Speaking this week while signing performance contracts with institutions working under MININFRA, Minister James Musoni said that in this fiscal year a total of 21,154 families will be relocated to model villages.
He said that model villages have been constructed in all districts and the next target is to establish them in all sectors of the country so that individual families can extract samples and construct their own.
“Last year, we constructed model villages in all districts; now, we want to build them in all sectors so that individuals can easily copy and implement the structural plans in their respective localities” Musoni said.
The Rwanda Housing Authority Director General, Augustin Kampayana said that last year, government invested Rwf22 billion in constructing model villages in all districts.
The medal decoration ceremony was held at Rwanbatt48 Headquarters in ZALINGEI, Central Darfur in Sudan.
The medals award ceremony was presided over by Maj Gen Fida Hussain Maalik, the Deputy Force Commander on behalf of UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR).
“Today is a remarkable day that the United Nations has set aside to express its appreciation to the Gallant Officers, Men and Women of Rwanbatt48, for their dedication to duty, high level of professionalism and above all, their contribution towards the overall success of the UNAMID mission and the Peace Keeping operation in Darfur”, he said while presenting the UN Peacekeeping Medals to Rwandan troops on behalf of the UNAMID Joint Special Representative.
Maalik who is also the Acting UNAMID Force Commander, commended Rwandan Peacekeepers for conducting humanitarian assistance and quick impact projects to the people of Darfur.
“I am proud to say that Rwanbatt48 has excelled in their role as loyal, dedicated and committed peacekeepers in the sector central of the UNAMID area of operations. I am aware that you have undertaken several quick impact projects in your areas of responsibility since your deployment, to name but few, the construction of women conference hall in Nerititi Team Site,” he said.
“emergency medical cases reported by the locals to your Level 1 Hospital were given the urgent attention it deserves,” he added
He also thanked the Government of Rwanda for its significant contribution and sustained commitment to UN Peacekeeping operations.
In his remarks, the Rwanbatt48 Commanding Officer, Lt Col Fidel Butare congratulated Rwanbatt48 Officers, for their discipline and professionalism for the last ten months on duty.
“I am pleased to note that, this medal award will be regarded extraordinary as a motivation, which will contribute greatly in executing with renewed commitment to the protection of Civilians as well as discharging other duties as required by the UNAMID mandate; we pledge to double our efforts in the remaining months before we finish our tour of duty”, Butare noted.
Butare also thanked fellow colleagues with whom they worked together in both Zalingei and Nerititi Team Sites and locals of both communities, for their support to the battalion.
He reminded the troops under his command to always uphold the UN values.
In a statement issued by RDF today, Private JMV Muhirwa was shot in the back as he tried to jump over the perimeter fence surrounding the seat of the Military Tribunal in Nyamirambo.
Muhirwa was rushed to the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK) but later died immediately after admission.
The deceased had just appeared before the tribunal along with eight others where after they went to the washrooms from where he tried to escape.
Late Muhirwa was facing charges of deserting the force and abandoning a job station. He had been sent on remand for 30 days.
Military Prosecution has launched investigations to establish circumstances leading to the death of the inmate and immediately arrested the guard who shot him.
Muhirwa’s body was taken to Rwanda Military Hospital for postmortem
Court will Monday next weak hear the bail application of the trio or send them on a 30-day remand. The presiding judge said that the case file was big and didn’t complete reading it and therefore could not make any ruling.
All defendants and Lawyer Pierre Celestin Buhuru were present, but Lawyer Gatera Gashabana who represents Adeline Rwigara did not attend court.
The State Minister for Transport in MININFRA, Jean de DieuUwihanganye announced the move this Friday while visiting companies in IT-transportation related services.
He said that installing cameras in public transport buses will help ensure security of passengers by identifying petty thieves and other forms of sexual harassment mostly visited on female passengers by their male counterparts on buses.
“Cameras are very essential in public places. There are people with bad behaviors who sometimes do sexual harassment which we want to stop,” he said.
He said that the system will help them with basic information to monitor movements and security of these buses.
Uwihanganye, however, said that it is an exercise which will take a period to implement as they will start from budgeting for the activity.
The Chief Executive Officer of AC Group, Patrick Buchana said that they are committed to work with the government in the implementation of the new initiative to be able to harmonize transportation in the country.
“This initiative not only helps to harmonize transportation, but it will also provide information from inside these buses to the government to be able to take decisions” he said.
The World Tourism Award for Visionary Leadership is being presented to HE President Paul Kagame “in recognition of HE Paul Kagame’s visionary leadership through a policy of reconciliation, sustainable tourism, wildlife conservation, and economic development attracting major hotel investment, resulting in the remarkable turnaround that has led to Rwanda’s rise as one of the leading tourism destinations in Africa today.”
Under the visionary leadership of HE President Paul Kagame, Rwanda has achieved remarkable tourism success and has been established on the global stage as a leading sustainable tourism destination in Africa today.
Tourism, Rwanda’s number one foreign exchange earner, has played a crucial role in the country’s development. Revenue from tourism has doubled from US$200 million in 2010 to US$404 million in 2016 indicating an annual average increase of 10%, surpassing the National Export Strategy II target in 2016 by 13%. Over 1.3 million tourists visited Rwanda in 2016. Visitor arrivals for the same period (2010-2016) have increased by 12% annually against a backdrop of UNWTO arrivals in global emerging markets bench-marked at 3.3% for the same period. The tourism sector in Rwanda is expected to grow at 15% per annum.
As a preferred investment destination, Rwanda has instituted several initiatives to ensure a conducive environment for business. To date, Rwanda is considered as the 2nd competitive destination for business in Africa according the 2017 WEF Global Competitiveness Report, and this has encouraged even more foreign investment in the tourism sector.
Prioritizing infrastructure development within the travel and tourism sector with over $1Billion invested into significant contributors such as RwandAir, enabling it to expand its routes globally to 23 destinations as well as increase its airlift capacity with two new A330 Airbus aircraft. The next major development in this sector is the commencement of the new international Bugesera Airport.
The construction of Kigali Convention Center now positions Rwanda as an international conference and meetings destination. The addition of over 1,600 international brands four and five-star lodge and hotel rooms, including Marriott, Radisson Blu, Bisate by Wilderness Safaris and One & Only Nyungwe House, Ubumwe Grande that has been acquired by Double Tree by Hilton has resulted in the creation of over 90,000 jobs in the overall hospitality industry.
Sustainability is critical to a sound tourism policy and Rwanda has ensured that 10% of all tourism revenue is given back to the communities surrounding the Country’s four national parks. This money is used to fund local priority projects such as schools, health centers and business that promote sustainability benefiting thousands of Rwandans.
Rwanda’s Conservation efforts have made a major impact on the growth of the world-renowned mountain gorilla population by 26.3% since the last census in 2010. The Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda is now home to 305 mountain gorillas which accounts for more than half the population in the Virunga Massif.
Other conservation milestones in Rwanda took place in the Akagera National Park, where fencing of the park led to a reduction in human-wildlife conflict. Also in Akagera, there was the recent reintroduction of lions and rhinos. There is also a marked reduction in poaching throughout the country, for example in 2013, more than 2000 snares were collected from the park whereas in 2017, only 1 snare was collected. Similarly, in 2017, no arrests were made compared to back in 2013 when more than 200 poachers’ arrests were made.
Another major conservation achievement was the proclamation of Gishwati Mukura National Park bringing the total number of national parks to four with 9% of land now managed as protected national parks.
It is in line with that philosophy that the government of Rwanda, working with Energy Private Developers (EPD) organised a two-day conference to discuss renewable energy for sustainable growth.
The Conference organised under the partnership of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), ERF and The Renewable Energy Cooperation Program (RECP) attracted more than 200 participants including international, regional as well as local players in the energy sector.
The event served as a platform for key energy players to share ideas on how to increase off grid connectivity across the country and achieve 100% universal access to electricity by 2024.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer at Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi stressed the importance of the forum in promoting renewable energy in Rwanda through the contribution of the private sector.
She reminded the attendees that there are some incentives in place to facilitate investors within the energy sector.
“This forum is crucial in attracting more investments in order to increase accessibility, affordability and availability of electricity in Rwanda as per Rwanda Government seven year program. So far RDB has signed 40 Public Private Agreements within the energy sector, proving our country’s business friendly environment in providing affordable frameworks for investors.”
The Minister of Infrastructure, James Musoni said that the government is committed to working closely with the private sector in increasing off grid connectivity in remote areas of the country and scale up the current demand.
“It is important for us as government to make sure that energy is availed for all. We are currently focused on promoting off grid power connections in the country for the simple reason that it is more affordable and sustainable. This is why we also encourage more innovative economic models as we are ready to facilitate private sector developers in Rwanda.”
The Chairman Energy Private Developers, Dr. Ivan Twagirashema talked about Rwanda’s current national strategies and the need for more private sector innovations in the country.
“There are two main objectives for this forum, one, to promote inward investments and two discuss challenges in the industry and address them with a clear road map,” he said
“Thanks to the business friendly environment in Rwanda, public and private sector leaders are able to engage in dialogue and solve issues intertwined within the energy sector and ensure that products and services are more affordable to consumers,” he added.
Power generation in Rwanda stands at 210.9 MW installed capacity. Hydro power accounts 48%, thermal 32%, PV 5.7% and methane to power 14.3%. As per Rwanda Energy Group Report in August 2017, Rwanda has achieved 40.5% access rate, of which on-grid access represents 29.5% while off grid represents 11%.
Rwanda looks forward to achieving universal access of electricity (100%) by 2024, with on grid connections representing 52% and off grid 48%.
The SME owners were yesterday sharing experiences during a consultative meeting that brought together officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM), SMEs representatives, Financial Institutions and other institutions working with SMEs development, to discuss how they could addres all challenges to pave way for vibrant SMEs development.
Dieudonné Twahirwa, the founder of Gashora Farm Ltd, an enterprise that exports chili pepper said that there are many financial institutions in Rwanda, but it takes long time for business owners to be given loans.
“The most challenging aspect is bureaucracy along the way to loan acquisition; finding time to process it while working is so much tiresome. As new businesses commence operations, few employees are on board and so the proprietor has to handle everything including the processing of loans. It can even take you more than a year to get loan,” he said.
He said that some people start to process loans to use as start-up capital, but, when it takes them long time they finally suspend implementation of their business ideas.
However, Financial Services providers claim that some business owners lack relevant information and skills about implementation of their business ideas.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Finance Expert at Access to Finance Rwanda, Jean Bosco Iyacu said that business owners need to present bankable ideas, backed with good business plans supported bygood management.
“There are some projects that are vague, businesses with internal management problem; some of these businesses do not even have book entries for inflow and outflow transactions. So they don’t have supporting documents which can help them convince financial institutions to provide them with loans” he said.
The Entrepreneurship Development Policy Specialist at MINICOM, Germain Niyomutabazi said that through the meeting they will be able to find measures that will help them remove loan access barriers.
“We have found that access to finance is still a challenge among many businesses. We are going to take measures that will help the government introduce good programmes to end such problems. Resolutions from this meeting will help address some of the challenges identified and forge the way forward,” he said.
Mrs. Kagame was speaking about unity and reconciliation in the Global Citizen Forum Thursday in Montenegro, under the theme ‘Opportunities in the age of uncertainty’
She said that before 1994, the politics of division had gradually weaved its way into the everyday lives of Rwandans, culminated in one of the worst tragedies ever, genocide.
“One million lives were brutally cut short, through a hateful wave of killings that would mark the psyche of our nation for generations to come. Hundreds of thousands of women were viciously raped, and subsequently infected with HIV/AIDS; while 50,000 widows and 75,000 orphans survived the tragedy. The physical wounds have since healed, but the emotional scars still linger” she said.
She said that the 100 days of genocide marked a total failure of the concept of ‘global citizenship’ and its needed civic responsibility where international communities left people who were being killed.
She said that Tutsi, Hutu and Twa are ethnic fabric of the Rwandan society contrary to before colonial period, where they had been living together in peaceful environment.
First lady said that Rwandans embraced new mindset, which empowered them with the ability to shape their future.
“We viewed education as a powerful tool, able to drive the advancement of entire communities, so we also focused on increasing the number of primary, secondary, and tertiary education institutions to help realize the economic and social transformation, envisioned in our national development plans” she said
“As a rule, we believe in building bridges with all peoples and cultures, despite, or perhaps because of, a past marked by exclusion for many of us, who grew up in Rwanda or in exile” she noted.
She said that such reasoning led the country to work towards the repatriation of Rwandan refugees to their home country, by establishing socio-economic programmes facilitating their return, ahead of the cessation clause of Rwandan refugee status, set for the end of December 2017.
“We also believe that there is more to be gained at a human and economic level, by opening up to others. That is why we made a conscious decision to allow Rwandans to hold a double citizenship, to advocate for a no-visa policy within Africa, in line with our continental policy for Free Movement of People, Goods and Services, and more generally, to simplify travel processes for every visitor” she explained.
She said that as Rwanda was marked with terrible past, the country decided to play part, in the protection of other threatened populations across the World
“We have for instance welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees and provided them, with access to the same education and health programmes services that our citizens benefit from, as we believe that refugees or not, they are human beings, who deserve nothing less than to be treated with dignity” she explained
She told participants to understand that ‘races’ are not biological and urged humans to make one big ‘race’, with more similarities than differences.
When we accept that in the grand scheme of things, we are more together, than the sum of each of us alone; then it becomes possible to turn fearful circumstances into great opportunities, because then fear disappears from the equation, and love and oneness takes its place, said Mrs Kagame
The Global Citizen Forum is a two day event, attended by global leaders, industry visionaries, entrepreneurs as well as celebrities
They called the government to expel the organization from the country and open a lawsuit against them as the report aimed at destabilizing Rwanda.
Lawmakers were yesterday speaking during a consultative meeting on HRW’s report dubbed ‘All Thieves Must Be Killed’ that was released in July.
The report says that 37 people were killed by Army, Police, Reserve Force and DASSO in Rubavu and Rutsiro Districts of Western Province.
However, the Rwanda Commission for Human Rights denounces the report saying that some individuals pronounced as dead in the report are still alive while others died of
natural causes.
{{Lawmakers’ Reaction}}
MP Constance Rwaka Mukayuhi said that endless HRW reports on Rwanda are aimed at weakening the development of the country which should be fought. Senator Gallican Niyongana said that it is disappointing to hear of people pronounced dead yet they are alive and carrying on with normal life, saying they have demonstrated lack of professionalism in their sham activities. HRW should demonstrate professionalism and produce evidence-based reports, he said.
“I wonder whether anouncing a living person as dead leaves any iota of merit in the organization. This is disgusting,” he said.
“The government should examine whether we should renew the working relationship with HRW when they blatantly flout terms and conditions,” he said.
MP Jean Pierre Hindura said that HRW employees are intentionally targeting the President of the Republic and Rwandan security.
“This report was released during the time we were approaching presidential election period; so, I think you understand well their targets,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Abbas Mukama said that HRW should be expelled from Rwanda because they have demonstrated their inability in more ways than one.
“Let’s expel them. We also expelled BBC and moved on. It is time to end working with HRW,” he insisted.
Parliament will decide on the HRW activities in Rwanda and hand their resolutions to government for action.
