Category: News

{{The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) has called for the 2013 Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) that aims at supporting Africans’ efforts in developing new products, increasing efficiency and drive cost-savings.}}

Registration deadline for the 2013 prize has been set for 31 October 2012 with no possibility for extensions.

Only innovations by Africans and for Africans are eligible to enter. Africans in the Diaspora can also apply if their innovations are of significance to Africa.

The winning proposal will be awarded a cash prize of $100,000 USD, with the two runners-up receiving US$25,000.

At an event organized by the ECA and AIF, researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators will be invited to propose projects that unlock new African potential under these categories; Agriculture and Agribusiness, ICT applications, Health and wellbeing, Environment (Energy and water) and Manufacturing and services industries.

“For IPA,the best way to build Africa’s capacity is to invest in local innovation and entrepreneurship,” said AIF Chairman Walter Fust. “This prize encourages Africans to develop creative ways to overcome everyday challenges.”

The organizers expect the prize to promote among young African men and women the pursuit of science, technology and engineering careers and business applications.

This aims at; mobilising leaders from all sectors to fuel African innovation; Promote innovation across Africa in key sectors of interest through the competition; Promote science, technology and engineering as rewarding, exciting and noble career options among the youth in Africa by profiling success applicants.

It will also encourage entrepreneurs, innovators, funding bodies and business development service providers to exchange ideas and explore innovative business opportunities.

{{On 1st July 2012, the Rwandan Contingent (UNMISS Juba) together with Rwandan Community living in Republic of South Sudan (RCSS) organized and celebrated the 50th anniversary of Rwanda Independence and 18 years of Rwanda Liberation.}}

Col. Charles Karamba, Deputy Chief of Staff in Charge of Operation UNMISS, who elaborated on the history of Rwanda before and after Independence.

The Contingent Commander, Brig. Gen. Andrew Kagame in his speech stressed the importance of reflecting on Rwanda’s past history and to build a better future, and reminded Rwandans in the Diaspora of their significant role in building their country and consolidating what has been achieved.

He highlighted the achievement by the Government of Rwanda through strong institutions notably the security institutions where RDF having ensured peace and security among the citizens, has further embarked on bringing peace to other parts of the World, more especially in the conflict zones.

He further told them that, the State has responsibility to ensure security for all Citizens within the country and outside its border by citing examples of airlifting fellow Rwandans in Egypt and Libya where their security was at stake.

The Chairman of RCSS (Guest of Honor) David Gatare, also urged the audience to take this moment to reflect on the past and the future and to enjoy what has so far been achieved in Rwanda.

He said of Rwanda’s recognition on International arena which has contributed in boosting confidence of Rwandans.

The event was attended by different guests from UNMISS headquarters, some of them are, Amb Joy Kanyange who now works with the Government of South Sudan as UN Staff, Fred Yiga Commissioner of Police UNMISS, Lt. Col. Nobutaka Matsuki Japanese Engineer Company Comdr and other UNMISS components.

The event started at around 1600hrs in Rwandan Contingent Camp at Juba, and attracted about 200 Rwandans living in South Sudan (RCSS) and Rwandan Contingent members.

Rwanda Contingent Cultural Troupe entertained the audience.

{{Visitors to Rwanda roaming on their mobile phones will be charged for receiving calls while in the country.

The new changes were effected on July 1, 2012 by the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Agency (RURA).}}

According to a communique released by MTN-Rwanda, the following will be affected by the changes;

1.Calls made By MTN Rwanda Customers while Roaming both Regionally and internationally.

2.Customers (visitors) Roaming on The MTN Rwanda Network might be charged for receiving calls. These changes were effected by RURA on the 1st July 2012.

RURA has therefore obliged all telecom operators in Rwanda to explain toclients and subscribers that they had to abide to the RURA regulations on termination rates hence the changes in tariffs.

{{A lawyer for the family of slain Burkinabé president Thomas Sankara says he has “irrevocable evidence” of those who assassinated the late charismatic leader.}}

Mr Bénéwendé Sankara made the statement on Monday in Ouagadougou where he reapeted the call for Burkina Faso’s defence minister to order the launch of legal procedures in the matter.

On Thursday, a superior court in Ouagadougou said the assassination case filed by the slain leader’s wife Mariam Sankara and their son could be prosecuted under local laws.

In his decision, the court’s Judge Barthélémy Sinini declared at the end of the hearing that “the court deems the case receivable.”

A mammoth crowd which had gathered outside the court in the blazing heat to hear the verdict joined the slain leader’s family in thunderously applauding the decision.

The belated decision came after years of legal tussles that go back two decades.

During the marathon legal battle, the appeals court in Ouagadougou had repeatedly thrown out the case.

The family and friends of the late leader hailed the decision and expressed the hope that the case could receive a transparent judgment.

{{The United States has celebrated the 236th anniversary of their nation’s independence.

U.S. citizens in Rwanda and their Rwandan friends including the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo this evening gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali for this anniversary.}}

Below is an extensive speech delivered by U.S. Ambassador Donald W. Koran themed; Independence Day 2012: Celebrating Our Electoral Journey July 3, 2012.

This evening we celebrate not only our own independence, but we join our Rwandan hosts in commemorating their independence and liberation.

We congratulate the Rwandan people for the remarkable successes they have had on their journey since Rwanda’s liberation.

We Americans have been on our own journey since independence as well, one which we would like to share with you tonight. As you know, later this year Americans go to the polls to vote for a president.

In 2012, voting is a right that Americans over the age of 18 are privileged to enjoy. It wasn’t always this way.

You’ve no doubt by now had the chance to look around at some of the displays we’ve arranged for you tonight, and seen how they chronicle our electoral journey to the universal suffrage we now enjoy. I’d like you to indulge me as I share with you a bit of that journey.

At the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1787 voting was largely restricted to white, male property owners. As you can imagine, this was not a large segment of the population at the time.

The idea of universal voting rights was still a foreign concept even to our founding fathers, who are portrayed at our first table, yet they planted and nurtured the seed of the idea that citizens could and should be responsible for selecting their own government. As the definition of citizenship grew over the years, so did the expansion of voting rights.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, voting laws were expanded to include non-property owners, until by 1850, almost all white males could vote. This was progress, yes, and yet more than half of the U.S. population was still excluded from voting.

The next group to receive the vote were freed slave men, with the passage of the 15th Amendment to our Constitution in 1870.

There was tremendous opposition to this amendment, particularly from the former slaveholding states, and as the right to vote is governed at the state level, many raised barriers to continue to exclude black Americans.

This was unfortunately to remain the norm in many parts of the United States for the next 90 years.

Women, for their part, were never considered potential voters in the nineteenth century. They had to fight for their right. You’ll see at our second table some of the highlights of the women’s suffrage movement.

Begun as early as the late 1840s by brave women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, it took nearly 70 years of women’s activism before the 19th amendment was signed into law in 1920, giving the vote to women.

Four years later, Native Americans were also enfranchised and given citizenship, including the right to vote.

The final table you see documents the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. Though legally black Americans had been given the vote in 1870, for 90-some years they had often been prevented from voting in one way or another.

Dr. Martin Luther King in 1965 mounted a major voter registration drive to draw attention to African-American voting rights, leading ultimately to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protected the voting rights of minorities and outlawed literacy tests as a prerequisite for voting.

Since then, we’ve made other changes to voting rights – lowering the voting age to 18, making it easier to register, all with the idea of making the right to vote more accessible to ensure that our government is truly representative of who we are as a nation.

That’s not to say that all has been smooth in our electoral process since then. We all remember the presidential election of 2000.

For more than a month the world watched as we debated the vote count in the state of Florida, and ultimately called upon the Supreme Court to play its role as neutral arbiter of the contested election.

It wasn’t pretty, and many Americans were disappointed by the ugliness of the discourse. But in the end, our institutions proved stronger than partisan bickering, and a president was duly installed in the White House.

We drew from it the lesson that it was ok to disagree, and to debate, and even to rage at each other, but in the end, the systems our forefathers created, and that we have endeavored to improve over the years since our independence, have proven unshakable.

As Americans go to the polls again later this year to elect a president, we know that while our system is not perfect, it is self-correcting. Our long electoral journey has shown us that we can overcome the errors of the past, and for this, we celebrate.

From the original idea that government “by the people, for the people” was indeed possible, we have developed into a nation confident that the institutions built to enshrine that principle will endure.

We know that Rwandans share these same ideals that we hold so dear, and with this in common, we are able to come together to do great things.

Our presence here in Rwanda is a reflection of the very real value we place on our relationship, and of our mutual desire to collaborate on Rwanda’s continued progress away from the scars of its past into a bright future.

I see this bright future every day in the faces of young Rwandans who I meet and talk to. I am confident that as we move forward in step with each other, we will continue to see the same progress as we have seen in the past.

As we join together to celebrate our nation and its people, we are truly honored by the presence tonight of so many friends. We thank you all for your company, and thank the Government of Rwanda for its close cooperation with us over the years.

I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Embassy, who worked so hard to make this event a success.

I would like to raise a toast to us all – to our Rwandan hosts, to our Embassy staff, to President Kagame, and to the people of Rwanda and the United States.

I toast our cooperation and our continued mutual respect as we work together for the benefit of the American and Rwandan people. If you would all raise your glasses and join me.

I thank you all.

{{The World Bank Group today announced the debarment of two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Oxford University Press (OUP), namely: Oxford University Press East Africa Limited (OUPEA) and Oxford University Press Tanzania Limited (OUPT).}}

The three-year suspension follows OUP’s acknowledgment of misconduct by its two subsidiaries in relation to two Bank-financed education projects in East Africa.

The debarment is part of a Negotiated Resolution Agreement between OUP and the World Bank Group. In May 2011, investigators from the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) approached OUP about potential misconduct in Africa.

Following this, OUP conducted an internal investigation into its operations and reported its findings to INT.

“This debarment is testimony to the Bank’s continued commitment to protecting the integrity of its projects. OUP’s acknowledgment of misconduct and the thoroughness of its investigation is evidence of how companies can address issues of fraud and corruption and change their corporate practices to foster integrity in the development business. ”

“In this case, working with the Serious Fraud Office also demonstrates the scope of collective action in deterring corruption impacting the progress of development,” said Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice President.

The two companies made improper payments to government officials for two contracts to supply text books in relation to two World Bank-financed projects. As a result, OUPEA and OUPT will be debarred for three years and OUP will receive a conditional non-debarment.

In addition, in order to remedy part of the harm done by the misconduct, OUP has agreed to make a payment of US$500,000 as part of the Negotiated Resolution.

Under the Agreement, OUP and its related undertakings, including OUPEA and OUPT, commit to cooperate with the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency and continue to improve their internal compliance program.

The debarment of OUPEA and OUPT qualifies for cross-debarment by other MDBs under the Agreement of Mutual Recognition of Debarments that was signed on April 9, 2010.

{{As Rwandans celebrate the 18th Liberation anniversary, somewhere in Kigali, IGIHE Ltd is celebrating its 3rd year since it started operations on 1st July, 2009.}}

The media company that has revolutionized that Rwandan media landscape through embracing technology and the era of the internet is today one of the success stories of the peace, prosperity and unity ushered in by the Liberation struggle that has also guided Rwanda to the 50th Independence Celebrations.

IGIHE Ltd, started with a news website, www.igihe.com, that was published in Kinyarwanda and run mostly by students pursuing their studies in NUR, KIST, SFB and KIE among others.

Under the leadership of Murindabigwi Meilleur, www.igihe.com has grown into the most recognizable, reputable and model start-up in Rwanda.

In the 3 years, IGIHE Ltd, has diversified its product portfolio to include – www.wikirwanda.org, www.igihe.tv, IGIHE Newspaper – all in a bid to address the needs of the Rwandan community.

In celebration of its 3rd Anniversary, IGIHE Ltd commits to advancing the standards and quality of service provision to its esteemed clients – who log on and visit our websites everyday to stay up-to-date with the latest news stories in sports, entertainment, politics, development – all an inspiration to us to work even harder.

Great appreciation also goes to our partners (advertisers) who have supported us over the past 3 years and continue to work as we grow together.

More so, to all the players in the Rwandan media landscape, we salute you all – print, broadcast, web – for your cooperation and competition that has facilitated in the development of quality and growth of the free media in Rwanda.

Under the tutorship of the Media High Council, the media in Rwanda is on the right track to vision 2020.

In celebration, we can not forget our great team at IGIHE Ltd, the youthful and disciplined staff of writers, technicians and management who have overseen the growth of IGIHE over the past 3 years – started with 30 visits daily to now 70,000 visits per day – all an achievement of resilience.

All the awards that we have achieved is a celebration of our united efforts as a team to inform, educate and contribute to the Rwandan success achieved 18 years after the Liberation.

In joining us to celebrate this milestone, in the words of H.E President Paul Kagame, “..In Rwanda, as we begin the next stage of our journey, we will continue to entrench the values that have brought us this far – unity, hard work, mutual respect and shared responsibility.” We are committed to consolidating our achievements.

Thank you

IGIHE Team

{{Are you a manager or aspiring to become one? There are ten things that you ought to know that will make you a good manager.}}

Foremost, you must Acknowledge your Staff; When a member of staff does a job well,make sure you notice it,and acknowlwdge them for it.
Do not let the opportunity to praise a piece of good work by.

Never,ever,Humuliate anyone on your staff team; If you are annoyed with someone on your team,or they have done something wrong,make sure you keep your keep your cool,especially in public.

If you you humiliate someone,they will hold a grudge against you,and their work will suffer.

Create a culture where mistakes are Ok; If you do not make mistakes,chances are you are not stretching yourself.

If your staff are allowed to feel that mistakes are part of reaching for new highs rather than somethings to feel bad about,or shamed for,then they will take more risks on your behalf.

Rememeber Personal details; Take times to get to know your staff,who they are,who is important in their lives,etc.Be interstes in them as people,not just as workers.

Don’t hide behind Your Position; Be human and friendly with your staf-that you will be able to support and encourage each other when are though.

Be approachable; Allow your staff to feel that they can come and talk to you about sensitive issues ,about inside-and outside-work difficulties,and that you will respect them,and not hold what they share against them.

Admit your mistakes: If you get wrong,say yes.Mnagers do not have to be infallible.Your staff will respect you more if you are able to admit your mistakes,and then set about sorting out s solution.

Listen in such a way that your employees will talk to you; Often people feel afraid of,or intimidated by management.Make sure you show people that you are

Willing to listen to what they are important and and worthy of your time.
Be clear in your requests

It is your responsibility to ensure that people understand your requests-so communicate clearly,and ask if people have understood what you are asking for.

Treat everyone respectfully and courteously at all times Particularly when there is a problem.

Everyone who works for you is a valuable human being who deserves respect.
A manager is only as good as how she oo he treats the people on her.

{{On the 50th Anniversary of Rwanda’s Independence and 18th Year of Rwanda’s Liberation, The High Commission of Rwanda in South Africa organized an event that gathered about 250 Rwandans resident in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique and Angola.}}

The event was a moment to reflect on the past and the future and to enjoy what has so far been achieved in Rwanda.

The High Commissioner Vincent Karega told the audience that commemorating the independence doesn’t mean that one neglect the bad memories that came with the independence.

He stressed the importance of reflecting on Rwanda’s past to build a better future and urged them to play a significant role in consolidating what has been achieved.

He highlighted the achievements brought by Gacaca, medical insurance for all, 9Year Basic education, prioritizing education, economic development, the repatriation of more than 3 million of Rwandans and Rwandas’s recognition in international fora.

The event was marked by a performance of Massambe Intore who brought back memories of patriotic songs such as “ Tuhuje Amarembo” and “ Jenga Talifaka” among other popular songs.

Munezero Jean Roger, a new Rwandan artist based in Johannesburg, also took this opportunity to share his new album with the public.

{{Three men have been arrested by Police in Gasabo district (on Friday) in connection with possession of counterfeit currency note of Frw 5000 denomination.}}

The suspects have been identified as Eric Uzabakiriho, Alphonse Rugiraneza and Deo Ndutiye. All the three suspects confessed to have been using a scanner to duplicate money.

The suspects are detained at Rusororo Police station while investigations into the matter are underway.

Police urges everyone including banks to always inspect money and other paper notes before offering services to avoid being cheated.

If found guilty the three are likely to be sentenced between 5 and 10 years and pay a fine up to Frw 100,000 according article 202 and 204 of the Rwandan penal code.