The event took place in Musanze district yesterday and coincided with awarding girls that demonstrated the best performance during previous national examinations, girl rights clubs, cooperatives fighting against malnutrition, stunted growth among children and unexpected pregnancies among teens.
It was organized in collaboration with Imbuto Foundation.
The 3-year long campaign will feature messages transmitted through artistic expressions depicting the potential of girls, social media platforms, media, opinion leaders, youth organizations and different clubs at schools.
Throughout the campaign girls will be capacitated in five pillars including building capacity and confidence in decision making, rights to work, live and respect.
It was launched on 10th November 2018 at International level.
Awardees have told IGIHE that the recognition encouraged them to do more ensuring girls rights to all.
“We communicate girls’ rights through songs and dances. We have received clothes among other items empowering us to work better. We worked with Plan International and brought some girls back to school and integrated others into families,” said Naomi Mukantaganda representing one of the girls’ rights clubs.
Delphine Mukaneza representing the group of women involved in fighting malnutrition and unexpected pregnancies said “We have so far received training from Plan International to fight against malnutrition, stunted growth, and unexpected pregnancies. We did it and bore fruits. The Rwf 500,000 award we have received will help us to buy sewing machines, increase savings and advance livelihoods.”
Country Director of Plan International Rwanda, William Mutero said they target to expose girls to unrestrained rights.
“Our objective is to strive for unrestrained girl’s equality increasing presence in all decision making positions and execute similar tasks to boys,” he said.
“We train them on job creation and want girls to inch out of bad history connected to them through exposing their excellent performance. We are confident to attain it in cooperation with the government of Rwanda,” added Mutero.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Soraya Hakuziyaremye requested participants of the event to resist whatever comes up to tamper girl’s progress.
“It is good that we strive for girl ’s equal rights for all but there are still obstacles hindering their rights that I want to collaboratively eradicate. These include seeking the solution to teen’s pregnancy, fighting against stunted growth among children, increased hygiene in families, solving domestic conflicts and improving girl’s performance at school. Girl’s rights will be possible if these issues are fixed,” she said.
A total of Rwf 500 million will be spent on implementing the campaign.
Plan International operates within 77 countries worldwide including Rwanda. It has so far awarded 1.2 million girls with outstanding performance in national examinations.
It also supports over 1000 cooperatives involved in fighting against malnutrition and stunted growth and girls rights’ clubs in different schools. It has activities in 12 districts in Rwanda.
Talking to RBA, Ndayisaba explained that concerned institutions have raised an alarm against genocide ideology crimes and requested people with such negative behaviors to abandon them as Rwanda prepares for the 25th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.
“We observed that people are more implicated in such crimes during the commemoration period. We call upon people to be cautious and disengage from any connections to divisionism, genocide ideology and be aware that they will be punished,” he said.
Genocide ideology crimes are manifested in forms of undermining genocide and denial, abusive acts and words, destroying properties of genocide survivors and inflaming discrimination among others.
The NURC report on respecting unity and reconciliation principles during commemoration activities indicates that genocide ideology cases reduced by 27% over the past two years from 193 in 2017 to 141 cases in 2018.
225 suspects were implicated in 2017 genocide ideology cases of whom 65 have been convicted while 17 have been proved innocent.
A total of 45 files were closed temporarily, 18 files were transferred to courts while 13 files were definitively closed.
Ibuka president, Dr. Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu has said that the problem of people declining to provide information lingers despite efforts of the judiciary side.
Emmanuel Ndayambaje is one of deportees from Nyagatare district after detention in Uganda.
He went to Uganda in June last year where he has been working as a cow keeper of Uganda’s parliamentarian called Wilberforce Yaguma in Mbarara.
On 10th January 2019 people in Uganda’s army uniform picked him from the farm and took him at the prison of Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) in Makindye and were moved to Mbuya in Kampala later.
Ndayambaje has told IGIHE that he was tortured accused of being on espionage mission for Rwanda.
“I was seriously beaten, on feet and knees accusing me of being Rwanda’s spy. They told me a Rwandan is cunning even when he might be quiet to the extent that an ant from Rwanda is also intelligent,” he narrated.
Ndayambaje who rejected accusations was released and advised to remain in Uganda that he would be killed upon return to Rwanda on allegations of treason. He however refused to stay.
Patrick Shingiro from Nyamagabe district was also detained in Uganda in Wakiso in February this year.
He was a taxi motorcycle rider in Rwanda but left for businesses in Uganda. He was arrested at a place where he was renting and taken to CMI barracks before he was transferred to Kireka.
Mukankusi has engaged in Diplomatic works since 2004 when she was deputy to Kayumba Nyamwasa who was Rwanda’s Ambassador to India. She had been issued a diplomatic passport by Rwanda which she couldn’t get renewed when it expired as she had already joined the Rwanda National Alliance, a terrorist group she co-founded with Kayumba Nyamwasa.
News of Uganda issuing the passport to Mukankusi went out after her visit in Kampala where she met with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni whom she presented RNC’s plans to overthrow the Rwandan Government.
Mukankusi’s previous passport indicates that she is a Rwandan who was born on August 10, 1970, in Mbarara, Uganda. She had been issued the diplomatic passport no. PD000223, Service Passport PS009269, and ordinary Passport No. PC061537 and National ID No. 1197070004061075.
Effective from February 11, this year, Mukankusi had been offered the Ugandan official travel documents with the help of Uganda’s President Museveni whom they met during her recent visit to Kampala.
That Mukankusi had no valid passport after the one she was issued by Rwanda was expired impeded her from carrying out her RNC’s diplomatic affairs effectively.
During her visit to Kampala, Charlotte Mukankusi met Museveni twice with whom they held bilateral talks aimed at emphasizing relations between the two sides.
Mukankusi asked Museveni for help in denouncing the report released by UN experts on December 31, last year that revealed the partnership between the Ugandan Government and RNC.
The report highlighted the help RNC gets from Uganda in members recruitment and new recruits who cross from Uganda to Minembwe, DRC where they hold training.
Museveni told Mukankusi he would ‘offer all the possible help’ and told her ‘we are together’. It is said while talking to Museveni, Mukankusi looked self-confident while presenting RNC’s plans which made Museveni happy and promised to keep supporting the group.
It is reported that Museveni showed her the support and asked her to keep looking for new members and said it is necessary to look for ways to divide the Rwandan army.
Museveni’s will to divide the Rwandan army dates back in times when Maj. Alphonse, Patrick Karegeya and Kayumba Nyamwasa fled Rwanda.
Uganda’s supporting groups and people hostile to the Rwandan Government is one of the three problems keeping the countries’ relations stumbling. Uganda has not yet reacted on complaints Rwanda has raised seeking explanations over the issue.
The membership was approved yesterday in Zigama CSS General Meeting and will see employees of the institution benefiting from advantages of working with the cooperative.
Rwanda Forensic Laboratory which was under the responsibility of RNP became an independent entity last year and received a building worth Rwf 7 billion in which it carries out operations.
During the previous general meeting held November 2018, Zigama CSS announced a plan to start issuing Visa cards among its members to enhance service delivery.
Commenting on the move, Dr. James Ndahiro, the chairman board of directors, Zigama CSS said; “We are trying to decentralize banking services to Zigama CSS members because they can use phones or other digital means.”
He explained that the objective is to reduce the cost of transacting with the bank.
Zigama CSS recorded Rwf 9.6 billion profits last year. Today, it has 90,000 members and 19 branches countrywide.
He revealed this yesterday as the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) presented the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) which grew by 8.6 percent compared to the previous year with Rwf 8,189 billion in 2018 up from Rwf 7,600 billion in 2017.
The beginning of the year 2018 was characterized by political turbulence between Rwanda, Uganda relations.
Following the worsening situation, Rwandans making a trade in and through Uganda have been killed, arrested, incarcerated without consular access and tortured.
Rwanda has recently requested Rwandans to suspend travels to Uganda until the situation comes back to normal. The decision is likely to bring side effects on inter-trade between the countries where Rwanda imported more than exports to Uganda.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana has told the media that Rwanda is ready to look for other options replacing imports from Uganda.
“There is nothing unusual concerning the trade between Rwanda and Burundi. However; the situation is new between Rwanda and Uganda. Imports from Uganda last year multiplied many times what we exported there. We imported goods worth USD 242 million while our exports were worth USD 27 million,” he said.
“If there is turbulence in reducing the trade, you understand that the big loss comes to the one who exported, who loses the market. The loss would be more inclined to Uganda than Rwanda. Because Uganda was a small market for our exports yet they had multiplied traded goods to us,” he added.
Minister Ndagijimana explained that commodities and cement were among many imports from Uganda and can be ordered from other places.
“It cannot subvert economy. It would be difficult if we are losing the market, being the one exporting more goods. It is not automated to get another market but it becomes easy to buy from wherever when you have money. This means, some goods can be provided locally and from other countries if there is a fall in imports (from Uganda),” he said.
Minister Ndagijimana revealed that trade with Burundi is not on good progress because Rwanda had exports worth USD 12 million and imports worth USD 3 million from and to Burundi last year.
Ruli residents have connected the suicide to a debt of over Rwf 35 million Twagiramungu he owed to a company extracting minerals in the area.
He is suspected to have poisoned himself with pesticides and breathed the last yesterday morning as he was being transported to CHUK.
Talking to IGIHE, the executive secretary of Ruli sector, Jean Marie Vianney Nizeyimana, has confirmed his demise.
“It is true that he has committed suicide using pesticides. Residents have connected his suicide to the debt he owes a company extracting minerals but we cannot confirm this. The investigation is underway to establish the truth,” he said.
Nizeyimana explained that the deceased had land-related conflicts with the company extracting minerals which local leaders had fixed before his death.
BK Capital Ltd was first introduced to the market in 2013 as BK Securities Limited; a security brokerage licensed by the Capital Markets Authority. Over time, its portfolio has expanded to offer the following services: Investment & Wealth Management, Corporate Finance & Advisory services, Brokering of capital markets instruments – bonds & equities, Pension Fund’s administration.
Commenting on the launch, BK Group Plc Chairman, Marc Holtzman said that the development was borne out of the institution’s need to tap into Rwanda’s economic landscape and vision of a more robust budget.
“Rwanda’s economic landscape holds so much untapped potential, so we’ve aligned our strategy to capitalize on it. Our priority is expanding our financial services portfolio to make our brand into a One-Stop Center under which those services are available to customers. The country envisions to have a more robust budget, and we are proudly taking a lead.” Holtzman said
After this addition, BK Group now counts 4 main subsidiaries which are namely the Bank of Kigali Plc which provides corporate and retail banking services; BK TecHouse’s whose task is to drive digital innovation through providing connectivity solutions and software and analytics products; BK General Insurance which offers insurance packages including motor, fire, transport & money insurance and more; and BK Capital Ltd.
BK Capital Ltd has entered into a partnership with Swan Group, the leading financial solution provider in Mauritius. The non-insurance cluster of Swan, licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, offers corporate advisory services, asset management services and stock-broking services, has a total asset under management equivalent to 1.4Billion USD and presents extensive expertise in the fund management business in Mauritius with global outreach.
The Bank of Kigali was among the very first banks opened in Rwanda. It was incorporated in 1966 and started operations a year later. The institution was also the first Rwandan bank to list on the Rwanda stock exchange, in June 2011, also becoming the first Rwandan company to cross-list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange last year.
The Group has posted consistent positive growth since it issued its IPO in 2011, largely attributed to a strong management team with extensive banking sector experience, complemented by an experienced and diversified Board of Directors.
In an interview with France Culture, the former head of the French military cooperation mission in Rwanda said he had opposed the support of Paris to President Habyarimana, though efforts were futile.
Aged 84, General Jean Varret had agreed to testify before the France Parliament committee which carried out an investigation on Rwanda in 1998.
The General who had taken time to tell his military career in a book, in which he talked on the role he played in Rwanda in a few pages has decided to testify in front of a microphone and a camera, 25 years after the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsis.
From October 1990 to April 1993, Jean Varret was the head of the Military Cooperation Mission in Rwanda. He explained that he had tried to oppose the support given by the France military to the regime of former Rwandan President Habyarimana that resulted in being removed from the position on pressure from a specific group.
“This group, which I knew certain elements, was pressured to remove me from my responsibilities. These soldiers did not want to take into account the risks of the policy to support Habyarimana. The cooperation was to provide training, equipment, but certainly not to fight. I think another support was more inclined to help in combat,” he said.
General Varret recalled the situation back in November 1990 in a meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan gendarmerie, Colonel Pierre-Célestin Rwagafilita asking for big guns.
“During this meeting, the chief of the gendarmerie asked the support of big guns. I asked him why trying to convince him that gendarmerie is not made to have machine guns. After my refusal, the chief of the gendarmerie told his colleagues: ‘You can go, I’m staying with the general’ and he says to me: ‘We are alone as soldiers and hope we will speak clearly. It is because I am going to use them to neutralize a problem. The problem is very simple: the Tutsi are not the majority. We are going to liquidate them. ‘He told me that clearly and felt horrified. ”
Jean Varret then asked to meet President Habyarimana to whom he expressed his worries.
Upon hearing it, Habyarimana became furious and left the General into confusion wondering whether the secret was leaked by the head of the gendarmerie or he didn’t tell the truth.
General Varret says he immediately updated France Ambassador to Rwanda and the Ministry of Cooperation.
“I did not keep this information for myself,” said General Varret, ” The risk of genocide was on display. This guided all my actions afterward.”
According to the French officer, his efforts were futile as the alert did not elicit any reaction, neither from the military staff nor from the political power.
“My warnings have not been taken into account”, lamented the General Jean Varret.
Jean Varret is not the only one who alerted of the risk of genocide to France as it had been informed by the Foreign Intelligence Service (DGSE) which even had enough information on the shooting of Habyarimana plane.
At the beginning of 1993, the situation was getting worse in Rwanda as the procedure of genocide went up to a notch. In January 1993, the commission of inquiry of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) started collecting pieces of evidence of ethnic massacres.
In February 1993, new killings were perpetrated by Hutu Power extremists linked to President Habyarimana’s political party while the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) stood firm with several attacks to liberate the country.
He said that during that time France reinforced its troops sending a new unit of the 1st Régiment de parachutists d’infanterie de marine (RPIMa) to support the Rwandan army.
General Varret revealed that one day he learned about the intervention when he was inspecting the 1st Military Police and Training Detachment (DAMI) of the 1st RPIMa in the Akagera Park which was under his command.
He came to establish that they had been to Uganda for reconnaissance purposes on RPF soldiers which were against his wishes and considered ‘A red line not to cross’.
“When I learn that,” continues Varret, “I bawl them in. I returned to Paris and received the following message three days later,: ‘The DAMI units are no longer under your orders.’ I took this as a disavowal. I was no longer trusted. ”
In April 1993, General Varret was removed from his post at the Military Cooperation Mission. The Minister of Cooperation, Michel Roussin, announced that he would not be reinstated for a year, as he wished. Jean Varret was replaced by General Huchon.
Removed from his post, Jean Varret refused the honorary proposal made to him and decided to desert from the army.
He said the forced departure was “a chance” for him. “Otherwise, I would have had my share of responsibility, at the time of the genocide, explained the general Varret.”
He observed that “some” civilian or military officials have a “responsibility” in the chain of activities that led to the Genocide Against Tutsis:
“There was still blindness, said Jean Varret. “ No civil or military leader wanted genocide, but some did not take the risk seriously.” He added.
“I did not know how to convince the risk of genocide. I wanted to let France and the West, know how to protect themselves against this risk. France has a responsibility in this affair,” Concluded Jean Varret.
The accusations were however refuted by Amiral Jacques Lanxade in an interview with Radio France and Mediapart.
Amiral Jacques who was the Army Chief of Staff of France Army between 1991-1995 said that there was no blindness.
“I think we were always aware of what could happen. That’s why we were there.” Jean Varret had a reason to say what he said, but we cannot draw the conclusion that we were reckless,” he said.
Laxade said that there are truths which Jean Varret doesn’t know because it was not part of his responsibility that they followed the right choice under the guidance of President Mitterand.
He, however, observed that it is saddening for failure to stop genocide despite their presence in Rwanda.
Among the three main areas of focus during their presence to Rwanda; he said, was a political action to convince Habyarimana to democratize the country, enable negotiations involving in the Arusha Peace Accords and providing support for the army to neutralize RPF attacks.
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During the investigation carried, Radio France and Mediapart newspapers unveiled witness of Walfroy Dauchy who was the head of Red Cross based in Goma towards the end of 1994 at during Operation Turquoise.
He explained that the zone controlled by France in the Western part of the country became a passage for genocidaires on the way to their refuge in DRC.
Walfroy used to fly to Kenya using Goma airport guarded by France soldiers. He witnessed that he met a young man from France aged between 23-25 who worked for his father’s company that supplied arms.
“ He said it to me. I asked him if he felt it was right to supply arms at the time genocide was taking place. The young man replied: ‘This is business. Others would do it if we cancel the supply,” said Walfroy.
He attests to not have seen the weapons but saw boxes containing them and jets from France that carried those weapons. According to Walfroy, all these activities were done in the daylight without concealment.
Responding on the delivery of arms support to genocidaires; the former FranceArmy Chief of Staff Amiral Lanxade replied that he doesn’t know about those weapons that the issue was not discussed among top military leaders.
“There is no evidence for that. There might be weapons that have passed through but I can tell you that France armed forces have nothing to do with it.”
The violent wind across the country is predicted between 14 and 16 March 2019 especially in Eastern Province at a speed of 8 and 12 m/s.
A statement signed by the Director General of Rwanda Meteorology Agency Aimable Gahigi indicates that the wind might cause infrastructure destruction among other ravages.
“Such winds usually dominate at the beginning or end of the rainy season. We call upon Rwandans to be proactive,” reads the statement in part.
The Minister in Charge of Emergency Management, Germaine Kamayirese recently reminded Rwandans to be prepared ahead of time against heavy rainfall predicted by Rwanda Meteorology Agency.
“Concerning schools, churches, and other public gatherings; we call upon the population to diligently check the structure of buildings, avoid the use of old classroom structures and installing lighting systems,” she said.
According to statistics from the Ministry in Charge of Emergency, last year’s heavy rains took lives of 234 people, injured 268, destroyed 15,264, ravaged 9412 hectares and killed 797 livestock.
Properties worth Rwf 204 billion were destroyed as per a survey conducted in 15 districts.
