The work of art portrays a standing tall man holding a straw drinking from a vessel laid on the head of a person kneeling in front of him.
The sculpture was shown on 12th April 2019 at the launch of works of art exhibition at the “Rwanda Art Museum” in Kanombe to run for 100 days.
The exhibition taking place at the house of former president Habyarimana is held for the first time since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was stopped.
It seeks to use arts to explain horrors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, educating history to the youth and preserving it to build hope for the future.
24 works of art were exhibited at the event. These include works from nine artistes and other youth selected by the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) through competitions. They are additional to 164 works of arts existing at the Rwanda Art Museum in Kanombe.
Ambassador Masozera requested artistes to use their talent positively unlike the past where arts were used to sow genocide ideology.
He explained that the sculpture was found in the sitting room of Habyarimana when RPF Inkotanyi soldiers conquered Kanomba in May 1994. It was among other works of arts displayed in his house some of which having shapes of a snake. “ This work of arts is displayed for the first time as one of the tools that were used to sow hatred among Rwandans. We were told that Habyarimana and his wife (Kanziga Agathe) used it to show to guests that Tutsis tyrannized Hutus to the extent of drinking beer from vessels laid on their heads,” he said.
“It is similar to the spreading ideology that the queen mother Kanjogera used to stand leaning on a spear plunged on shoulders of children. They were used to sow divisions and encouraging people to revenge,” added Masozera.
Masozera said he received the sculpture made from wood from a soldier who arrived at Habyarimana first.
“The message portrayed by works of art displayed here has no language barriers. Artistes should know that they can be destructive if wrongly used,” he advised.
The Executive Secretary of Kicukiro district, Adalbert Rukebanuka said it is of great value to exhibit works of art memories to a place where genocide was planned.
“Workers who lived in this house told us that there was pigs abode in the proximity of the house where they threw Tutsi killing during the genocide to feed these pigs,” he revealed.
The Transform Africa Summit is the Smart Africa flagship event. Following four successful editions, the fifth Summit will take place at Kigali Convention Center, Rwanda from 14 to 17 May 2019.
Under the theme “Boosting Africa’s Digital Economy”, the Summit is expected to attract over 4,000 participants, including Heads of State and Government, First Ladies, UN Broadband Commissioners, Ministers, Regulators, Mayors and Governors, Public and Private Sector, International Organizations, Industry Leaders, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Young Innovators, Civil Society and Academia.
In addition to the Smart Africa Leaders Summit, the Smart Africa Women’s Summit and interactive plenaries, the summit will feature subject specific streams tackling current ICT topics. Delegates will be able to attend insightful and engaging streams including Hubs as well as several customized sessions by our partners.
As he unveiled Transform Africa Summit 2019 activities in October 9, 2018, the Executive Director of Smart Africa Alliance that partners with Rwanda to organize the Summit said the fifth edition of the Summit will focus on Africa’s digital-driven economy.
Dr. Hamadun Toure said digital innovations by Africans are a pillar of Africa’s digital-driven economy and will be showcased and sponsored so that they play a role in creating new jobs for the youth.
The presence of Sophia in Kigali will be an opportunity to interact with the humanoid robot for participants of the summit and learn from advanced technologies in artificial intelligence.
Different reports indicate that Sophia is a social humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong-based company ‘Hanson Robotics’. Sophia was activated on February 14, 2016, and made its first public appearance in mid-March 2016 in Austin, Texas, United States. It is able to display more than 50 facial expressions.
Sophia has been covered by media around the globe including CNBC, Forbes, Mashable, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian among others and has participated in many high-profile interviews.
In October 2017, Sophia became the first robot to receive citizenship of any country.
The robot was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot ever to have a nationality. This attracted controversy as some commentators wondered if this implied that Sophia could vote or marry, or whether a deliberate system shutdown could be considered murder.
Social media users used Sophia’s citizenship to criticize Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. In December 2017, Sophia’s creator David Hanson said in an interview that Sophia would use her citizenship to advocate for women’s rights in her new country of citizenship; Newsweek criticized that “What [Hanson] means, exactly, is unclear”.
On November 27, 2018, Sophia was given a visa by Azerbaijan while attending Global Influencer Day Congress held in Baku. December 15, 2018, Sophia was appointed a Belt and Road Innovative Technology Ambassador by China’
Experts who reviewed the robot’s open-source code stated that Sophia is best categorized as a chatbot with a face. Many experts in the Artificial Intelligence field disapprove of Sophia’s overstated presentation. However; Ben Goertzel, the chief scientist for the company that made Sophia, acknowledged that it is “not ideal” that some think of Sophia as having human-equivalent intelligence, that Sophia’s presentation conveys something unique to audiences.
In November 2017, Sophia was named the United Nations Development Programme’s first-ever Innovation Champion and is the first non-human to be given any United Nations title. As part of its role, Sophia will help to unlock innovation to work toward achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. On stage, it was assigned its first task by UNDP Asia Pacific Chief of Policy and Program, Jaco Cilliers.
In January 2018, Facebook’s director of artificial intelligence, Yann LeCun, tweeted that Sophia was “complete bullshit” and slammed the media for giving coverage to “Potemkin AI”. In response, Goertzel stated that he had never pretended Sophia was close to human-level intelligence.
Sophia is known for human-like appearance and behavior compared to previous robotic variants.
According to the manufacturer, David Hanson, Sophia uses artificial intelligence, visual data processing, and facial recognition. Sophia also imitates human gestures and facial expressions and is able to answer certain questions and to make simple conversations on predefined topics. It uses voice recognition (speech-to-text) technology from Alphabet Inc. (parent company of Google) and is designed to get smarter over time.
Sophia’s intelligence software is designed by Hanson Robotics. The Artificial Intelligence program analyses conversations and extracts data that allows it to improve responses in the future.
Hanson designed Sophia to be a suitable companion for the elderly at nursing homes or to help crowds at large events or parks hoping that the robot can ultimately interact with other humans sufficiently to gain social skills.
Sophia has nine robot humanoid “siblings” who were also created by Hanson Robotics. Fellow Hanson robots are Alice, Albert Einstein Hubo, BINA48, Han, Jules, Professor Einstein, Philip K. Dick Android, Zeno, and Joey Chaos.
He revealed this yesterday as he joined Christians of Saddleback Church led by American evangelist Pastor Rick Warren for the 25th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi held in California.
Pastor Rick Warren is one among close friends of Rwanda for over 15 years.
During the event, President Kagame held a panel discussion with Pastor Rick Warren on the theme ‘Recovering From Traumatic Experiences.’
Pastor Rick expressed solidarity with Rwanda to commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi saying what happened should be always reflected on. He explained that Rwanda rebuilt from a traumatic experience and asked President Kagame the secret to the journey walked through.
Replying him, President Kagame said: “ We had a tragic situation where over one million people died. Every individual has their own struggles and problems to deal with. The starting point is to create an environment to make sure individuals don’t feel alone.”
“We created conditions to make survivors feel that they lost a lot but not all is lost. There are others who want to be with them, feel their pain with them. It was a starting point,” he added.
To overcome a long term plan for the genocide that left Rwandans divided; President Kagame said that Rwanda promoted common ambitions among people.
“If you look at our history, the country was divided, ideology and politics played out so that a section of our population was made to believe the other is not only different but they should hate each other. We found a way of saying we are a family with different individuals but at the same time we have a lot in common and a lot of common aspirations,” he explained.
When asked on strategies to lead a traumatized country, President Kagame highlighted: “We are aware that you can’t dictate feelings. The best you can do is to create the environment where somebody can start seeing things happening. When the country is investing trying to do certain things for education, health, shelter and bringing in the very people who have been traumatized it is also showing they are not helpless. It is not a hopeless situation.”
“We tried to communicate to the victims that they still can pick themselves up with the family they have tried to build in the country and create a better future than the life they lived in the past. The truth is stubborn and you must be very stubborn to cope with the situation so we keep trying and we keep questioning and finding answers,” he added.
Following the launch of “The Purpose Driven Life” book written by Pastor Warren; Rwanda requested Saddleback Church to send its members to Rwanda as a country driven by a purpose. It led to the establishment of “Peace Plan” in Rwanda with the aim of sowing peace among Rwandans.
With Worldwide presence; Peace plan is the brainchild of Rick Warren. It brings together Christian churches to promote reconciliation, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick and educate the next generation in order to build a positive life, church, and nation.
Saddleback Church has so far sent over 26000 Christians in 197 countries including over 2800 that passed through Rwanda.
They held different activities including training medical practitioners, working closely with farmers, judges, and pastors among others.
The spokesperson of Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Modeste Mbabazi has confirmed to IGIHE that “The arrested man was caught on the road shouting that Hutus will never live in harmony with Tutsis.”
“He was arrested when he met an old man identified as Kagubari Canisius, 65, whom he once threatened to kill in addition to Tutsis relatives killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,” he explained.
Mbabazi said that the arrested man was once arrested in 2016 for similar words full of genocide ideology. He is detained at RIB Station in Rwezamenyo as investigations get underway.
RIB recently announced to have received 47 cases of genocide ideology in the first four days of commemoration week.
The pledge was revealed on Thursday last week during the commemoration of victims of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi killed in the former commune of Kirambi where 17 remains were accorded decent burial at Kiziguro memorial.
The president of IBUKA in Gatsibo district, Jean Nepomuscène Sibomana said that having RPF Inkotanyi chaired by President Kagame was God’s plan to rescue Rwandans.
“We thank God for giving us a good leader who trained us to forgive that Rwandans have now united against divisionism,” he said.
Sibomana requested officials present during the event to convey their gratitude to President Kagame on their behalf.
“Please, convey our gratitude to president Kagame for rescuing us. Tell him that genocide survivors in Gatsibo will give him a cow as recognition for his efforts in liberating us. We would have been wiped out hadn’t he led soldiers to liberate us,” he pledged to request survivors in the area to make sure the promise is fulfilled.
The request was part of the message Catholic Church bishops in Rwanda delivered to Christians for the 25th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi on 7th April 2019 as commemoration activities began. The message was read in all churches across the country.
“Older and sick convicts are among people jailed for role in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. These people need help. Then seeking how their punishments can be reduced. But they also have to be integrated under the program of seeking an apology and reconciling with people they offended,” reads part of the letter.
The request was not welcomed by genocide survivors. Commenting on the request, IBUKA, the umbrella organization of genocide survivors observed that such a message should not be released during commemoration period requesting to respect laws for further actions.
Jean Damascène Ndabirora Kalinda, IBUKA’s legal advisor told IGIHE that inmates were convicted by courts of law and their release should be done through a legal process.
During the vigil night to remember victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi held in Nyanza, Kicukiro on 11th April 2019, the president of IBUKA, Prof Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu said the request should be strictly assessed because there are genocide convicts with persistent genocide ideology.
The Catholic Church released the statement as Rwanda closed the commemoration week on 13th April 2019.
“There are clauses from the letter that hurt people especially the ones concerning the request for commuting sentences of old and sick genocide convicts,” reads part of the statement signed by the President of Episcopal Conference in Rwanda, Bishop Philippe Rukamba.
“We regret that the message hurt people especially considering the period during which it was communicated. This was not our intention. We apologize for having communicated the message during the commemoration period,” adds the statement.
The Catholic Church assured of its commitment to keep solidarity with genocide survivors and Rwandan community to commemorate the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
The apology has been welcomed by the Minister of Local Government, Prof. Anastase Shyaka.
“The Catholic Church has sought an apology from people hurt by the message communicated in its letter written on 25th March that was read on 7th April 2019. Let us remember and renew,” he said in a tweet.
General Kabarebe said this on Friday during the commemoration in respect of former employees of the Ministry of Transport and Communication (MINITRANSCO) and Public Works and Energy (MINITRAPE) currently merged under the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) killed during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Gen Kabarebe told MININFRA employees that since 1957 Rwanda had the misfortune of bad leaders who promoted genocide ideology until its execution of genocide in 1994.
He said that genocide ideology is like cancer likely to affect the whole body if not burnt.
“Even a thief that fled the country, leans on genocide ideology. A neighbor intending to destabilize Rwanda has no other choice other than assuming that Rwandans can be divided easily referencing to the genocide that took place. That is how they understand it but the strong foundation has been already built. Institutions with zero tolerance to genocide ideology were put in place,” he said.
“Those outsiders have no power to fight Rwanda. However, they cause one problem. Even one person with genocide ideology is like cancer in the body. There are apparatuses that burn cancer in the body. This is what we should do. Even if one person is tracked with genocide ideology, it must be burnt lest it spreads,” he said.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Amb. Claver Gatete said that employees of the ministry received enough explanations during the commemoration week helpful to tackle genocide ideology.
He said it will enhance their contribution to building the country and empowering Rwandans.
165 former employees of Mantraps and Minitransco are reported to have been killed during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
He revealed this during the commemoration of 64 employees of the United Nations killed during the genocide.
The ceremony took place at the headquarters of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kigali. It was attended by bereaved families, government officials, UN representative in Rwanda and different diplomats.
Minister Busingye said that Rwanda has walked a long journey and urged everyone to be watchful to avoid whoever is having intentions of sowing divisionism.
“People thought UN headquarters were immune places for refuge. There are people who thought that nothing would happen to them because they worked for UN which we all believed,” he said.
“We know that there are employees of UN who collaborated with Interahamwe hunting fellow workers at their homes to kill them or hand them to killers. We don’t oversee the justice of places where they fled but we shall do everything possible so that they are one day brought to justice,” added Busingye.
UN was accused of failure to stop genocide despite early warnings it had received.
On 11th April 1994, UN withdrew its troops on the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda abandoning Tutsi who had fled to ETO Kicukiro.
The Coordinator of One UN in Rwanda, Fodé Ndiaye has told IGIHE that UN is ready to provide justice wherever there is evidence pinning genocide suspects.
He also expressed solidarity with relatives of genocide victims.
“As we commemorate the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, my gratitude goes to bereaved families of genocide victims. We associate with you. We are here to commemorate fallen victims and reflect on the journey genocide survivors have walked,” noted Ndiaye.
During the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, some bodies of genocide victims were thrown in River Sebeya and Lake Kivu and floated to DRC where RPF Inkotanyi members living in Goma at the time retrieved 100 bodies in Kituku by Lake Kivu shore.
Talking to IGIHE; the president of IBUKA in Rubavu district, Innocent Kabanda has requested to bring back these bodies to be buried decently or build a memorial in Goma town.
“There are bodies washed away by water to DRC. We request both states to negotiate how the remains can be brought back to Rwanda for decent burial or build a memorial in Goma,” he explained.
Over 1000 people have been reported killed by disasters. The State Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe has told IGIHE that Rwanda condoles with those countries affected.
“We have donated the support to three countries affected as a gesture of brotherhood,” he said.
The Government of Rwanda has donated USD $ 200,000 (over Rwf 180 million) to Malawi, USD $ 200,000 to Zimbabwe and USD $ 300,000 (over Rwf 270 million) to Mozambique.
Rwanda’s ambassador to Zambia and Malawi, Monique Mukaruliza has handed USD $ 200,000 cheque to Malawi government.
Malawi government has expressed appreciation for the gesture through the government twitter account. “We express gratitude to the government of Rwanda for donating USD $ 200,000 for emergency support disaster-affected people,” reads the tweet.
A total of 602 people have been reported killed by the disasters in Mozambique, 344 in Zimbabwe and 59 in Malawi. The United Nations reported that the Cyclone Idai is the first ever of its kind in Southern part of the World.
At least 3 million people need emergent humanitarian assistance in affected countries while UN is raising funds of USD $ 282 million three to support needy people.
