Category: News

{{President Armando Guebuza of the Republic Mozambique has arrived in Rwanda.

Guebuza also chairperson Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been mandated by the regional body to undertake a mission to Rwanda to engage the government of Rwanda on the crisis in DRC.}}

SADC is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states.

Following the recent state of affairs in DRC, SADC regional bloc agreed at its recent Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, that the situation in eastern DRC requires the physical presence of SADC-mandated troops.

The SADC troops will be deployed to neutralise M23 rebels.

The force will be made up of Angola and South Africa, while other SADC members will give material and technical support in the collaborative effort.

SADC also agreed to work with the International Conference of Great Lakes region ‑ of which Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia are members ‑ to secure the restive eastern border region.

The regional bloc dispatched an assessment mission of defence and security experts from SADC to the DRC last month.

{{Rwanda is one of two countries selected to present at the International Literacy Day event, co-hosted by USAID, the Global Partnership for Education, and the Brookings Institute.}}

The Rwanda delegation will include a Rwanda Education Board (REB) representative as well as the Literacy, Language, and Learning Initiative (L3)’s Technical Director Norma Evans and Kinyarwanda Team Leader Caroline Dusabe. The event will take place on September 7th in Washington, DC.

Rwanda Reads, a four-year REB initiative, is among the efforts that the delegation will highlight in the presentation.

Launched in July, Rwanda Reads brings together government organizations, publishers, Parent Teacher Committees, education NGOs, and development partners in the common interest of promoting literacy.

The initiative aims to increase the availability of recreational reading materials, improve literacy levels, and encourage a culture of reading.

The delegation will particularly emphasize initiatives that promote early grade reading—the focus of the event—as the early years are key for developing fundamental reading skills necessary for further learning.

Rwanda Reads partner L3, funded by USAID, focuses on supporting the teaching and learning of reading skills in primary grades 1 through 4.

L3 has supported REB in determining national reading standards for P3 and P5 and in specifying criteria for age-appropriate reading materials.

The project also provides expertise for training teachers in effective literacy practices and creates learning materials to support and enrich curricula.

According to Evans, Rwanda was selected for this honor because of its dedication.

“There have been a lot of events in the past year, like Rwanda Reads, developing reading standards, that show a lot of commitment,” Evans says. “It’s a model for other countries.”

Prior to this event, the delegation will visit Oyster Adams Bilingual School in Washington, DC, which uses both English and Spanish as languages of instruction.

This visit will leave the delegation with a clearer mental image of what proven literacy techniques look like in the classroom.

The delegation has also been invited to participate in the Mobile Education Alliance International Symposium, which aims to bring international technology specialists together to improve education through the innovative use of mobile technologies.

The symposium will be held in Washington on September 5-6th.

International Literacy Day was inaugurated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1967.

In its annual observance, literacy partners around the world draw attention to the need to promote world literacy.

{{The Secretary General of the East Africa Community (EAC), Ambassador Dr. Richard Sezibera has called for joint efforts in suppressing emerging security threats in East Africa saying the success of bloc’s integration process relies heavily on its stability.}}

Presiding over the 5th meeting of Sectoral Council on Inter-State Security in Kigali on August 27, He noted that implementation of freedoms and rights enshrined in the Common Market Protocol largely depends on the sector.

“As East Africa deepens her integration process, the people of the region expects their individual and collective security to improve.

The expectation is that the threat of terrorism, trafficking in person and narcotics as well as other transnational security threats will be managed in a smarter way,” Sezibera said.

Dr. Sezibera noted that as the bloc enters a Single Customs territory and also within the tripartite arrangement, it will certainly come with challenges.

He called for increased information sharing and more pooling of national resources to deal with ever evolving global and regional security landscape.

“Cooperation with other organizations with peace and security mandate is critical to removing artificial geographical barriers, contradictions duplication and wastage of resources and time,” he explained.

{{Uganda has been selected to host the EAC Regional Forensic Referral Centre (RFRC).

The ministerial session of the Sectoral Council on Inter-State Security meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, today backed Uganda to host the facility which is expected to revolutionize fighting of crime in the region by providing scientific information to investigators and courts.}}

Partner States’ chiefs of Police had over the weekend in Kigali unanimously agreed for Kampala to host the RFRC.

The EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera while opening the meeting underscored the importance of regional peace and security, saying that East Africans individually and collectively hoped for their security to improve as the integration process deepened.

“The expectation is that the threat of terrorism, trafficking in persons and narcotics as well other transnational security threats will be managed better and in a smarter way,” Amb. Sezibera stated.

He lauded the EAC Partner States Police chiefs for having already taken concrete steps to deter criminal activities, adding that the EAC Secretariat wholly supported their efforts.

Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the practical application of science to matters of the law.

In criminal law, forensic science can help prove the guilt or innocence of the defendant. In civil actions, forensics can help resolve a broad spectrum of legal issues through the identification, analysis and evaluation of physical evidence.

The Police Chiefs expressed their support after considering a report of an EAC fact-finding mission, which visited all five Partner States in March this year.

A detailed report of an independent forensics consultant from the United Kingdom who participated in the Assessment Mission with forensics experts from the Partner States together with technical staff from the EAC Secretariat.

Information was gathered through physical site inspections and meetings coupled with face-to-face interviews with individuals who had a stake in the forensic facilities, the forensics staff and the Chief Government Chemists within the Partner States.

The Centre will have regional responsibilities but will not compromise national capabilities in the provision of forensic services.

Article 124 of the EAC Treaty recognizes the need for peace and security within the Partner States. It is further elaborated through the Strategy for Regional Peace and Security adopted by the 13th Council of Ministers meeting.

In an effort to formulate measures to combat terrorism, Goal 10 of the Regional Strategy for Peace and Security provides for enhancement of forensic services with establishment of an RFRC.

The EAC has already initiated the harmonization process of peace and security initiatives, common policing standards, joint investigation, exchange of information and mutual legal assistance in the Partner States, among others.

Amb. Sezibera urged Partner States to reduce dependence on Development Partners to fund regional security programmes and informed the high-level meeting that efforts were underway to create a Directorate of Peace and Security which will help to expedite peace and security issues in the EAC Partner States.

The Chairperson of the session Hon. Beatrice Kones from Kenya underlined that peace and security was extremely critical for the regional integration, urging that the EAC “must speak with one voice” and reiterating the need for a robust peace and security sector.

She also called for enhanced information sharing among the Partner States to swiftly coordinate security activities.

{{President Paul Kagame has warned against anybody working to destablise the country.

“Rwandans will not tolerate them. He said such people were not working in the interest of the nation and the Rwandan people and should therefore be resisted.” }}

Kagame sounded the warning while speaking to residents of Mukarange Sector in Gicumbi district urging the residents to jealously protect what they have achieved.

The head of state said that no Rwandan should be a subject of poverty, “Everybody could work their way up the wealth ladder if they invested all their efforts to prosper.”

Gicumbi residents were tasked to scaleup their efforts towards development cautioning them against external elements that may be bent on reversing the progress registered.

During the liberation war between 1990-1994,Rwanda Patriotic Army rebels used Gicumbi district to launch a determinant battle against forces of the Genocide regime. RPA emerged successful thus advancing to capture the Capital city,Kigali.

President Kagame thus reminded Gicumbi residents of their valued role in the country’s liberation.

He also encouraged all Rwandans to maintain the momentum at which they are working to rebuild Rwanda saying they will not only succeed in reducing poverty, but in eliminating it altogether.

While in Gicumbi, President Kagame visited a model farmer Gervais Uzabakiriho.

Uzabariho received a cow eight years ago. He has since improved his living standard and also donated cows to his neighbours.

He currently has 18 cows and two houses – one of which he donated to his brother – and has also given several cows to his neighbours.

{{The President of Gambia Yahya Jammeh has insisted that all prisoners on Death Row must be killled.}}

Nine prisoners have already been executed by firing squad on Sunday.

President Jammeh has vowed to kill all 47 death-row inmates by mid-September.

Amnesty International attacked the policy last week when it reported that the executions had been carried out three days earlier.

Many of Gambia’s death row inmates are former officials and top military officers who have been detained for treason since 1994, when Jammeh took power in a coup.

One woman was among those executed, the Interior Ministry said, listing crimes such as murder, treason, arson, drug and human trafficking as being punishable by death.

It was not clear what crimes each of the nine prisoners were executed for.

{{Bureau Veritas has awarded Inyange Industries, Rwanda’s leading food and beverage company, with the IS0 22000:2005 certificate for food safety management. }}

This world class certification confirms Inyange’s adherence to high international industry standards.

The certification process aimed to achieve two goals: to improve the company’s efficiency by cutting operating costs, and to improve customer satisfaction by consistent delivery of products that meet customer expectations in factors including quality, safety and legal compliance.

Inyange is seen as an innovator in Rwanda, having been first to introduce milk vending machines.

The company’s products include milk, fruit juices and mineral water, and are reaching an international market that includes Uganda, Burundi, DR Congo and Congo Brazzaville.

{{Uwinkindi Jean, a genocide suspect currently being tried in Rwanda has rejected all counts against him saying that he was arrested for crimes he did not commit arguing that the arrest warrant carried a name of Uwinkindi Jean Bosco not Uwinkindi Jean.}}

Uwinkindi made the remarks while appearing before Nyarugenge court August 27.

This followed prosecution’s request to keep Uwinkindi in dentention through the course of his trial but Uwinkindi and his lawyers sought for a release saying he was innocent.

Uwinkindi’s lawyers including Gatera Gashabana and Niyibizi Jean Baptiste requested court to release their client saying the names appended on the arrest warrant used to seize Uwinkindi are not the names of their client and thus he should be set free because he is innocent.

The Genocide suspect who had previously refused to say anything in court, later said the Arrest warrant issued by the ICTR in Arusha bore the names of Uwinkindi Jean Bosco yet he is refered to as Uwinkindi Jean.

{{French President François Hollande announced August 27, that he will participate in the Francophonie summit (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)in DRC capital,Kinshasa in October.}}

“I’ll go in a few weeks to the Francophonie Summit in Kinshasa. I will reaffirm that the Francophonie is not just a language but also share common principles and ideals,” he told a French Ambassadors Conference at the Elysee Palace.

François Hollande has promised to meet with the political opposition, civil society activists and civil society.

“This is the meaning of the new African policy of France say everything everywhere and ensure that what is said or done,” he said, indicating that in 2050, “80% of Francophones are Africans, 700 million women and men, everyone understands what is at stake here. ”

{{The Rwanda National Police (RNP) inaugurated a new Peace Support Operation Training centre in Gishali Police Training School in Rwamagana District aimed at facilitating the force’s Peacekeeping Missions.}}

The centre which boosts of three blocks is a donation from the Germany International Cooperation Agency (GIZ).

During the event, GIZ also handed over to Police two vehicles, which will facilitate the force in its Peacekeeping training activities.

GIZ is one of the force’s major partners, which has also been supportive to its several programmes such as forensic science in photography, Gender Based Violence (GBV) and traffic policing.