The 20th edition started on December 8 and will be concluded on December 16, 2018. It is attended by experts in the field of cinemas from different countries.
Carole Umulinga Karemera is the artistic director of Ishyo Arts Centre. She is a musician, saxophone player, actress, director, and contemporary dancer. She joined the movie industry in 2002 and starred in films like ‘Sometimes in April’ directed by Raoul Peck, “Sounds of Sand”, directed by Marion Hansel and “Black”, by Pierre Laffargue.
In 2005, she moved to Rwanda and with eight women passionate about arts and culture, started Ishyo Arts Centre in 2006.
She was awarded as a way of recognizing the value of her artistic works and journey.
Karemera said in a brief conversation with IGIHE, that she is “proud to be given the award of such a level, thanks to what has been achieved.”
JTC was attended by 39 countries and will highlight over 157 theatres.
The State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed that Twala has been summoned by his country.
“Yes. Any government has the right to summon its diplomat at any time,” he said.
Twala has been South Africa’s ambassador to Rwanda since 2012. He is summoned at a time when Rwanda and South Africa have shown willingness to launch talks aimed at re-establishing good relations between the two countries.
President Paul Kagame recently held a meeting with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa when he was in Argentina on the sidelines of G20 summit.
In March President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the problem of Rwandans being denied visas to South Africa would soon become history after holding talks with President Paul Kagame. However, up to now, no signs of good relations between the two countries have bloomed.
Drawn on aspects of Rwandan culture and traditional practices, Umushyikirano is a development program adapted to the country’s needs and context.
It is one of Rwanda’s largest gatherings bringing together leaders and citizens to reflect on the country’s progress and share ideas to solve ongoing challenges.
Governed by Rwanda Constitution Article 140, Umushyikirano is a forum to debate the state of the nation, local government and national unity.
{{Read More: [How eight resolutions made during the 2017 national dialogue been implemented
->http://www.en.igihe.com/news/how-eight-resolutions-made-during-the-2017.html]}}
The official opening of the AMLA 2018 workshop was held at Serena Hotel on Sunday 9th, 2018 and was officiated by the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board Chief Executive officer and Member of Cabinet, Francis Gatare.
The workshop is gathering legal academics and practitioners in mining sector that serve as advisory to the Legal Research Team (LRT) to facilitate knowledge sharing and the creation of a network of specialized African experts.
It brings together about 120 participants from across the world including government officials, private sector representatives, NGOs, international organizations such the World Bank, the African Union Commission, Academics, and 61 advanced law students and legal professionals from 23 African universities and 19 African countries.
Officiating the AMLA, Hon. Gatare noted the importance of the workshop and sharing knowledge on the mining sector, “It is very important to continue to train an important critical mass of professionals that understand mining sector, value chain so to fully benefit from the natural resources.”
He went on, urging participants to be mindful about the balance of how to reward capital investment into the Mining sector.
“As we legislate the mining sector we must be mindful about this delicate balance of how to appropriately reward capital investment into the sector while at the same time providing an appropriate reward for the community which has got the claim over its ownership”, Hon. Gatare said
On that day, Eminent participants from across the continent and beyond including government officials, private sector representatives, NGOs, international organizations such as the World Bank Group Senior Counsel, Legal Vice Presidency, Ms. Nneoma Veronica Nwogu, Ms. Kate Mavuti from Strathmore University, Kenya and various academics who participated in an engaging session on “Governance and Transparency in the Extractive Industry”.
The World Bank Group Senior Counsel, Legal vice Presidency, Nneoma Veronica Nwogu who Facilitated the panel discussion on Governance and transparency in the extractive industry gave a short introduction on the project and how it came to grow.
“The Project was initiated by the legal vice-presidency of the World Bank, which is where I work. We incubated it for three years but it was always designed to run on the African continent by an African Institution because we believe that there is some capacity in the continent and it is important to utilize that capacity, to build for capacity for the continent; and that it is what we are seeing, watching the African legal support facility run the project.” Nneoma Veronica Nwogu said
The project has been supported and is continuously being supported by the Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS), which is helping to see how the World Bank can continue to support this capacity building process.
On capacity building among activities provided within the AMLA, Ms. Veronica Nwogu said, “The program has a very selective approach to bringing students from across the continent to learn together, gain a lot of understanding and hopefully design a career in this sector; in one way or another having the necessary skills to contribute to the development of the Mining sector.”
Another highlight of the opening day is the visit of the Genocide Memorial and the Amazing race, an engaging team-building exercise. After paying a tribute to the victim of the genocide, the participants were split into teams and given a series of challenges, which called upon their cooperation skills, their awareness of government policies and their knowledge of mining laws. Now familiar with one another and their lecturers, the students can look forward to an intensive week of lectures, presentations, and hands-on exercises led by experts in the industry.
Up to date, the AMLA project has trained 140 Advanced African law students and legal professionals, from 54 countries.
The African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) project was initiated by the World Bank’s Legal vice Presidency in 2013, with original funding by African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) and afterward by Extractive Industries Technical Assistance Facilities (EI-TAF). The AMLA project is being implemented in partnership with the ALSF, the African Union Commission (AUC), and several African law faculties.
AMLA is available in English, French, and Portuguese, and contains all 53 existing African mining codes in searchable format, as well as a comparison feature that allows users to compare the legislation provisions of 37 countries (and counting) across 98 commonly addressed topics in a mining law.
{{For more Photos: [https://www.flickr.com/photos/igihepictures/albums/72157702998402541->https://www.flickr.com/photos/igihepictures/albums/72157702998402541]}}
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Photos: Serge Muhizi}}
From January to June 2018, 223 were killed in weather-related vagaries, 251 injured, 14,491 houses destroyed, 8,980 hectares of farmland washed away, 754 animals killed, 26 classrooms destroyed and 31 roads and 49 bridges damaged.
MIDIMAR told IGIHE that the weather vagaries accompanied by heavy rainfall, winds, thunderstorms, and hailstones caused a considerable destruction.
The ministry says that citizens whose properties were destroyed have been supported in accordance with available means, supported in repairs, first aid emergency, as well as foodstuffs and basic necessities.
By the end of May, the Government announced that since January it has spent over Rwf340 million in assisting natural disaster victims, Rwf141 million of which was spent on buying materials such as iron sheets (roofing), and more than Rwf200 million spent on basic aid.
Officers from RDF in the area reacted as instantly, pursued and fired, killing four of them.
Busasamana Sector executive secretary, Epimaque Uwimana told IGIHE that the attackers have not been identified and that the resident who caught the bullet at home was taken to Bugeshi health center.
Today, early in the morning local authorities summoned a security meeting at the scene of the attack, and residents were shown the bodies of the four attackers who were shot dead to see if they knew them.
They had documents that indicate that they are DRC citizens with voters’ cards.
Bugeshi and Busasamana sectors border the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are often targeted by armed attacks from the country.
This weekend, on December 9, 2018, was one of happiness for over 200 children from 30 districts of Rwanda hosted by Mrs. Jeannette Kagame.
The children aged between 7 and 12 years old were treated to fun and games, as well as presents.
The First Lady reminded the children to set personal goals and strive to achieve them.
“You have to live with goals. If you draw, you must specify the number of what you will do. Someone who writes a poem must also target a certain number. You need to make your own plans, respect them, and take time to read and do other things that help you to acquire knowledge,” she advised.
She told them that their commitments will be achieved by co-operating with others, especially their parents.
“Let’s write the goals we want to achieve when we reach home, at least every month. This is the time to set goals for the new year. We have heard your wishes, our stakeholders are listening to you and we will look at them and see what we can do. Let your parents and your tutors know what you do at school, do not be afraid to tell them what’s on your heart and do not seek advice elsewhere, without talking to your parents first,” she told them.
She also reminded them that they should be physically clean, help their parents, and contribute to their community.
The children expressed gratitude for the programs that were brought to their communities and facilitated them to study. They said as a result of the programmes, students who had abandoned school returned and their lives were improved.
Fabrice Niyonkuru from Kagano Sector in Nyamasheke District recited a poem in recognition of the bravery of the people who eradicated Nyakatsi (grass-thatched housings) and the establishment of kitchen gardens.
“I thank President Kagame and Mrs. Jeannette Kagame who paid for ‘mutuelle’ health insurance for us. No one falls sick and remains at home. Now, we study and succeed. They introduced the Girinka Munyarwanda Programme for us and we drink milk. I thank you for the program that promoted people’s lives in all districts,” he said.
Kellya Cyuzuzo, a 12-year-old student in Camp Kigali, was delighted to be invited to the party and to the task they were given, saying she is prepared to “encourage children to maintain hygiene and help their parents.”
Children who have participated in this celebration are selected based on the performance they have shown in class, those from vulnerable families and those with special disabilities.
They ate and interacted with the staff of the Office of the President, Imbuto Foundation and Unity Club lntwararumuri which is comprised of current and former government members.
They received Christmas and New Year gifts. They were also entertained by Patience Uwiringiyimana, who created a talking toy dubbed “Golizo the Crazy”, children of the Rwanda Rocks Music School troops and various games organized.
Ingabire who was recently released had alleged that her imprisonment for genocide denial was unfair and politically motivated.
This happens two years after the government of Rwanda withdrew from the special declaration of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights because it had accepted to deal with a case of someone accused of genocide crimes.
Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye, said that the cause of the withdrawal from the court was because it ‘targeted our country, and looked for cases of people who were most likely to sue us’.
In an interview with IGIHE, he said that the government doesn’t know about the fines because it didn’t appear in court.
“The decision seems to be a result of the case or issues that were not taken to the court nor did anyone see us in the court. We will see what will happen when the whole case will be available,” he said.
When Rwanda withdrew from the court, it announced that it also withdrew all it was involved in.
The decision to compensate Ingabire was taken on Friday 7 December.
The court stated that the fines are charged from the losses incurred by Ingabire during her imprisonment and the problems that her family went through when she was in jail.
For physical damages, the court ordered Rwanda to pay Rwf10 230,000, and the problems her husband and children sustained resulting from her imprisonment. On this point, the court ordered the government to pay Rwf55 million.
The court ordered the government to pay Ingabire the fines in less than six months, and in case of any delay, pay her with interest.
In October 2014, Victoire Ingabire submitted her case to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. At that time, she was asking the court to carefully examine the law on genocide ideology, and spreading rumors.
She also asked for release and compensation for the damages she incurred while in jail.
Last year, the court ruled on the case, asserting that her rights were violated because it was based on her own statements at the Genocide memorial which violates her right to say her opinion.
The court also said that the crime of spreading rumors was unfounded because what she said was already known.
In 2013, Rwanda signed an agreement with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights African Court of Human Rights, stating that Rwandan citizens or a group of Rwandans may file human rights-related cases.
Ingabire was arrested in 2010. On 13 December 2013, the Supreme Court convicted her for
15 years of imprisonment after she had appealed against the term of eight years in jail requested by the Supreme Court.
She was convicted of the crimes of betraying her country, aimed at disturbing its safety and creating a gang group.
In September this year, Ingabire was released on the clemency of the President of the Republic.
It is an honor she was bestowed upon by UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, on December 7th, 2018 during the presentation on the vision and status of global HIV response by Michel Sidibe and UN Undersecretary-General at the Kigali Convention Centre. It was attended by government officials, the private sector, and ambassadors, among others.
Mrs. Jeannette Kagame is the first to receive this responsibility given in recognition of her role in improving lives.
She thanked UNAIDS for the confidence it has in her by appointing her Ambassador of a department (Adolescent Health and Wellbeing) that cares for health worldwide.
“It is my great honor to share this moment with you today. To be named Special Ambassador of Adolescent Health and Well-being, by an institution committed to seeing healthier communities around the world,” she said.
“This is something that I cannot take lightly – and for that, I am humbled and sincerely grateful. This recognition goes beyond highlighting my efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Rwanda, and ensuring the health and well-being of our adolescents,” she added.
Mrs. Jeannette Kagame explained that the journey she embarked on, along with her team, since 2001, was one rooted in the conviction to see all Rwandans educated and living a dignified and prosperous life. She said she believed that it was what they deserved.
“Indeed, through this journey, we have witnessed a tremendous positive change. This is reflected in the lives of hundreds of thousands of our people, as they grow more knowledgeable about their health; but also, demand better quality services, while holding their leaders accountable,” the First Lady said.
Mrs. Jeannette Kagame said that the step achieved is based on the vision of the Government of Rwanda but noted that the journey is continuing.
“This being said, however, we cannot sit back with the satisfaction that the worst is behind us. As the face of HIV/AIDS continues to change, we must remain vigilant, in order to respond to emerging challenges, in a timely manner,” she said.
She thanked partners including AVEGA, Solace Ministries, Rwanda Women Network and others.
“We share this recognition. Let’s continue the commitment to eradicate HIV/AIDS so that our children can live and grow well, “she said.
She promised to continue the commitment such that HIV/AIDS will have been completely eradicated by 2030.
Rwanda surpassed the target 90-90-90 in 2020 set by UNAIDS and achieved 95-95-95, where it targets that 95% of HIV-positive people will be aware of it, and 95% of them taking ARVs, and 95% of the virus so weakened in the body and cannot be passed on.
Minister of Health, Dr. Diane Gashumba said that “Mrs. Jeannette Kagame has contributed to the fight against AIDS, especially in women by striving for HIV contamination-free century in Rwanda.”
UNAIDS Director General, Michel Sidibé, pointed out that Rwanda made a significant step towards the fight against AIDS but that it should not make people slow down on the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“Recently, we marked 30 years of the fight against AIDS. It is a time of mutual consultation and commitment. In recent years, people did not understand it and even said that it was expensive and should not be politically justified. Through your own will, we may say we got out of critical times, we have confidence,” he said.
He appreciated the role of Mrs. Jeannette Kagame in dealing with AIDS.
He said that in less than 10 years, Rwanda has doubled the number of people on HIV treatment and that since 2010, AIDS-related deaths are down by almost 50% while mother to child transmission rate is 1.5%- on the way to ensuring no baby is born with HIV.
Moreover, he said that Rwanda knows all about the power of HIV testing because more than 90% of healthcare facilities provide it, and between July 2017 and June 2018, more than 2.5 million people accessed HIV testing services.
He appreciated the role of Mrs. Jeannette Kagame at the launch of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA).
“She’s a loving parent to others. I will always remember that I had the opportunity to get acquainted with someone who has the heart of doing well to others, the people of Rwanda and the world. It’s someone who wants to build a bridge connecting people instead of setting up a separating wall,” he said.
Over the past seven years, the number of people succumbing to AIDS in Rwanda fell off from 6000 in 2010 to 3100 in 2017. The number of patients on HIV treatment rose from 89,000 to 186,000. New HIV contamination prevalence fell off from 9300 down to 7400 people.
Meanwhile, HIV/AIDS prevalence was 210,000 people in 2010 and 220,000 in 2017.
Sebastian Kurz who was in Rwanda for a one-day official visit is also the President of the European Union. He arrived in Rwanda on Thursday for his first official visit.
The visit came after new Austria’s Ambassador to Rwanda, Dr. Christian Fellner presented his credentials to Kagame on Wednesday.
In a joint press conference with Sebastian Kurz, President Kagame said Rwanda enjoys a strong and productive relationship with the European Union, which “we are happy to continue to build on.”
“Europe and Africa are neighbors, and we share several priorities including trade, security, migration, and the environment. These are all related to another common preoccupation, and that is maximizing opportunities for the young people of our respective continents” Kagame said.
Kagame explained that “the upcoming Africa-Europe High-Level Forum is an opportunity to build practical collaboration on several fronts, and we look forward to co-hosting this event in Vienna,”
“Rwanda continues to mobilize African leaders to participate in this important forum, so that we can continue to seek ways to unlock the potential of the digital economy, as a pathway to inclusion and prosperity,” Kagame said.
He also said that in the forum, “We will also be discussing in a wider context all kinds of activities including investments and partnerships that can and continue to bring Africa and Europe together so that this can lead to positive developments on either side.”
{{Europe ‘incited’ Africans to migrate
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On migration, President Kagame who is the current Chairperson of the African Union said: “If you look at numbers of people leaving our continent going to Europe, we have to ask ourselves how can this be managed properly. The how is there, we should have done this long ago but it’s never too late to do the right thing.”
“The partnership with Europe and Africa should have invested properly, created an environment to retain our young people and guarantee them that staying in your continent or country is better for you and you can find safety, security and jobs,” he said.
“If you look at the history of this migration, for a long time, let me use words you would not like, Europe was inciting, inviting people to go to Europe. The message was your countries of Africa are governed badly and you should come to us. The impression created was if you have a problem in your country, whether it’s false or true, just come to our paradise. And people came. To the point where people can’t have migrants anymore,” sadly Kagame said.
Kagame asked what can be done so that people feel happy about living in their country to which he answered as: “We can still have a conversation between Africa and Europe.”
“The kind of investment you spend on people who have come there is so huge that if you invested in Africa, we could create industries. The problem is not Europe; we have our own fair share of the blame we have to take,” Kagame said facing Sebastian Kurz.
“The way people are addressing it is through firefighting and sometimes it doesn’t put out the fire, it inflames it. We all need to sober up and find solutions even if they are complicated. We can’t find an easy solution to a difficult problem,” Kagame advised.
Kurz congratulates Kagame on Africa free trade area agreements signing and Rwanda’s impressive economic growth
In his remarks, the Federal Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz congratulated Kagame and leaders responsible for the impressive growth Rwanda saw in the last years, the fact that Rwanda ranks second in easing business and the free trade area agreements signed during Kagame’s term as the Chairperson of the African Union.
“During the last years, in Rwanda, you had the economic growth of nearly 10 percent and now it is 7 percent. It is extremely high economic growth and it is also impressive.” Kurz said.
“The World Bank index says that Rwanda is among the best places to do business in the world. I think many reforms which have been done going in the right direction, have resulted in the positive economic development which has taken place here in Rwanda.” Sebastian Kurz added.
“I would also like to thank you for your leadership in the African Union by establishing the free trade area for the whole continent. This is a very good development for Africa as a whole and economic development in Africa.” He said.
