Category: News

{{Kirehe residents will be able to access clean and safe water thanks to the Japanese international cooperation Agency (JICA) construction and rehabilitation of water supply facilities launched this Wednesday.}}

The Japan Ambassador Kunio Hatanaka said the purpose of the project is to increase safe water access targeting 55,000 beneficiaries in 11 sectors of Kirehe and Ngoma by the end of 2011.

The state Minister in charge of Energy and Water, Eng. Collette Ruhamya told citizens to safeguard water which will soon be accessed in their district and remember how essential water is in life.

The Minister expressed gratitude to Japanese government in committing itself to double developmental assistance to Rwanda.

“Most people in rural areas normally have a challenge of fetching water from valleys far away from their homes and the rehabilitation of water supply will improve the standard of living for many vulnerable citizens”, says Ambassador Hatanaka.

He added that water supply will improve from the present 41.6% to 57.4% in 2014 and the project will approximately cost US$18 Million in the construction and rehabilitation facilities.

He further explained that the project will provide support in establishment of administration system of the cooperatives for operation and maintanenance and of the capacity of the districts to supervise the cooperatives.

With pleasure, Berancie Mukarugwiza says “we are grateful for JICA we will no longer drink water from swamps”.

She further says Kirehe residents used to travel about a kilometer to fetch water, but at the present safe water will be near their houses”.

“I used to first go downhill for water and be late at school, now JICA is soon solving the dilemma” says Denise Umutesi a student at Nyakarama Secondary School.

She added, “Safe water will enable me to make general cleaning of my body and clothes more often than I used because I used to wash from swamps”.

At the fourth Tokyo international Conference for African Development(TICAD IV) in 2008, that is when the Japanese government agreed to double its overseas development assistance (ODA) to Africa by 2012,targeting water as one of its key development areas.

JICA’s major goal is providing safe drinking water to 6.5 million people in Africa as stated in a press release.

{{Genocide survivors in Huye district are willing to plan a protest against the recent acquittal of genocide charges towards Runyinya Barabwiriza a former adviser to late president Juvénal Habyarimana.}}

Laura Gatera a survivor in Butare town disclosed that Barabwiriza was a close a friend and he had no doubt that he took part in preparing the genocide since he was also the Huye head of National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) the ruling political party by then which organaized the massacres.

“I saw him chairing several meetings with militias , he also went to an extent of advocating for more weapon distribution in our area, really I wonder why the court set him free,” he argued.

Recently the Huye based intermediary court highlighted that evidence against the alleged genocider had been contradictory yet prosecutors said they would appeal. “We have appealed but the exact date hasn’t been communicated yet,” Gatera remarked.

The prosecutor in charge of the case refused to disclose any information citing that only the prosecutor spokesman was allowed to communicate to press. Efforts to reach the spokesman were fruitless as his phone wouldn’t go through.

Janvier Forongo the executive secretary of IBUKA (association of genocide survivors) condemned the court’s ruling adding that it was disrespect to those affected by the war. “It’s so discouraging to find that some of the witnesses like Jean Pierre Rutagengwa who was last night stoned because of giving his testimony,” he said adding,” we urge all witnesses to be strong and give out the truth.”

{{Over a thousand youths from Rwanda and eight other countries are camping at Nyamirambo’s Sainte Andre secondary school to discuss behavioral initiatives that can fight temptations threatening their future.}}

The camping was organized by the International Youth Forum (IYF) that has been operating in Rwanda for the past five years. It’s permanent secretary Blaze Nyiribakwe said that so far they have transformed many from “immoral behavior”.

“Most of the drug addicts counseled at the centre are progressing well and others have decided to become volunteers to assist others, especially their friends still involved in drug abuse,” he stressed.

Moreover, behavior change he emphasized is about encouraging the youth to exploit their talents rather than being idle during when many fall into temptations.

The weeklong camp will see participants take part in various activities meant to exploit their talents as a way strengthening the youth networks in the region.

According to Rwanda’s IYF public relations officer Peter Kiogothi, there will be sports, debate competition, performance and mind education which is similar to counseling.

“In sports we intend to have soccer, volleyball, athletics and many others, while in debate there will be topics based on the role of youth in developing their countries. Competitions on the other hand will be based on talent exploitation, singing, dancing and English speech contest.” Kiogothi said.

Serge Nzabonimpa, the advisor, ministry of youth urged participants to interact and share ideas highly meant to develop themselves.

“You should strive to learn from one another while strengthening the spirit of unity across the world if you want to achieve more,” he emphasised.

IYF has been organizing similar camps in other countries, especially during holiday seasons in order to discourage the youth from being tempted into corrupt behaviors.

Kiogothi further noted that participants are taught on Godly practices whose past fellowships helped a lot.

Jin Yudan and Miao Danying are university students from China attending the camp who noted that they expect to learn a lot from Rwandan culture and history and wished that local participants would open up and freely talk to them about the challenges there face.

“In terms of culture exchange we intend to train them how to be punctual because I’ve realized that the majority are late. This camp is about respect and courtesy towards each other,” Yudan said

After the camp, the teachings do not end rather they proceed in various clubs formed by IYF particularly in learning institutions.

“In Kigali we have formed clubs in over five secondary schools and higher learning institutions such as Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and the national university of Rwanda and so far there’s progress,” said Director of IYF Rwanda Chapter Bongjin ko.

“We conduct special language courses including English, Swahili, Korean and Chinese,” said Bongjin ko.

He further pointed out that the lessons also promote their communication skills, especially when interacting with other youth from foreign countries.

The Institute for Youth Fellowship which is ran by volunteers was founded by a South Korean pastor Ock Soo Park in 1990, to help mankind overcome some of the world’s temptation Challenges through strengthening their faith in God.

By: Igihe.com Reporter

{{Rwanda’s permanent secretary in East African Community Robert Ssali has said Rwanda still faces the challenge of capacity building in its national budgeting process.}}

Ssali told {igihe.com} shortly after officially opening the two day 7th Annual Seminar of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) taking place at Serena Hotel.

“Like any other country in Africa, they almost share challenges in their national budget process, challenges persist around the implementation of budget reforms and execution,” Ssali said.

According to the press release, African public financial management (PFM) systems generally suffer from an implementation deficit laws and processes may be in place but seldom affect actual behavior.

He, however, says Rwanda has done quite a lot in 17 years after the 1994 genocide to improve in almost every sector including using well foreign aid that have been directed to national budget.

“Rwanda has really picked up quickly, it has dealt with public finance management systems very seriously instilling discipline in all operators on accountability. To me, discipline of fiscal related matters is the key,” he said adding that Rwanda is the least corrupt country in this region which makes her do well in budget reforms.

Ssali says that seminar was critical to African countries since most of them have their national budgets that are not fully supported by their own resources.

For him the important thing is not having a national budget in place but how to effectively make the budget implemented and serve the needs of the citizens.

The theme of the seminar is “Making Budgets Work – The Implementation Challenge” and emerging information indicate that making budgets work is critical for efficient and effective service delivery, economic growth and socio-economic development.

The 7th CABRI annual Seminar will also explore the reasons and identify possible solutions for the implementation deficit.

The focus will be on three implementation challenges in particular, how to create organisational structures that are most conducive to improved pubic financial management, how to enforce legal frameworks and how to improve fiscal decentralisation to improve local budgeting and service delivery.

Senior budget officials from across Africa met to share knowledge on common challenges of budget implementation on the continent.

Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) is a professional network of senior budget officials of African Ministries of Finance and/or Planning.
Rwanda is one of the CABRI founding members and also sits on the Management Committee.

{{Rwanda is hosting a high powered international conference dubbed: “Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CAFRI)” mainly attended by senior Africa budget technocrats at Serena Hotel.}}

According Seebundhun Kresh, the Chair Person of CABRI from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Mauritius, the participants will explore the reasons and identify possible solutions for the national implementation challenges in particular.

Seebundhun said that delegates will exchange the ideals to create organizational structures that are most conductive to improve on public financial management.

“The main challenge to most countries is practical enforcement of budgets within legal framework.

“It’s also challenging to implement fiscal decentralization to improve local budgeting and service delivery in many African countries and this forum will participants to exchange practical experience to resolve the obstacles,” Seebundhun added.

The permanent Secretary ministry of East African Affairs Robert Ssali reasserted Seebundhun’s observations saying Rwandan budget technocrats will share knowledge on common challenges of budget implementation with their counterparts on the continent.

“Rwanda Achieved remarkable progress in public finance management in a relative short period and that is why we selected to host the 7th annual seminar. We should not cry for what we do not have and think that the happiest ones are those who have much, but rather we should appreciate the
little we have,” said Ssali.

He further said, challenges still remain but Rwanda will have an opportunity to share experiences with peers on how such challenges can be addressed, “The biggest challenge is that, donors influence our budget decisions which could be as a democratic process to our development,” Ssali told participants.

Germany International Corporation (GIZ) Representative help partner countries in technical and budget matters told {Igihe.com}, “it is essential for the African countries to meet and learn from each other how to manage the economy, as tax payers need to know how their money is well used,” he says.

Different countries face capacity building problem according to the requirements of donors, and priority setting in the implementation process of where to put the budget in the right position, he added.

Rwanda is a member CABRI, a professional network of senior budget officials from ministries of finance and planning in Africa with the mission to promote efficient management of public finances in Africa. Up to 27 member countries send delegations to attend the conference.

By: Igihe.com Reporter

{{Rwandan businessmen have not been compliant to international standards for quality assurance, the Director General of Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe has said.}}

Cyubahiro was attending a three day Regional Conformity Assessment workshop on product certification practices to ISO members.

“The challenges we have is convincing businessmen to have their products certified to meet international standards that gives one credibility and access to international market because you become trusted,” Cyubahiro said.

The certification is done by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for quality assurance of products.

Though certified products are highly needed on the international market, only 43 products have been certified with ISO in Rwanda.

African continent has gone below 3% of international business and it is believed that lack of certified products on international standards for quality assurance is among the contributors.

The ongoing workshop in Kigali which will end tomorrow August 18, has attracted about 50 participants from 27 African countries involved in conformity assessment activities.

The workshop aims at providing latest information on understanding the ISO standards and guides that set out the internationally agreed practices on conformity assessment activities.

Another focus will be made in respect to product certification practices, associated standards, and to respond to issues of special interest to the region during the workshop.

The ISO 9,000 family of standards relates to quality management systems and is designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders.

The standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization and available through National standards bodies.

The ISO 9,000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems including the eight management principles on which the family of standards is based with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard have to fulfill.

{{President Paul Kagame yesterday evening appointed Teddy Gacinya as a new Senator.}}

In a statement released by the office of the President stating, “Gacinya has been made the new Senator replacing Aloysia Inyumba who is currently the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion”.

Gacinya will take the oath today August 17, at around 3pm, in the event that will be held at the Parliamentary Building.

Teddy Gacinya has been made a Senator to serve for just a year prior to the end of the term in office for most Senators because they are constitutionally mandated to serve one five year term that is not renewable.

President Kagame also appointed Alfred Gasana as the new Head of the Internal Security in the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).

This follows the July 13, this year reshuffle where Col. Dan Munyuza was made the Head of External Intelligence in NISS.

Lawmakers have also replaced late Aimable Nibishaka with Marie Josee Kankera while Amiel Semahundo replaced Alexander Ashinzuwera who was expelled from parliamentary seat recently under what the fellow Parliamentarians termed as “misconduct”.

The controversial legislator who had been elected to represent the youth through delegates electoral college tried to challenge his dismissal in court in vain.

By Andrew kareba

{{A police Constable Frank Bizimungu was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and decorated with a police exemplary medal by President Paul Kagame, after his selfless act of picking and reporting a bag containing US$ 40,000 (Frw 24 million) two months ago.}}

Bizimungu works at Kigali International Airport picked and returned the money to the rightful owner Idris Darcourt a British by Nationality. The bag contained the money with cheque books and credit cards.

After decorating Bizimungu, the Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana said, he could get this Rank after 9 year, but due to his (Bizimungu) exemplary act and integrity, he deserves a house from the Police housing projects.

The country cannot develop if corruption is not fought, especially by the Authorities, Harelimana said. He further noted that, constable Bizimungu had forgone his salary 4000 times simply because it was his call, duty and responsibility to return the money to the owner.

The Minister revealed the National Police is embarking on a project aimed at rewarding best performing police departments and now they have commenced awarding exemplary Police individuals.

“Bizimungu is young and could have easily kept money with him. This should be a good example to Rwandans in general, this has promoted and recognized his actions,” said Immacule Ingabire the director of Transparency Rwanda.

On his part the decorated police constable appreciated the recognition and rewards accrued to him.

“I want to thank the President and the Rwanda National Police for considering what I did and trust me through the promotion and the medal. If I took the money, it could have been a great shame to me, my family and Rwanda as whole,” said Bizimungu.

He called upon his colleagues to always set good examples in their duties and people they serve to give Rwanda a good image.

{{Rwanda’s prosecutor general Martin Ngoga has told {Igihe.com} that Government of Rwanda is willing to continue offering its support to the Internaitonal Criminal Court at Hague in Netherlands.}}

Ngoga was reacting to news that FDLR’s Callixte Mbarushimana is slated to face ICC judges this week to confirm charges for his alleged role in the murder, rape and torture of Congolese civilians in 2009.

“Even though we’re not signatories to the Rome statute, we will support them (ICC) where necessary. So far we have assisted them in investigations and we hope to work more with the international court especially in transferring home some of the genocide fugitives,” Ngoga explained.

Ngoga also revealed that Rwanda intends to press genocide charges against Mbarushimana once the ICC is done with his case on human rights violations.

“We didn’t want to mix all these cases at once, let the ICC finish its case first and then we will come later, our aim also is to have him extradited back to Rwanda,” said Ngoga.

Prosecutors will try to prove to the ICC judges that they have enough evidence to proceed to a war crimes and crimes against humanity trial against the 48-year-old Rwandan.

Lawyers for the man identified as the executive secretary of the FDLR rebel group will also be given a chance to refute the charges in a hearing that opens on Wednesday and is set to last three days.

After the initial hearing closes, judges at the Hague-based court will have a maximum of 60 days to decide whether there are prema-facie grounds for the trial.

ICC prosecutors accuse the former computer technician of five counts of crimes against humanity and six war crimes committed in 2009 in two provinces in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, North Kivu and South Kivu.

The case included murder, rape and torture against Congolese civilians. Prosecutors believe he “directed or helped to direct” from Paris the abuses carried out in clashes between the FDLR and both the Congolese and Rwandan armies.

Prosecutors further allege that FDLR members forced civilian men to rape women, mutilated the genitals of rape victims, cut open the wombs of pregnant women to remove their fetuses, and burnt down homes.

The FDLR, considered one of the most active rebel groups in the volatile Great Lakes region, is “the last incarnation of the group of persons who committed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda”, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has previously said.

More than 15,000 cases of sexual violence have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2009.

Mbarushimana’s lawyer Nick Kaufman noted that the defense will “Argue and prove that there is no evidence to support the charges against Mbarushimana and he is not guilty of the offences the prosecution has alleged he has committed.”

Kaufman further said the ICC prosecutor’s case “Solely relied on human rights reports coming from NGOs whose sources are unverified and unreliable”.

Mbarushimana was arrested on an ICC warrant in October last year in Paris, where he had been living as a political refugee since 2002, and was delivered to the world court in January.

Imprisoned at the UN’s detention centre in The Hague, he made an initial appearance before the ICC on January 28 when he protested his innocence.