • Two-thirds of developing countries are on track to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ; for others, challenges remain.
    • Despite setbacks due to conflict, Nepal, Solomon Islands and Rwanda have made progress on issues such as primary education, reducing maternal mortality.

    Bahadur Magar once had to borrow to put food on the table. Then, with seed money and training from a World Bank-backed program, he started a vegetable business, earning enough money to feed his family year-round and send his eight children to school.

    “Instead of collecting money, the man I used to borrow from comes over to buy vegetables,” says the farmer from a remote district in eastern Nepal.

    Stories of new-found prosperity like Magar’s have become more commonplace in the last 10 years, as millions of people have emerged from poverty.

    But as heads of state and representatives from United Nations member countries meet next week in Istanbul for the 4th U.N. Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), millions more don’t have enough nutritious food to eat, adequate access to health care, clean water or a toilet.

    The conference, attended by governments, international organizations, civil society organizations, academia and the private sector, will assess development results over the last decade, and identify challenges and opportunities for helping low-income countries overcome remaining hurdles in the next 10 years.

    Despite Crises, Countries Closer to Goals

    Several low-income countries are closer to meeting development goals despite strains on budgets from consecutive food, fuel and financial crises. Scaling up agriculture, along with other successful programs and strategies, could accelerate progress on human development goals and help more countries become economically self-sustaining, says World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    “It’s vital to build on the achievements of LDCs to date and to recognize that poor countries have been playing their part to contribute to the global economy,” she said. “Clearly today, these countries still face significant risks from high and volatile food prices, climate change and conflict. While these uncertainties loom large, out of crises comes opportunity to realize a new decade of growth.”

    Already, two-thirds of developing countries are on track –or close—to meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as sending equal numbers of boys and girls to school, or reducing child mortality.

    “Many lagging countries can still reach several of the MDGs by 2015—or soon after—if their policies improve and their growth accelerates,” blogged Delfin Go, lead economist in the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group and the main author of the 2011 Global Monitoring Report, released April 15.

    Donors pledged nearly $50 billion last December to the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) – a fund for the poorest countries that pools assistance from multiple donors. IDA is a major form of support for government budgets, medicine, food security, and other needs, in low-income countries like Nepal, the Solomon Islands, and Rwanda.

    Those three countries – in South Asia, East Asia and Africa – were all set back by conflict or civil war ; none currently look like they will attain the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. And in each the challenges are similar, yet different.

    Nepal : Community-driven development

    Nepal, a landlocked country of 28 million, has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world. Political turmoil from 1996 to 2006 greatly hampered growth. Low economic development, landlessness and poverty are widespread, especially in rural areas where many marginalized social groups live. The country is vulnerable to food insecurity, climate change and disasters such as earthquakes.

    et, life expectancy, maternal health, under-5 and infant mortality and poverty levels have all improved dramatically since 1970. In 2010, Nepal won the MDG Millennium Award for reducing maternal mortality. Nepal has achieved the goal on access to safe water, and is on track to meet the goals on gender parity in primary and secondary education and on reducing under-5 mortality.

    One explanation for the country’s progress is that the public sector apparatus continued to function amid turmoil, says World Bank Nepal country director Susan Goldmark.

    Community-driven development (CDD) programs incorporating citizen voice and decision-making, and often aided by the work of non-governmental organizations, successfully delivered services in remote communities.

    About 60% of Bank funding goes to CDD programs such as the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), which assume that “the poor themselves are best positioned to manage their own needs and resources,” says Goldmark.

    PAF so far has supported more than 400,000 households across Nepal, helping communities to improve infrastructure and individuals to boost incomes by purchasing livestock, growing vegetables and other activities. Incomes increased 15%, and more than 15,000 households gained access to roads for the first time ; 32,000 households now have access to water supply, bridges and sanitation through the program.

    Solomon Islands : MDG challenge

    In the Solomon Islands, “communication, transportation, and governance challenges are formidable,” says World Bank Country Manager Edith Bowles. “In addition, the distances to market and a narrow economic base means the country is highly vulnerable to economic shocks.”

    The country is still recovering from a period of civil conflict between 1998 and 2003, as well as the effects of the financial crisis.

    The group of about 1,000 islands also has one of the lowest population densities in the world, making services difficult and expensive to deliver. Only 16% of households have access to electricity, for instance.

    While the country is on track to achieve gender parity in primary education by 2015, greater economic growth is crucial to achieving other goals, says Bowles. Growth dropped to 1% in 2009, after the financial crisis. While growth has recovered in 2010 and 2011, the economic future with the imminent decline in logging—the largest economic activity of the last 20 years, she says.

    The Bank is working with other donors to support rural development, energy, and telecommunications. It’s also supporting a rapid-response employment project to give young people and women jobs. As of March, the project had employed about 2,800 people for an average of 14 days each.

    Rwanda : Recovery and growth

    Rwanda’s recovery from the 1994 genocide and civil war is nothing short of remarkable, says World Bank Rwanda Country Manager Omowunmi Ladipo. It’s now one of the most stable countries in Africa, with plans to transform itself from a subsistence agricultural economy to a knowledge-based economy by 2020.

    Reforms aimed at changing outside perceptions of the country as a risky place to do business earned Rwanda the Doing Business top reformer of the year title in 2010. The country has achieved gender parity in access to primary education and is on track to achieve universal education, access to sanitation, gender equality, and the HIV/AIDS MDG.

    In the post-civil war period, large budget allocations to social sectors, including increased financing for primary schools and rehabilitation of health facilities, together with new legal reforms to promote gender equality, helped Rwanda recover, says Bank Senior Economist Birgit Hansl.

    “The will to move ahead with innovative solutions, as was done in health and education, contributed to dramatic changes in key social indicators,” she says.

    But challenges remain. The most recent survey (2006) found that about 57% of the population still lives below the poverty line. Some 37% of Rwandans cannot afford minimum food requirements, an estimated 52% of households are food insecure or vulnerable, and maternal and child mortality rates are still among the highest in Africa.

    “The government is fully aware that strong growth, led by private sector investment, is key to improving living conditions,” says Ladipo.

    To that end, the World Bank Group is supporting 11 projects with net commitments of $237 million, targeting agriculture, energy, the private sector and public financial management. Other goals include reforming basic services to help ensure the most vulnerable Rwandans also benefit from growth, and child and maternal mortality is reduced.

     

  • Nyabihu mudslide ‘kills 14’

    At least 14 members of the same family have been killed in Nyabihu district after heavy rains sparked a mudslide that engulfed a small village, local authorities have said.

    The mudslide struck the village in the Rugera Sector on Friday at around 4am.

    At least three homes had been damaged or submerged.

    Among those feared dead was a one year old baby.

    The Nyabihu district Vice Mayor Angela Mukaminani said that authorities had managed to recover 11 bodies.

    Mukaminani, said some parts of the area had been evacuated because of the risk of further landslides.

    “We have temporarily relocated residents living near the scene of the accident to avoid more deaths as we intensify the search for those who are suspected to have died,” Mukaminani said.

    The area where the incident occurred is hilly with dotting houses at the foothills. In the past few months, the area has experienced one of the heaviest rainy seasons.

  • Rwanda moves BNR governor in reshuffle

    President Paul Kagame appointed the central bank governor as minister for trade and industry in his first reshuffle since being re-elected with 93 percent of the vote last year.

    Francois Kanimba, a former World Bank senior economist who had been governor of the National Bank of Rwanda since 2002, was replaced by his deputy Claver Gatete.

    Kagame, who has a firm grip on power in the central African country, gave no reason for the reshuffle announced late on Friday. It had been expected, however, because two ministerial posts recently became vacant.

    Kagame last rejigged his cabinet in December 2009. 

  • Rwanda soldiers kick out poverty

    The fresh dark green cassava leaves sway from one direction to the other as small insects scuttle around, doing quick errands combing the soil for food. 

    “All this cassava you see here, was planted by the Rwanda Defence Forces,” says Lt John Sebakara as he points at the huge plantations stretching towards the horizon in Rwanda’s eastern province.

    Ordinarily, Lt Sebakara and other soldiers would be in the jungles with guns training how to defend and assault their enemies. But taken up by the pressing food insecurity, the RDF, like any other army associated with guns, decided to take up hoes to till the land for agriculture. 

    “Our mission is not only to cultivate, but to involve farmers. We train them and tell them to go and implement what they have learnt,” adds Lt Sebakara as he kicks some small mounds of loose soil, which give way to a battalion of wheezing black ants. Huge chunks of idle government land formerly used as military training grounds for churning out gun wielding soldiers, have been transformed into agricultural farmland with a view to support national poverty reduction strategies.

    Armed with forked hoes and cutlasses, the dedicated soldiers donning full army uniforms and gumboots, descended on the virgin land clearing bushes for cassava plantations.

    The RDF through its Agro Processing Industries Ltd (API) has cultivated 1,300 hectares of cassava expected to be harvested in the last quarter of 2011.

    PI’s Director Finance and Planning, Lt John Sebakara, says API has four strategic business units. They are coffee and silk industries, Gako crop and horticultural production, Gabiro crop and horticultural production and dairy industry.

    With nine coffee washing stations and one mini station, API exports 207.3 tonnes of green fully washed Arabica coffee. At US$ 3.9 per kg, it brings 469,097,179.2 FRW US$19457.

    Rwanda has identified an Indian investor who will set up a processing plant. The factory will process the cassava into flour, starch and ethanol for exports to neighbouring countries.

    The cassava has already created employment for the locals. The workers, which comprise widows and widowers employed to work in the gardens get a salary of RF 45,000 (about US$76) per month.

    “This work is helping us a lot. We now have a group like a SACCO where we pool our money and give out to members in a rotational manner,” says Collette Mukarubayiza, a 51-year-old widow.

    While there are no actual figures, Rwanda is said to have cut down its defence budget, shifting the funds to agriculture.
    Sector performance reports show that in the 2010/2011 Financial Year, the Government of Rwanda spending on agriculture stood at 10.2%, slightly above the Maputo Declaration of 10%.
     In 2009/2010, Rwanda’s annual average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for agriculture was 7.4%.  

    In 2003, African Union issued a directive dubbed “The Maputo Declaration” for African leaders to increase their investment in agriculture to 10% of their national budgets. 

    “The failure of many African countries to increase their spending towards agriculture has been seen as a serious impediment to the continent’s mission to boost economic growth,” says Dr Cris Muyunda, the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 

     ACTESA , an alliance of institutions, is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) specialised agency.

    COMESA through its specialised agency, embarked on a programme to ensure smooth flow of seeds from surplus to deficit areas by harmonising standards and removing trade barriers that hinder free-flow of seeds among member states.

    Rwanda is one of the countries that have successfully implemented COMESA/ACTESA programmes. Through the distribution of better seeds and training on better farming techniques the country has seen the production of its principle crops – maize, cassava, beans and bananas soar.
    The Rwanda Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr Agnes Kalibata, contends that linking smallholder farmers to markets is key to achieving food security in Africa.

    The RDF is a typical example of an efficient army that has gone out of war battles internally and in neighbouring countries and turned to hoes.
    With the post-genocide government committed to rapid economic recovery, prudent fiscal and monetary policies, liberalisation of the economy, and institutional capacity building, the economy has rapidly rebounded.

  • Rwanda to boost budget as growth slows in 2011

    Rwanda plans to increase its budget for the fiscal year starting in July by 16.7 percent to help accelerate growth and reduce poverty, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

    It said in a statement that growth would slow to 7 percent this year due to the adverse impact of higher food and fuel prices, which would also push the inflation rate to 7.5 percent by the end of 2011.

    Fuel prices in the country have increased twice this year. The cost of premium petrol and diesel rose from 887 francs to 1,015 francs per litre in January and then to 1,060 francs per litre in April.

    The government attributed the increases to political instability in oil producing nations of the Middle East.

    “In 2011, output growth is projected at about 7 percent, showing a slight slow-down from 2010 due to the expected adverse impact of rising food and fuel prices,” the ministry said.

    “These are expected to push domestic prices and inflation is now projected to reach 7.5 percent at end of 2011.”

    The economy expanded by 7.5 percent in 2010, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.

    Rwanda’s inflation rate in urban centres rose to 4.11 percent in March from 2.56 percent in February and the central bank expects it to hit 6 percent by the end of June.

    The ministry said the country’s 2011/12 budget would rise to 1.116 trillion francs from 984 billion in 2010/11. The budget will be unveiled in mid June.

    “Fiscal policy in the period 2011/12 to 2013/14 will seek to balance the competing objectives of further accelerating growth to make a dent on poverty reduction whilst preserving the medium-term fiscal and external sustainability,” it said.

    “The medium term budget policy is to increase expenditures for investment projects that generate more impact on growth, while limiting recurrent costs,” the ministry said.