Category: News

{{More Rwandan refugees have continued to visit their mother country, Rwanda to obtain the truth about the progress made and thus help them decide on returning to settle in Rwanda.}}

The Visits are arranged under a program entitled “Come and See, Go and Tell”. The program is managed by the Ministry in charge of Disaster Management and Refugees.

After 18 years, Gerardine Mukakabego, a lecturer in Zambia has met his relatives including her mother resident in Huye district in the southern province.

Mukakabego is a lecturer at two universities in Zambia namely national University of Zambia and Gavendish University.

She arrived with fabrice Habinshuti and Marie Christine Ineza all from Zambia.

Habinshuti, 20 said that he is happy to come back to Rwanda because it had been difficult for him to come. “I am happy to visit Rwanda after 10 years; it was hard for me to get a visa and I don’t know why I am a refugee.”

He added that he faces many obstacles as a football player. “I cannot obtain a passport as a Zambian citizen. This prevents me from attending specific games.”

Placide Bernard Ndayambaje in charge of helping refugees’ repatriation said that the program helps them to know the current status of Rwanda.

He added that it also help refugees know the exact truth of Rwanda contrary to some people who blackmail Rwanda.

He said, “those who don’t refugees to come are those who are Genocide suspects who fear to remain alone abroad once other refugees are repatriated.”

The government of Rwanda has decided to send possible documents wishing to come to visit Rwanda and it also provide the ticket for those who are completely returning from exile to reach their homes.

This triple visited different places including Huye town, the National University of Rwanda and a family of one of them residing at Sovu in Huye sector.

They fully appreciated the achievements of Rwanda as some of them like Mukakabego went in exile during 1994 Tutsi Genocide.

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{{Yvonne Uwayisenga vice chairperson Political Affairs and Gender Committee in the lower chamber of deputies described Tharcisse Shamakokera as honest with integrity.}}

Uwayisenga worked with the late Shamakokera at the Prime Minister’s office and later at the Parliament. She says he will be missed by former co-workers, friends, family and the nation.

“He was an honourable man and hard working. May God rest his soul in peace,” Uwayisenga said.

Shamakokera Represented Nyarugenge District in Parliament. He died Tuesday night at King Faisal Hospital after prolonged illness.

Francis Kaboneka also a member of parliament said Shamakokera was a very hard working man who had the country at his heart.

“To some of us, he has been an advisor. We are going to miss him very much”. Kaboneka said.

MP. Henriette Sebera Mukamurangwa said it was so sad especially now that, in this mandate, again they have lost another colleague. “It is a tragedy.”

“The late honorable Shemakokera was a very humble man, very kind and social. Let him rest in peace, is all I can say.” Mukamurangwa added.

Joseph Desire Nyandwi says that although their late colleague had been hospitalised for long time, his death came as a shock.

“He was more than a colleague. He was hard working and selfless,” Nyandwi said.

The late Shamakokera was a Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) party representative at parliament House.

He died at age of 68 survived with a wife and four children, as well as grand children. His mother too is still alive.

{{Police in Burera district yesterday arrested five men for allegedly attempting to smuggle 2,055 kilograms of fertilizers into Uganda.}}

According to Police sources in Burera, the five men were arrested by security forces at around 10PM near the Cyanika border post while trying to cross the fertilizers to Uganda using a Daihatsu truck.

Police investigations indicate that, the smugglers had planned to drop the fertilizers at Mugo trading center where it would later be taken to Uganda by one Rukara who had acted as a middle man in the crime.

The arrested have been identified as; Gilbert Nzabarinda, Pierre Serugendo, Jean Bosco Mbarimombazi, Damascene Biziyaremye and Innocent Tuyiringire. They are all detained at Gahunga Police station.

Police Spokesperson Superintendent Theos Badege condemned the criminal act and warned that those involved in siphoning goods meant for common interest shall be dealt with.

Badege stressed that the arrest should be a warning to whoever harbours thoughts of committing the same crime that Police will never tolerate them.

“Fertilizers are meant to help local farmers increase farm production and thus improve their standards of living but not for private interests”, Badege noted.

Referring to fertilizer thieves as anti-development, he called on the public to shun people with such ideas and instead share information about any dubious activities so that they can be apprehended and brought to book.

Police is doing investigation to apprehend two more persons still on the run one of them according to Police had working agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture to distribute fertilizers to both Nyabihu and Rubavu district.

{{Police in Ruhango District on Tuesday, arrested a man accused of raping a neighbour’s wife. The suspect, John Singirankabo, is being held at the police station in Nyamagana.}}

According to reliable sources in Ruhango sector, the victim Nyiramutarambirwa invited Singirankabo as a traditional healer to administer remedies because she could not get pregnant after two years of marriage.

Dusabimana, the victim’s husband, had gone to work, but on his return at home an hour later, he was surprised to find his wife being raped by Singirankabo. The healer had used substances that made Nyiramutarambirwa asleep.

Acting spontaneously, Dusabimana locked the two in his house and then called the police and neighbours who immediately intervened.

The victim was taken to Kabgayi hospital, where preliminary tests confirmed she had been raped. Meanwhile, Singirankabo denies allegations of attempted rape.

Once convicted of rape, Singirankabo is likely to be sentenced to imprisonment from 5 to 10 years in accordance with Article 336 of the Penal Code Rwanda.

Police Spokesman Superintendent Theos Badege urged Rwandans to see doctors instead of using witchcraft.

“The decentralization of health services of our time allows easy access to healthcare and health insurance. One should not opt for witchcraft as healing method,” advised the Superintendent
Badege.

Badege said the police will track criminals of any kind and that the law will be enforced against them.

{{The mayor of Kigali city, Fidele Ndayisaba has requested EPA pupils to embrace cleanliness and always struggle for it.}}

Ndayisaba said, “cleanliness does not depend on the age but it makes proud anyone exhibiting it; that’s why cleanliness should be a characteristic of anyone.”

He told pupils that they have to participate in the sensitization on the cleanness during this month set aside for Hygiene.

He said, “let’s stand for loving cleanliness and teach each other about it; don’t dispose rubbish anywhere but put it in bins in order required for rubbish disposal.”

Kigali city launched the Hygiene month on 15 February 2012 where city authorities visited Kimironko market, Bloom Hotel and Kibagabaga Hospital.

{{On 8th March 2012, celebrations to mark Women’s day will be held at the cell level while the national festivity will be held at a yet to be indentified venue at Rubavu district.}}

Egidia Rukundo the focal point at the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, reminded Kicukiro district leaders that celebration to mark Women’s day should serve as a wakeup call to empower women in their various occupations.

Each year International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8.
Thousands of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.

In this respect, Rukundo noted that the celebrations will start a whole month awareness on how to empower women and girls on how to improve their welfare, the campaign is also in line with this year’s theme (empower rural women-end hunger and poverty).

She further rebuffed misconceptions from some women who tend to harass their men during women’s day, thinking that it’s their time to relax while the man does all the chores.

“This kind of reasoning is funny since it doesn’t address the meaning of women’s day, rather this is a day a man and his wife should analyze the welfare of their family, which helps the two to combine efforts in solving some of the challenges affecting them, I think by doing so that would bring some relevance to this day,” said Rukundo.

{{The Joint United Nations Office for Human Rights (UNJHRO) expressed concern Wednesday about the security situation prevailing in the territory of Kalehe, in the province of South Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).}}

Attacks by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) armed group “Nyatura” causing the displacement of many civilians. This insecurity is always, according to the UNJHRO, a serious threat to the civilian population and the situation of human rights.

In Lubumbashi, Katanga province, from 14 to 16 February 2012, the BCNHDH trained 15 representatives of NGOs on Human Rights and civil society in monitoring and investigative techniques on sexual violence.

Madnodje Mounoubai, civilian spokesman for Monusco indicates that this training is part of the project supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation and was to fight against impunity for sexual violence in a region where many rape cases are “arranged” in an amicable and many victims do not report incidents to the authorities.

{{Police in Remera, Kigali City, is holding five men in connection with theft of sixteen computers stolen from La Colombiere Secondary School. The recovered computers are valued at over Frw5m.}}

The arrested suspects have been identified as; Eric Kaneza, Theonest Nizeyimana, Emmanuel Nshimiyimana, Agustin Nzaragira and Jean Pierre Munzege.

According to Police in Remera, they received a tip off from a motorcycle taxi operator (names withheld for security reasons) about the stolen computers that were hidden in Batsinda village at Kagugu cell.

The witness told Police that, he saw several fellow Motorcycle taxi operators in the night of 21st while carrying computers. “They asked me to help them carry the computers”.

The witness agreed to be part of the activity on motive to find out where they store the computers and later report the matter to Police.

Asked how the computers were stolen, Agustin Nzaragira and Jean Pierre Munzege the Garsec security guards also among the arrested suspects said they had no idea how the door was forcefully opened.

Speaking to journalists at Remera Police Station, the Head Mistress Françoise Nyirantagorama lauded Police for helping recover the lost school computers.

“As usual, we locked the classrooms however, the following day, we found the door of the computer laboratory destroyed and discovered that some computers had gone missing”, Nyirantagorama said.

She accuses the security guards to have connived with the thieves to break into the school premises and take off the computers.

Police Spokesperson Superintendent Theos Badege attributed the arrest of the five men to the good collaboration with citizens.

Badege advised the youth to opt for income generating activities rather than engaging in unlawful activities that usually invite trouble.

He advised security guards proprietors to employ trusted people with more integrity.

{{Roman Catholic Father Juvenal Nsengiyumva, a Rwandan catholic priest in Montreal,Canada will be deported reportedly due to driving under the influence of Alcohol, IGIHE.com has reliably learnt.}}

The Montreal court ruled that Father Nsengiyumva be deported after finding him guilty of driving under the influence of Alcohol.

Father Nsengiyumva from Musanze District was accused of charged with complicity and inciting violence in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

He was later cleared of all charges after a tough legal battle that extended to his choice of writing to the Vatican seeking help and denouncing the post Genocide government.

Nsengiyumva was ordained in 1992 and served at Ruhengeri Diocese until July 1994. He fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) together with several other Catholic priests.

He however, seems to have launched another battle against being deported claiming that his life will be in danger once deported to Rwanda.

members of the Rwandan community in Montreal say that Nsengiyumva is known to give sermons that denounce the current Rwanda government.

In his most recent speeches, Nsengiyumva tells a different story of the genocide in which he blames RPF for the massacres in 1994 that claimed over one million lives.

He arrived in Canada in 1999 where he claimed refugee protection but his claim was rejected.

{{Rwanda President Paul Kagame has urged world leaders to support smallholder farmers if the world is to achieve sustainable agriculture productivity and environment protection.}}

Kagame made the call on Wednesday during the 35th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) held under the theme, “Sustainable smallholder agriculture: feeding the world, protecting the planet”.

He was among the key speakers at the inaugural ceremony of the two-day meeting held at the headquarters of IFAD in Rome, Italy.

“If the world is to meet the twin objectives of feeding the growing population and protecting the environment we will have to do what we know works.” Kagame said. “And that is targeted support and investment in smallholder farming to raise agricultural productivity, contribute to food security and reduce poverty, while protecting our planet.”

Using Rwanda’s experience, the President said that the world’s growing population can get enough food only if smallholder farmers have access to basic modern farming tools including fertilizers, improved seeds and professional advices.

“Over the last five years, a significant increase from smallholder farms has had a noticeable impact on the lives of our citizens. Agricultural GDP has grown at an average of 8 percent ensuring food security and higher incomes for farmers,” he added.

“This has directly resulted in one million Rwandans moving above the poverty line in the same period.”

FAO estimates that 525 million farms exist worldwide, nearly 77 percent of which are small-scale (less than 2 hectares) and occupy about 60 percent of
the world’s arable land.

President Kagame elaborated the importance of smallholder farmers, especially in developing countries, noting that smallholder agriculture remains the source of livelihood and food supply for the majority of the population.

“In that sense every farmer counts none is too small to be ignored,” the President emphasized.

The Head of State told representatives of IFAD member countries that Rwandans are assuming ownership of the agriculture transformation thus working to move away from subsistence farming to market oriented farming.

He singled out a number of home grown initiatives that have turned out to
be important tools for Rwanda’s Development.

The one cow per poor family programme, land consolidation and the crop intensification programme, Kagame pointed out, have contributed to increased agricultural productivity.

“For example between 2007 and 2010, production of maize tripled and that of both wheat and cassava more than doubled.”

The Head of State further stressed that Rwanda’s programs to increase agricultural productivity go hand in hand with environment conservation because it is one of the benchmarks of governance for which leaders at all levels are held accountable.

Despite the progress, President Kagame warned that there is still a long way to go and called for increased investment in “research and new technologies to raise production and productivity and for value addition, especially to staple food crops.”

The President added that there is a need to make available sufficient resources to strengthen rural financial systems for farmers. He also emphasized that policies that ensure the participation of citizens and close cooperation of development partners can make things better.

President Kagame thanked IFAD, FAO, WFP the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for backing Rwanda’s development programmes.

Later in the day, President Kagame and IFAD boss Kanayo F. Nwanze a joint press conference, during which the Rwandan leader stressed that international institutions should listen more, dictate less and should align their support to national priorities.

Looking ahead, the IFAD boss outlined his institution’s priorities.
“We will also be expanding our partnerships with the private sector, making smallholder farmers more visible business partners in their efforts to feed the world.” Nwanze said.

“The Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme will make IFAD a leader in climate-smart funding for smallholders.”

“And we will expand our presence in fragile states and the remote areas of developing countries where IFAD has always worked.” he pledged.

President Paul Kagame held separate talks with the Kanayo F. Mwanze the President of the International Fund for Agriculture Development and Mrs. Ertharin Cousin the Upcoming Executive Director of the World Food Programme.

Talks focused on relations that Rwanda has with IFAD and PAM. The President thanked the two organizations for their continued support to Rwanda.