Category: News

Speaking in a televised address less than two hours before the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC)’s scheduled announcement of final results for the election, Chakwera thanked all Malawians for their support over the past five years.

In the last update on the official presidential results Monday, Mutharika had over two million votes against Chakwera’s over 700,000 votes.

“It’s well clear that my main rival, His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party, had already secured an insurmountable lead and is the presumptive winner of the presidential election,” said Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party.

“For this reason, a moment ago I called Professor Mutharika directly to congratulate him on his historic victory and to wish him well in his upcoming tenure as the seventh President of the Republic of Malawi,” he said.

He thanked his supporters, saying he would “forever be grateful for your trust in me and for your support of my candidacy,” and urged all Malawians to support Mutharika’s drive for national prosperity.

Chakwera also hailed the MEC for what he described as a commendable job in presiding over the general elections.

The smartphones were distributed on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, following a training session on the “Byikorere” campaign (do it yourself), which aims to improve access to e-government services. This initiative was a collaborative effort between the Rwanda Education Assistance Project (REAP) and Rwamagana District.

Of the smartphones, 150 were distributed to five individuals from each village, including village leaders, community health workers, and selected committee members, while six smartphones were allocated to cell advisory council leaders.

This distribution is expected to enable these leaders to assist residents in accessing Irembo services directly, eliminating the need for lengthy travel to find Irembo agents.

Theoneste Sindambiwe, leader of Nyantoki Village in the Budahanda Cell of Musha Sector, expressed his gratitude for the donation, noting the previous challenges faced by his community. Residents had to either walk for two hours or pay for a motorcycle ride to reach the Irembo agent at the sector office.

“I will now go to my people and help them access services like paying for Mutuelle de Sante, Ejo Heza, and more,” Sindambiwe said. “It was a struggle to reach Irembo services, as we had to pay Frw 3,000 for a round trip, which was very inconvenient.”

Jean Paul Gahamanyi, a community health worker from Rutoma Village, also shared his experience: “I used to need certain services from Irembo, which was exhausting because getting to the agent involved a Frw 1,000 transport cost. Now, I can access many of these services on my own. The money I used to spend on transport will now go towards other needs, and I will be able to assist my fellow citizens as well.”

Emmanuel Muhawenimana, a resident of Rwabiyange Village in the Budahanda Cell, echoed similar sentiments. “There were many services we struggled to pay for due to our remote location. Now, I am excited about using the smartphone to access these services. It will help us save the money we used to spend traveling to find Irembo agents. Additionally, we will be able to get services more quickly.”

Darius Habamenshi, the Country Director of REAP, explained that during a visit by Members of Parliament to Musha Sector last year, community members raised concerns about the challenges they faced in accessing digital government services. This feedback led to the initiative to provide smartphones, aiming to simplify the process for residents in accessing these essential services.

Jeanne Umutoni, the Vice Mayor of Rwamagana District in charge of social welfare, highlighted that providing smartphones would significantly contribute to the development of the community. She encouraged recipients to assist others in accessing government services.

“This will increase productivity, as people will be able to request services without traveling to the Cell or Sector offices,” Umutoni explained. “They can request these services from their homes or fields, improving their livelihoods and preventing people from missing out on important services due to the burden of travel.”

Umutoni also emphasized the district is working with various partners to expand the program, and ensure that more citizens in other sectors benefit from smartphones and the “Byikorere” campaign.

The remarks signaled a sharp shift in the White House’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict since Trump has for months pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make concessions to reach a ceasefire deal with Russia, claiming Kiev “doesn’t have the cards” in the negotiations.

“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” Trump said.

“We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them,” said the president.

When meeting with Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that NATO countries should shoot down Russian jets that violate their airspace.

In a letter dated Saturday and addressed to the president of the UN Security Council, Estonia claimed that three Russian MiG-31 fighters entered up to 10 km inside Estonia’s airspace and stayed for 12 minutes on Friday.

Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, denied that Russian jets had violated Estonian airspace and accused European states of Russophobia.

According to Rwanda’s Presidency, their discussions focused on potential investment opportunities in Rwanda, with particular emphasis on energy, infrastructure, and industrial growth.

Elsewedy Electric is a global leader that has transformed from a local manufacturer of electrical products to an integrated infrastructure solutions provider. With over 19,000 employees, the company recorded revenues exceeding USD 5.13 billion in 2024.

Elsewedy Electric operates across five key business sectors: wire, cable and accessories, electrical products, engineering and construction, digital solutions, and infrastructure investments.

The company has a strong presence in 19 countries, with 34 production facilities located across Africa and Asia, including Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Tanzania.

Additionally, Elsewedy Electric exports a wide range of high-end products to over 110 countries globally.

In 2022, the company entered the Rwandan market through an agreement with Rwanda’s Energy Group (REG) and EPC Africa, which involved selling 185.5 kilometers of cables to Rwanda.

Should Elsewedy Electric invest further in Rwanda, it could support the country’s efforts to expand electricity access, build industries, enhance infrastructure, foster technological advancements, and advance renewable energy projects.

In an interview with Russia’s Izvestia newspaper, Galuzin said that what he described as a “war party” in the EU was seeking to undermine positive steps in U.S.-Russia contacts, including the recent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska, which focused on a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

“These forces … are trying to disrupt this process and pull the United States to their side,” Galuzin said. “They are resorting to unscrupulous methods such as baseless accusations against Russia of violating NATO countries’ airspace or sending drones into their territory.”

Galuzin stated that allegations of Russian airspace violations lack credible evidence.

His remarks followed recent statements by Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, who said Tallinn had requested consultations with NATO allies under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty after claiming that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace last Friday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry denied the allegations, saying that the aircraft had conducted a planned flight from Karelia to the Kaliningrad region in full compliance with international airspace regulations.

The ministry underlined that the jets did not deviate from their approved route and did not cross Estonia’s borders, a fact confirmed by objective monitoring data.

{{A collective voice
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the first day of the general debate that “in Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year,” highlighting “a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict” in his years as secretary-general.

He called for the full and immediate implementation of the International Court of Justice measures, a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and humanitarian access, adding that “we must not relent in the only viable answer to sustainable Middle East peace: a two-state solution.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the Hamas terror attacks in his remarks on Tuesday, noting that international humanitarian law and the myth of Western exceptionalism were buried under the rubble there, and the survival of the Palestinian people requires an independent state.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto reiterated his country’s complete support for the two-state solution, calling for both Palestine and Israel to be free and independent, safe and secure from threats and terrorism. Indonesia is ready to deploy 20,000 or even more people to help secure peace in Gaza or elsewhere, and this year, over self-sufficiency, it exported rice to other nations in need, including to Palestine, he said.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II said that security will only come when Palestine and Israel begin to co-exist side by side. “This is the two-state solution, in line with international law and UN resolutions: an independent and viable Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, … alongside a secure Israel, … living in peace with its neighbors,” he noted.

“We reaffirm our support of the two-state solution with the UN playing a central role. Kazakhstan acknowledges diplomatic initiatives aimed at regional reconciliation in the Middle East,” said Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the deeply worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the continuation of political negotiations,” said Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, adding that “in line with the UN resolutions, we remain steadfast supporters of the two-state solution principle.”

{{Uncertainties ahead
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Speaking Tuesday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump struck a different tone, urging immediate action in Gaza. “Release the hostages now — just release the hostages now,” he said, adding that “we have to negotiate peace, get the hostages back — all 20 back — and 38 dead bodies back.” Meanwhile, he warned against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, saying it would amount to “a reward to Hamas for its horrible atrocities.”

A summit organized by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of the general debate in New York was portrayed as an urgent effort to salvage the long-deferred vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, as Israel continues its offensive in Gaza City against Hamas and rapidly expands its settlements in the West Bank, the notion seems more distant than ever.

“We must pave the way for peace,” said French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, to applause from those at the meeting and a standing ovation from the Palestinian delegation. “Today, France recognizes the State of Palestine,” he said, noting recent statements of recognition, some not yet formalized, by Britain, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium and several others.

“France, Britain and the other countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week say they aim to salvage whatever hope remains for the internationally backed formula to end the half-century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: a Jewish state of Israel at peace with a neighboring Palestinian one,” reported The New York Times on Monday.

“But nearly two years into the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, Israelis and Palestinians alike say the possibility of a two-state solution seems more remote than ever,” it noted.

On Sept. 12, the General Assembly adopted by a wide margin the “New York Declaration,” which called for “just and lasting peace grounded in international law and based on the two-state solution.” To end the war, it urged Hamas to “end its role in Gaza, and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.” The United States and Israel voted against the text.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “a Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”

The idea of establishing one nation each for Jewish and Palestinian populations, living alongside each other in peace, predated the UN’s founding in 1945. Drafted and redrafted since then, the concept has appeared in dozens of UN Security Council resolutions, multiple peace talks and in the General Assembly’s recently resumed 10th emergency special session.

On Tuesday, Guterres warned that the viability of a two-state solution is steadily eroding, now reaching its most critical level in more than a generation, in a statement at a UN Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian question, highlighting relentless settlement expansion, de facto annexation, and forced displacement as evidence of the erosion.

“Cycles of deadly violence, including by extremist settlers, have entrenched an unlawful Israeli occupation and pushed us perilously close to a point of no return,” he added.

“I declare Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta, a duly nominated candidate in respect of the presidential elections 2026,” said EC Chairperson Simon Mugenyi Byabakama.

“The commission calls on all participants, their agents, aspirants, and the general public to uphold the values of peace, dignity, and mutual respect throughout the nomination process and mostly in the upcoming campaign period for the presidential candidates,” Byabakama added.

The ruling National Resistance Movement party in July endorsed Museveni, who has been in power for 39 years, as its sole presidential candidate and national chairman for the next five years.

Museveni, 81, accompanied by other senior party officials, thanked the commission for approving his candidacy. The president, seeking a seventh consecutive five-year term, said his priorities would include wealth creation programs, free education in government schools, road maintenance, improved health services, and tackling crime.

According to the commission, presidential campaigns will start on Sept. 29, with voting scheduled for Jan. 2, 2026.

According to Rwanda’s Presidency, the two leaders held private discussions, before being joined by members of their respective delegations for an expanded meeting.

Rwanda and Egypt have a strong bilateral relationship, with each country maintaining an embassy in the other’s capital. The two nations recently signed several agreements in various sectors, including healthcare, transportation, trade, and others, on August 12, 2024.

As part of these agreements, both countries committed to exchanging land for business purposes. Rwanda has been granted land in Egypt, while Egypt has been provided with 10 hectares of land in the Kirehe District of Rwanda, near the border with Tanzania.

Rwanda and Egypt have multiple cooperation agreements across various sectors such as technology, industrial development, trade, agriculture, education, youth, healthcare, and military cooperation, among others. In 2017, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visited Rwanda with the aim of further strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Both Rwanda and Egypt are also members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

The partnership between Rwanda and Egypt has been long-standing, with Egypt having opened its embassy in Kigali in 1976, and Rwanda reopening its embassy in Cairo in March 2015.

His remarks came after AFC/M23 forces took control of Nzibira town in Walungu Territory, South Kivu, on Sunday, September 21, 2025.

Brig. Gen. Kapend, who also commands the army in Katanga, said the situation does not pose a major threat as long as Katanga remains untouched.

“All the pressure is in eastern DRC. If we fail to stop the enemy there, we will be the first to face its heavy weapons,” he said.

He added that the rebel coalition could expand further without endangering national stability.

“They may take over other areas, but as long as they do not take Katanga, the country will endure,” he stated.

Heavy fighting between AFC/M23 and the Congolese army coalition flared again late last week, with clashes reported in Cisaza, Cibanda, Muyange, Karhuliza and Kalongo in South Kivu, as well as in Masisi and Walikale in North Kivu.

The celebration took place in Bweramana Sector, Ruhango District, marking the 16th World Bamboo Day. The event is observed every year on September 18.

The theme for this year’s celebration highlighted bamboo as a solution for both environmental sustainability and innovative applications in the craft industry.

EcoPlanet Bamboo Rwanda was lauded for its contributions to environmental protection, with a particular focus on its efforts to restore land along riverbanks in eight districts. Notably, 307 hectares of land in Ruhango District were restored, and bamboo was planted to combat soil erosion.

In addition to land restoration, EcoPlanet Bamboo Rwanda created employment for 1,000 people and established 60 kitchen gardens to help combat malnutrition in the region. The organization also partnered with local communities to promote modern farming techniques that contribute to soil restoration, with efforts covering seven hectares in Bweramana.

Furthermore, EcoPlanet Bamboo Rwanda supported 270 farmers through various initiatives aimed at improving their livelihoods. The organization also renovated five houses for vulnerable families and built a daycare center to support community well-being.

Sharon Higiro Umuratwa, the General Manager of EcoPlanet Bamboo Rwanda, expressed the organization’s commitment to advancing bamboo cultivation to protect riverbanks and improve the livelihoods of people in Ruhango District. She also extended her gratitude to the community for their partnership over the past three years, which has been instrumental in the restoration of the 307-hectare area.

The Vice Mayor for Economic Development of Ruhango District, Jean Marie Vianney Rusilibana, highlighted EcoPlanet’s significant role in improving the community’s quality of life through erosion control measures and emphasized the importance of bamboo conservation for providing sustainable livelihoods.

Remy Songa, representing the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), emphasized how bamboo plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change by reducing carbon emissions and combating soil erosion and landslides.

Divine Cyambarantama, Forest Extension Officer at Rwanda Forestry Authority (RFA), also urged the residents of Ruhango to continue preserving bamboo and thanked EcoPlanet for its ongoing contributions to environmental conservation.