The German government has handed to Rwanda the land it had leased from the government on which Deutche Welle International Radio, Kigali Station has operated for 53 years.
The station was built on 4 km2, , in Kinyinya sector of Gasabo district, with various infrastructures for production, transmission among others.
The handover ceremony was held Tuesday where the German ambassador to Rwanda, H.E. Peter Fahrenholtz, said that Deutche Welle must not use technology of 53 years ago but adopt contemporary IT trends in conducting business.
He said that stopping activities of Deutche Welle in Kigali will not destabilize the bilateral cooperation noting that the radio’s contribution of creating jobs and building employees’ capacity will not be forgotten in Rwanda’s development.
“I am very happy since it was a great contribution in the cooperation between the two countries. German is a good friend of Rwanda and it will keep the way of supporting Rwanda for future progress,” he said.
Deutche Welle started operating in Rwanda since 1963.
Eugene Ngoga, Director of cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lauded the contribution of Deutche Welle Kigali station especially for having assisted in the launch of Radio Rwanda and provided radio infrastructures.
He noted that handing over the land doesn’t mean handing over the cooperation of the two countries.
“This should not be the end but it is the beginning of new form of collaboration since Rwanda and Germany work together every day. We have different sectors in which Rwanda needs to progress and have more opportunities they can assist to maximize benefits,” he said.
Deutche Welle will continue news related activities in Rwanda even though dissemination will not be in Kigali.
Ngoga says that government officials will determine the land should be used for.
Talk shows of Deutche Welle on FM were stopped in Kigali since March 28th ,2015.
Leave a Reply