Ndayisaba was speaking Saturday to teachers from Kamonyi and Muhanga Districts of Southern Province as they visited Kigali Genocide Memorial.
The action was organized by a local organization ‘Christian Action for Reconciliation and Social Action (CARSA)’.
He said that the new generation should be explained thoroughly about the history of the genocide as a way to help them avoid divisionism.
“This generation is made up of children who did not get involved in the genocide, however, the history affected them, they see their effects, so they want to get well explained about the history,” he said.
“They should have critical thinking and stand firm so that no one could lead them back in the same tragic history we passed through; no one else could help us to achieve that than teachers. For you to help them, you should also have learnt about that history,” he explained.
Ndayisaba said that all Rwandans have the scars caused by the genocide. He however, urged teachers to prevent Rwandan children from falling back in such history.
Innocent Nzeyimana, a teacher at Groupe Scholaire Mbati said that he learnt a lot from the lecture adding that he got responses to different questions that he used to be asked by students.
“This lecture is very crucial and we are going to implement what they requested us, we have learnt a lot from here and we will not get confused in telling the history,” he said.
CARSA Coordinator, Christophe Mbonyingabo said that the action to take teachers and students to the memorial aimed at helping youth to grow with unity and reconciliation values.
“They aimed at training youth to build on unity and reconciliation along with values of sustainable peace. It is very crucial to bring them here to learn from the memorial about the history of the country. We can’t affirm that what they learn from their parents or to school are completely enough, it is necessary for them to be here to enable them fight against the genocide consequences, ideology and denial among others,” he said.
The teachers toured different parts of the memorial and laid wreaths to the graves where over 250,000 victims are laid to rest .
In 1997, former forces for Rwanda (EX-FAR) attacked Nyange School and asked the students to separate themselves ethnically (Hutu and Tutsi). However, the students resisted the attack and the attackers elevated spots on them, killing many but 40 survived.
Until today, there are no preserved documents or video telling the history of heroism that characterized the students.
While remembering the heroism of the Nyange Students yesterday, the CHENO Chancellor, Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi said that they are going to prepare a center which will tell the history of the school.
“This place should be used, the cabinet meeting has approved that we will put there a sign of heroism, in the near future it will have been done; in our negotiations with the Ministry of Education, we shall take one room and use it to preserve that history,” he said.
He said that it will help to teach youth and called officials to use the center in instructing the children about the history.
Theodette Abayisenga, a survivor of the attack said that she could not forget the horror they faced.
All 40 students who survived the attack have been categorized in IMENA category of Rwandan heroes.
He is accusing Rwanda’s Minister for Infrastructure, Mr. James Musoni, of allegedly wrecking his family, leaving his livelihood physically and emotionally shredded to threadbare. He says Musoni invaded his family, and home, impregnated his wife and produced with her a daughter while the husband was pursuing his studies in Uganda.
Rtd. Captain Safari Patrick accuses Minister Musoni of causing him financial losses and trauma, calling for investigations into the minister’s deeds and bringing him to book. As he talks of his marriage’s ordeal, Safari’ face grows creases with solemn pain.
Safari, now 47, joined Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) in 1991 and retired in 2005 from Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), which replaced the former rebel wing which stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi.
After his military career, Capt. Safari served in different government institutions including Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Natural Resources and Rwanda Governance Board.
Safari says he suspended his job to pursue his PhD studies in 2012 after consulting with his wife Immaculate Kayitesi, now ex-wife because the couple divorced in September 2017 as a result of Minister Musoni’s interference into their marriage.
While carrying on his studies in Uganda, Rtd. Capt. Safari says he was at the same time striving to provide for his family which was in Rwanda and managed to afford it as well as his regular bills on visiting the family.
{{Second marriage engagement
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Rtd. Capt. Safari, whose first wife had died leaving him with three children, legally married his second wife, Immaculate Kayitesi.
They lived happily in the first days and produced one child, adding to the three that Safari had with his deceased wife.
Things turned around in 2014 when Safari’s neighbours informed him that they were seeing an escorted man visiting Safari’s home at night and weekends very often.
In his testimony, Safari told IGIHE “My neighbours told me that there was a man who had invaded my home. They told me that they were seeing a special car, that is usually known for belonging to high ranking officials, entering my home so often but they couldn’t know who the man was. I kept quiet but coming back home towards end of the following month, I asked my wife about the issue but she fooled me, telling me they were our family’s friends who were visiting her.”
Capt. Safari says he didn’t attach much importance to what neighbours told him but he secretly followed up to know the car that was visiting his home and taking away his wife and bringing her back many times at night.
He decided to get to the root of what was taking place at his home in his absence. He engaged his house servants who started telling him everything that was taking place at home.
The servants could not identify the visiting man in the first days as they were seeing the car and the visitor’s body guard. Safari asked his wife about the visitor several times but she always denied the allegations of having affairs with another man.
Rtd. Capt. Safari pushed further his investigations because his servants were not getting to know the visiting man. He started surprising his wife with phone calls asking about the situation at home and the wife told him on different occasions that she was not at home, that she was not in Rwanda and she was once in Singapore without notifying her husband.
“I once took a night flight from Uganda and I didn’t find her at home. She later came in the dawn and told me she had gone to attend her friend’s anniversary,” Safari recounts.
{{How Safari’s wife got in touch with Musoni
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Capt. Safari recalls the time his wife asked him for Musoni’s phone number and the man never hesitated because the wife was working at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), thinking that his wife wanted to talk to Musoni for work purposes.
Three days after giving her Musoni’s phone number, Safari’s wife told him that her sister had got a job at Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) with the hand of Minister Musoni whom the wife praised as a “good man.”
Safari was happy for the employment of his wife’s sister for whom he had paid school fees.
It was in 2015 when his wife’s sister got a job at WASAC and his wife Kayitesi resigned from his job at MINAGRI on the reasons she did not tell her husband and went to work as the supervisor at the construction of Kigali Convention Centre, the job she was allegedly given by Minister Musoni.
{{Banned from his home
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In 2016, Capt. Safari says he got enough of his wife’s behaviour and invoked her family but his wife’s father distanced himself from the issue.
Safari went back to Uganda but when he came back home later, he didn’t see their marriage portrait photo where it was hanged in the sitting room and he realised that the wife was dismantling souvenirs of their marriage.
“I insisted much on asking her to tell me which man was visiting her in my absence but she held me in contempt,” says Safari.
He later learnt towards end of 2016 that his wife was impregnanted by Minister Musoni but Safari never inquired anything because he was banned from entering his home. The wife delivered in March 2017.
Safari later tried again to enter his home but he was blocked at the gates by ISCO security guards and called his wife to help him through but she declined.
“The security guards told me that they didn’t know me, they were given job by their boss woman. I left my home and went to sleep in a hotel. That time was at the beginning of 2017,” he says.
His wife told him the next morning that she had employed security guards to protect their home from thieves who had ravaged their area of Kimihurura.
Capt. Safari says he got information several times that his wife was getting out with Minister Musoni, citing an example of the tour they had at Akagera Game Lodge with the two travelling in two different cars.
Safari’s house servants did not know Musoni at first but one of them saw him on television and told Safari that he was the man they had seen many times at his home.
He also learnt of his wife and Musoni’s affairs from the chief of ISCO security guards who were deployed at his gates.
{{Heavy loss of money, property
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Before the mess emerged, Capt. Safari says he agreed with his wife on constructing their residential house and they received a Rwf40 million bank loan and started constructing a house in Rusororo, a Kigali suburb.
He kept sending money to his wife for repaying the loan but he was later phoned by the bank telling him his debt arrears were increasing.
“I asked my wife why she had not deposited money to repay the loan but she told me ‘how do you think our child could survive?’” says Safari.
The debt kept increasing and Safari asked his wife to allow him sell their house to service their loan instead of waiting for the bank to sell the house, causing them a loss but the wife declined.
The house they constructed at a tune of Rwf106 million was sold by bank at Rwf51 million, leaving behind the debt of Rwf500,000.
Safari says he discovered that his wife used the money he was sending her in renovating another house located in Kimihurura which he thinks it belongs to Minister Musoni.
He says Musoni caused him all of the problems he is currently suffering.
“He (Musoni) oppressed me yet he was supposed to protect me as a leader. He caused me a lot of problems, he interfered in my life and my family, something abusing the powers of a leader,” says Safari.
{{Wife filed for divorce
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Rtd. Capt. Safari divorced from his wife in 2017 after the Gasabo Primary Court’s verdict on the case filed by the wife. The wife never appeared during the trial as she cited pregnancy complications.
After the divorce, the wife accused Safari of forgery of the documents when he applied for the bank loan. Safari was later sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of Rwf3 million. He appealed for the verdict, directed the court to Rwanda’s embassy in Uganda where the couple signed the documents applying for the loan. The sentence was annulled on February 27, 2018 when the court examined the proofs and rendered void the first verdict which Safari says was influenced by Minister Musoni.
Rtd. Capt. Safari is currently renting a house in Kigali and raising his three children by his first wife and he says he is disgusted with marrying any other wife.
He advised men and women to pay attention to their family responsibilities to avoid conflicts which often lead to murderous incidents. Safari appeals to concerned organs to conduct investigations into Minister Musoni’s conduct which he says does not honour the trust conferred to him as a high ranking leader.
IGIHE tried to get comments from Minister James Musoni and Immaculate Kayitesi from Tuesday but they had not picked our phone calls by press time.
We shall bring out their side whenever they give us any information.
Tumukunde was speaking Saturday in the meeting of Permanent Representatives’ Committee in preparation for the launch of AfCFTA.
Tumukunde appreciated the work of Issoufou Mahamadu, the President of the Republic of Niger and the head of African Continental Free Trade Area for relentless efforts and invaluable contributions towards the realization of AfCFTA.
“As you are all aware, the establishment of the AfCFTA is a critical political priority of our African Union leadership. It is also a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063,” she reminded.
She said that the AfCFTA is not about trade liberalization for its own sake, but rather it is also a political reflection of leaders’ commitment to finding joint solutions for African problems.
Tumukunde said that AfCFTA is a political statement and declaration of the idea of African Unity in economic and commercial terms. She added that without it and Africa’s economic integration, rhetoric about African unity will remain empty.
“With AfCFTA jobs would be created. Entrepreneurs will expand their businesses. African value chains will be developed and maintained, and those value chains will be linked to global value chains,” she said.
“Our young people will have genuine employment opportunities on the continent and no longer hanger for greener pastures in Europe or elsewhere because the greener pastures would be here,” she added.
Speaking at the meeting, the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Amb. Kwesi Quartey thanked President President Paul Kagame and the Chairperson for the African Union for his commitment, determination and ability to place Africa on the international scene.
He also thanked President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger for spearheading efforts geared at creating One African Market.
“I urge PRC to lay down fundamentals that enable us to execute the decision taken by AU Heads of State of creating one African market by putting in place the African Continental Free Trade Area,” he said.
He said that African Continental Free Trade Area refers all to political symbolism.
“Africa taking charge of itself. Her voice should resonate with other projects that contribute to its development, especially consolidation of its integration and unity,” he said.
The African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat arrived in Kigali, on Friday to take part in the African Union Extraordinary Summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area slated on Wednesday 21st March 2018, as well as in preparatory meetings at the level of the Permanent Representatives Committee and the Executive Council.
He will also take part in the Business Forum that will be held on the margins of the Summit, and take the opportunity to interact with private sector representatives.
The Kigali Extraordinary Summit was agreed to during the ordinary session of the Assembly of the Union held in Addis Ababa in late January 2018.
The Free Trade Area is one of the flagship projects of the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 and aims to deepen the integration process. It is being driven forward along with other key related initiatives such as the Single African Air Transport Market and the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and the African Passport.
The project will be implemented under the Scaling Off-Grid Energy in Rwanda (SOGER) project.
Expected to be completed in June, the plant is being constructed at Nyankorogoma River in Mpanga Sector.
The Project Coordinator, Victor Hakuzwumuremyi said that the plant will provide 13 kilowatts and will provide access to electricity to 145 households and attract different income generating activities like haircutting saloons, grinding machines and welding workshops among others.
He said the plant will cost $85,000 (over Rwf72 million). The project was funded by Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) which will provide 70% of the total cost, Mpanga residents will provide 7%, Investor Israël Habimana 10% and the remaining 13% will come from Commercial Bank.
“Electricity services cost much in this region, they need to travel long for charging their mobile phones, so, they got an idea of making electricity from that river and we committed to partner and provide with them what they desire,” he said.
“This is a people’s project, though they will provide some monthly contribution for the plant to continue exist, but, it will cost them less than they used to,” he added.
Jonatilde Shirumuteto, a resident of Mpanga Sector said that they expect much from the electricity.
“We will engage in different income generating activities like tailoring among others. Currently, these who have solar power charge us Rwf50 for recharging our mobile phones batteries,” she said.
Kirehe District Mayor, Gérald Muzungu commended the project partners and Mpanga residents for combining efforts to make the project possible.
“This is a good example of how we can find solutions from ourselves, this model should be replicated in other sectors,” he said.
Karuranga had been the spokesperson of the interim regime in the last nine months.
In the elections which took place at the church’s Dove Hotel, this Saturday, the committee of five people has been elected.
Elected are Rev. Euphrem Karuranga the spokesperson; Vice-spokesperson, Rev. Pastor John Karangwa; Secretary General, Pastor Paul Gatemberezi Muzungu; Head of Governance and Finance, Aurélie Umuhoza and Pastor Jean Paul Ntaganda, the advisor for Finance.
Speaking in an interview with IGIHE this week, Karuranga said that during the interim regime, the committee had a big job of restoring the order in the church after different problems they passed through.
“We achieved many things including restoring order in the church. We also dealt with debts,” he said.
Nyarugenge Sector of Nyarugenge District had this week banned the use of speakers on Mosques and urged Muslims to use other means that would not cause noise pollution.
Speaking to IGIHE, the spokesperson for Rwanda Muslim Community (RMC), Sheikh Musa Sindayigaya said that after being informed about the decision, Muslim leaders approached different government institutions and were later allowed to use speakers on the condition that they reduce sound and don’t affect other people.
“First of all there is adhan (Islamic call to worship), it will continue as usual with low voice calling worshipers from around the Mosque. The new move says that we will inform people from around the Mosque as they are the ones praying from there, and of course it is necessary to inform worshipers about the time to pray. No Mosque is in charge informing all city dwellers, which was a mistake and is now made clear,” he explained.
He said that after adhan, the prayer leader will not use speaker by preaching people from inside and affect people from outside in their businesses.
Sindayigaya added that in the morning, prayer starts when some people still sleeping which is why it is not necessary to use speakers.
He thanked the government for the fruitful discussions saying that the decision by Nyarugenge Sector was not very clear. He said that the Muslim community will adhere to new regulations.
The ban on speakers on Mosques followed the clampdown on sub-standard churches across the country.
The Cabinet Meeting was briefed on preparations for the Extraordinary Summit of the African Union scheduled to take place in Rwanda on 21st March 2018. The Cabinet Meeting appreciated that the preparations are on track and that all concerned stakeholders are collaborating.
1. The Cabinet Meeting approved Minutes of previous Cabinet Meeting held on 14.02.2018, with some adjustments.
2. The Cabinet Meeting approved the following Draft Laws:
a) Draft Law approving the ratification of the Loan Agreement signed in Kigali, Rwanda on 12th March, 2018 between the Republic of Rwanda and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), relating to the Loan of twenty million American Dollars (USD 20,000,000) for Rwanda Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program; b) Draft Law approving the ratification of the Grant Agreement signed in Kigali, Rwanda on 7th March, 2018 between the Republic of Rwanda and the International Development Association (IDA) acting as Administrator of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for achieving nutrition impact at scale, relating to the Grant of twenty million American Dollars (USD 20,000,000) for Stunting Prevention and Reduction Project;
b) Draft Law approving the ratification of the Financing Agreement signed in Kigali, Rwanda on 7th March, 2018 between the Republic of Rwanda and the International Development Association (IDA), relating to the Credit of seventeen million, six hundred thousand Special Drawing Rights (SDR 17,600,000) for Stunting Prevention and Reduction Project;
c) Draft Law approving the ratification of the Grant Agreement signed in Kigali, Rwanda on 7th March, 2018 between the Republic of Rwanda and the International Development Association (IDA), acting as Administrator of the Global Financing Facility relating to the Grant of ten million American Dollars (USD 10,000,000) for Stunting Prevention and Reduction Project;
d) Draft Law approving the ratification of the Financing Agreement signed at Kigali, Rwanda and Luxembourg on 28th December, 2017 between the Republic of Rwanda and the European Investment Bank, relating to the Loan of forty-five million Euros (EUR 45,000,000) for Kigali Central Sewerage Project;
e) Draft Law determining the responsibilities, organisation and functioning of National Public Service Commission (NPSC);
f) Draft Law on Cyber Crimes;
g) Draft Law relating to the rights and the protection of the child;
h) Draft Law modifying and complementing the Law N° 05/2011 of 21/03/2011 regulating Special Economic Zones in Rwanda.
3. The Cabinet Meeting approved the following Orders:
a) Presidential Order relieving from duties Mr. MUNYAKAYANZA Eugene who was Rwandan Representative in Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin Authority (ABAKIR);
b) Prime Minister’s Order determining organisational structure, job profiles, salaries and fringe benefits for employees in the National Rehabilitation Service (NRS);
c) Prime Minister’s Order Appointing Lt. Triphonie UMUHIRE as Military Prosecutor.
4. The Cabinet Meeting approved the agrément of the following persons to represent their respective countries to Rwanda at the level of Ambassador:
a) Mr. KAREN DRASTAMATOVICH TCHALIAN, of the Russian Federation, with residence in Kigali;
b) Mr. ERNEST JUMBE MANGU, of the United Republic of Tanzania, with residence in Kigali;
c) Mrs. FRANCISCA ASHIETEY-ODUNTON, of the Republic of Ghana, with residence in Nairobi, Kenya;
d) Mr. LOH SECK TIONG, of Malaysia, with residence in Nairobi, Kenya;
e) Mr. KRZYSZTOF BUZALSKI, of the Republic of Poland, with residence in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
f) Mr. ABULLA JASSIM AL-MAADIDA, of the State of Qatar, with residence in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
5. In AOBs.
a) The Minister of Education informed the Cabinet Meeting that on 22/03/2018 at Serena Hotel in Kigali, the Mastercard Foundation based in Canada will launch a new Strategy for Africa called “Young Africa Works”. b) The Minister of Environment informed the Cabinet Meeting that from 19th to 21st March 2018, Rwanda will host the Sustainable Energy Forum and Africa Cooling Summit at Serena and Marriot hotels in Kigali.
b) The Minister of Sports and Culture informed the Cabinet Meeting that from 21st to 23rd March 2018 Rwanda Archives and Library Services will hold in Lemigo Hotel a Seminar bringing together local and international experts in archives and library services to discuss on the Development of Rwanda archives and library services.
This Statement was signed By Marie Solange KAYISIRE The Minister in Charge of Cabinet Affairs
The burial ceremony was attended by different Catholic Church episcopal from different Dioceses including Bishop Anaclet Mwumvaneza of Nyundo, Celestin Hakizimana of Gikongoro, Servelien Nzakamwita of Byumba, Antoine Kambanda of Kibungo, Vincent Harolimana of Ruhengeri, Habiyambere former Nyundo Diocese Bishop, Smaragde Mbonyintege of Kabgayi, Rukamba Philippe of Butare and Pope Francis’s envoy in Rwanda among others from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
{{Bishop Bimenyimana eulogized as hero}}
Bishop Halorimana said that late Bimenyimana was a person of all people.
“In our country that was characterized by history of divisionism and hatred, he was a person of all people. People who had divisionism among themselves hunted him wanting to kill him, but, luckily he escaped the death several times,” he said.
In 1994, he was hunted but committed to stay together with Tutsi who were being hunt and shared hardships they passed through, he added.
He said that his race was Rwandanship and Christianity. His inspiration was gospel and made him consider all people as brethrens.
“He passed on as a hero, that is why all people who knew him should stick on such heroism,” Halorimana said.
“Other Bishops used to have study visits to this diocese with the ambition to learn from him, the way he managed the church and the way all things developed leading to good gospel,” he added.
Under the message of Episcopal Conference of Rwanda red by Harolimana, they said ‘We loved him and he was a person of value in our shared mission’
Bishop Bimenyimana was born on June 22nd 1953, in Bumazi, former Cyangugu Prefecture now Rusizi District of Western Province.
He was ordained a priest on June 6th, 1980; ordained to the sacerdotal class in Nyundo Parish; and was ordained as Bishop of Cyangugu Diocese on January 18th, 1997. He was made an episcopal priest on March 16th, 1997.
Moreover the programme is bridging gender equality gaps in agriculture and ensuring women’s equal participation in the value chain.
In Gasovu, Muhanga District, a small village if you walk past the fields of maize mid-day, you’ll find women farmers sitting in a circle, using their smartphones as they take a break. But they are not checking Facebook updates or Twitter streams; they are getting crucial weather and market information that will help them grow and sell their harvest. And, it’s revolutionizing their farming and marketing skills.
“Before, we used to struggle to know the exact size of our land,” says Christine Mukarukundo, a maize farmer and member of the Tuzamurane Cyeza Cooperative in Muhanga district.
“As a result, farmers were unable to predict their level of production, which made negotiating with buyers and financial institutions difficult” she added.
Through a digital, mobile-enabled “Buy from Women” platform, farmers can know the exact size of their land and forecast the production. The platform connects small holder farmers (men and women) to the agricultural supply and value chain and provides them with critical information on weather, market prices and incoming opportunities via text messages.
UN Women, in partnership with World Food Programme’s Patient Procurement Platform (PPP), launched this innovative platform in June 2016, and it will be implemented in 10 cooperatives over the course of the next nine months.
In total, 699 women from two farming cooperatives in Gatsibo district in Eastern Province and one in Muhanga district in Southern Province have already registered. The registration process for the platform includes a mapping of farmers’ land plots, which is then used to generate a yield forecast.
The platform improves farmers’ capacity to produce marketable surplus, provides real time financial information and increases their market access, especially for women farmers, who were traditionally not involved in all parts of the value chain. Now both women and men farmers can negotiate better deals with buyers and financial institutions.
Some participating cooperatives have signed advance contracts with reputed buyers, such as the Rwanda Grains and Cereals Corporation.
“We used to sign contracts with buyers and not be able to meet its terms, especially related to supplies, because farmers would sell part of their produce on the side. Now with this system, everyone will know in advance the quantity of produce that they are required to bring at the Cooperative, and this will motivate everyone to meet the requirement and aim to produce surplus,” explains Beatrice Mukanoheli, another member and adviser of the Tuzamurane Cyeza Cooperative.
With real-time information that the platform provides, farmers are also able to make better decisions to adapt to climate variability by adjusting the planting time and making better use of fertilizers.
The programme, currently in its pilot phase, has received financial support from the Government of China.
While visiting the programme site, Ambassador of China, Mr. Pan Hejun said, “China is committed to providing technical support to Rwanda, especially in relation to technology development in agriculture. Agriculture is an important sector to the Chinese economy as it is in Rwanda.”
By focusing on women’s empowerment, the programme is also educating farmers on gender equality issues, with the aim of bridging the gender gap in agriculture and ensuring women’s equal participation in all areas of the value chain, including in the front line negotiations and decision-making. Following the harvest season and assessment of the programme next year, UN Women plans to scale it up in other parts of the country.
