The exercise which started in Afungi and Palma in Cabo Delgado Province is set to continue to all areas of RSF deployments including Mocimboa Da Praia, Mbau and Limala.
They have received the booster dose at a time when some African countries have confirmed a new severe variant of COVID-19 dubbed Omicron which spreads faster.
Rwandan troops were deployed to Cabo Delgado Province on the request of the Government of Mozambique which sought assistance to quell insurgents that had captured the northern part of the country.
So far, Rwandan troops in collaboration with Mozambicans and SADC forces have repulsed the insurgents that had occupied the area for more than four years.
Besides, the Government of Rwanda is administering the booster dose to members of the elderly and people with chronic diseases.
Manizabayo had failed the practical driving test when he decided to take the criminal move to influence the officers to overturn the results and include him on the list of those who passed the test.
Manizabayo, who was seeking Category A license for a motorcycle, failed to maneuver through cones.
“I have failed the test a number of times and my provisional license is about to expire. So, I decided to bribe them with Rwf100, 000 to influence them to overturn their decision but I was arrested while handing over the money to one of the Police officers,” Manizabayo said.
RNP spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera urged anyone inspiring to become a driver to follow due process and to avoid any criminal shortcuts.
“People should change the thinking that they will obtain a driver’s license through bribes, which is an act of corruption. Both parties; the person, who offers the bribe and one who receives it will face the law,” CP Kabera warned.
He thanked the officers for sticking to the RNP professional standards.
“It is the responsibility to every RNP officer to fight crimes including corruption in their day-to-day duties. If you fail, try again but do not take decisions that will make you regret,” CP Kabera said
Article 4 of law n° 54/2018 of 13/08/2018 on fighting against corruption states; any person who solicits, accepts or receives, by any means, an illegal benefit for himself/ herself or another person or accepts a promise in order to render or omit a service under his or her mandate or uses his or her position to render or omit a service, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of more than five years but not more than seven years with a fine of three to five times the value of the illegal benefit offered, solicited or received.
Penalties provided under this article also apply to a person, who offers or promises to offer a benefit, by any means, an illegal benefit for him/ herself or another person to have a service rendered or omitted.
Anthony Kagame, 40, was taken into custody on Saturday, December 4, after Police found a group of ten minors in the bar drinking at about 8:30 p.m.
Rwanda National Police (RNP) spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera said that Police responded to a call reporting noise pollution, which was coming from 360 Degrees Pizza Resto-bar.”
“During the operation, Police found a group of 14 people, who were drinking including 10, who were under-age. The manager claimed that they did not serve them alcohol but when Police officers tested them with a breathalyzer, they found that they had been drinking and the manager of the hospitality establishment was immediately taken into custody,” CP Kabera explained.
“It is prohibited and punishable by law to serve alcohol to anyone aged below 18 years. Owners, managers and employees of hospitality establishments should be conscious when serving alcoholic beverages to their customers to protect children from taking alcohol,” he added.
Health experts say young people’s brains appear to be more sensitive to damage from alcohol but less sensitive to some of the side-effects of alcohol.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) highlights four broad categories of risk-taking behaviour that are consistently documented to be associated with excessive alcohol consumption in young people; high-level intoxication that results in loss of consciousness and risk of death, accidents, risky sexual behaviour, including unprotected sexual intercourse resulting in sexually transmitted infections or unplanned pregnancies, and sexual intercourse that young people later regret.
Physical harm caused by alcoholism, includes liver injury, cancer, gastrointestinal damage, immunodeficiency, cardiovascular disease, abdominal obesity and neurological harm.
According to WHO, these are rarely diagnosed in young people but manifest in later adulthood when the body becomes less able to repair and regenerate in response to repeated high-level exposure to alcohol.
In article 27 of Law N°71/2018 of 31/08/2018 relating to the protection of the child; a person who sells alcoholic beverages or tobacco to a child, causes or encourages a child to drink alcoholic beverages, to smoke or to go to bars commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he or she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than three months but not exceeding six months and a fine between Rwf100, 000 and Rwf200, 000.
Africa New Life Church, an organization that strives to transform lives and communities through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and through acts of compassion is one of actors supporting this cause following the opening of a new school in Bugesera district in 2020, which offers courses under ‘Accelerating Christian Education’ program.
It is among few schools in Rwanda with such a program developing children’s intellectual capacity through a combination of science and Godly values.
During the ceremony to close the third school term, the Principal of New Life Leadership, Samuel Mukasa explained that the school nurtures students’ brain with Christ-centered education.
Graduates from the program also stand chance to pursue studies in universities from the United States and more than 45 African countries.
He further stated that the program is very unique considering its course packages.
“The program is unique in the sense that it focuses on Christian-centered education and imparts students with relevant skills enabling them to assume different responsibilities. It also helps students to learn with zeal to achieve great ambitions, “he said.
Besides, Accelerated Christian Education program is individualized and non-graded.
It allows students to work at their own level of achievement, which may vary from subject to subject.
The Executive Director of Africa New Life, Pastor Fred Isaac Katagwa has said that the uniqueness of New Life Leadership Academy lies in leadership skills and virtues students are acquainted with.
“Students will graduate from this academy with critical thinking skills. Our holistic approach also helps to educate students and acquaint them with positive attitudes,” he said.
The school has so far enrolled 70 students since it began operations last year with plans to receive not more than 200 to ensure that students continue attending studies in a favorable learning environment.
Katagwa revealed that the program is meant to raise future leaders from a school where faith meets learning.
Meilla Yves was previously pursuing courses under Rwanda Basic Education (REB) program but has moved to New Life Leadership Academy.
He explained that the curriculum of the academy enables him to work hard and understand courses easily.
Africa New Life works with the Government of Rwanda to train teachers and supports more than 10,000 students across the country.
It also has three affiliated schools some of which are located in Kayonza and Kicukiro districts accommodating approximately 1200 students.
Courses under similar program are also offered at six more schools in Rwanda including Life International Christian Academy (LICA), Trinity International Academy, Cornerstone International Christian Academy, New Kigali Life Christian Academy, Faith Foundation Academy and Springville Christian Academy.
The message was delivered on Friday 3rd December 2021 as the university graduated the six intake comprised of graduates who were conferred Bachelor, Master’s degrees and Post Graduate Diplomas in various disciplines.
The Vice Chancellor of UoK, Prof Tombola M. Gustave thanked students for their courage to pursue courses amidst difficulties occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.
“You should seek opportunities at all cost, make possible efforts to solve challenges facing you and create innovations because it is the secret to success. I wish you success in your future endeavours as you begin a new chapter of life,” he said.
Professor Robert Ebo Hinson, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Kigali also told graduates that enthusiasm to learn new realities will pave the way for innovations with great impact to the society.
“I am aware that you all use social media platforms. You need to be cautious because you might end up losing a job opportunity over using them inappropriately,” he said.
“You also need to create new connections. It is better keeping in touch with your colleagues because opportunities come from wherever,” added Prof. Hinson.
Graduates completed courses in different disciplines including education, accounting, finance, computing and information technology and law among others.
The university has so far released over 6,000 graduates since it began operations in 2015.
The Chief Technical Advisor, in the Ministry of Education, Pascal Gatabazi commended the university for contribution to Rwanda’s education, research development and urged graduates to strive for positive transformations.
“Your studies have been disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic but you worked hard to overcome obstacles until the graduation day. Therefore, you need to take advantage of acquired knowledge and seize available opportunities at the labor market to strive for a brighter future,” he said.
During the ceremony, Jean Bosco Sinamenye, the outstanding student from Master’s in Accounting pledged to exhibit high standard of professionalism with great zeal.
“I have founded a company that provides training on efficient financial management and auditing among others. I am ready to work with other Rwandans to exhibit professionalism and change the society,” he said.
20 best performing graduates were also awarded during the ceremony. The three best performers walked away with Rwf3 million donated by the Bank of Kigali while others received prizes including laptops from different partners including Cogebanque, Radiant, Prime and Study in Rwanda.
RwandAir also awarded one of top performing graduates with a flight ticket while NPD offered internship opportunity to three graduates.
Kagame made the observation on Monday 6th December 2021 as he opened the two-day Meeting on Partnerships for Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa taking place in Kigali.
The meeting aimed at reviewing the ‘progress made so far on implementing the partnerships for vaccine manufacturing in Africa’, was convened by the African Union, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD).
The event follows the inaugural meeting held in April 2021 where participants were updated on the progress made so on the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa.
Major outcomes of the high-level Summit include a commitment to developing a detailed “Framework for Action” with key milestones on the way to reaching 60% local manufacturing of Africa’s routine vaccine needs by 2040, the launch of the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) and the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between the African Union and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Afreximbank and the Africa Finance Corporation.
As he addressed participants today, Kagame highlighted that a significant progress has been made since the inaugural meeting of partnerships for African vaccine manufacturing took place eight months ago.
He commended the African CDC, led by Dr. John Nkengasong for taking the lead in the historic initiative with the support of the African Union Commission.
The President also extolled other partners for their ‘decisive contribution to advancing this agenda noting that the joint effort ‘has helped to prevent Africa from being yet again an after-thought’.
Despite achieved milestone, Kagame said that a lot of work still needs to be done.
“Africa’s challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in securing timely access to test, therapeutics and vaccines have served as a constant reminder that we need to be doing things for ourselves. This is not a new problem. But a crisis of public health is literary a matter of life and death. Africa must therefore build manufacturing and scientific capacity with a sense of urgency,” he said.
The President highlighted that the continent needs to work with partners to meet its aspirations.
“We can and must do something new and different. And when we need to do this for ourselves, that does not mean working alone. Vaccine research and production is fundamentally a global enterprise. We therefore have to work in partnership with each other as Africa and also with key partners around the world. That requires not only funding but also and even more importantly trust, “he said.
Kagame also said that entry into force of the new African Medicines Agency is one of the most important developments since the last meeting and commended the African Union’s special envoy Dr. Michel Sidibé for his role in accelerating the process.
The Treaty for the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) entered into force as of 5th November 2021.
AMA aspires to enhance capacity of State Parties and AU recognized Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to regulate medical products in order to improve access to quality, safe and efficacious medical products on the continent.
President Kagame has explained that it is essential ‘to maintain the momentum and fully establish this agency without which, Africa cannot independently authorize and regulate medicines and vaccines’.
He emphasized that producing medicines and vaccines on the continent, presents an opportunity for trade and investment.
Recently, Rwanda and Senegal concluded agreements with BioNTech to begin the end to end production of the mRNA-based vaccines as early as next year.
Kagame said that Africans will benefit a lot from the local production where vaccine doses will be distributed within the continent, an addition to technology and knowledge transfer to African engineers and companies.
Through its mRNA Tech transfer in South Africa, the World Health Organization is working with South African companies to build a valuable knowledge base for the African continent.
The Head of State said that this commitment and other initiatives underway in various countries are evidence of a strong momentum which must be supported and sustained.
“Because of this terrible pandemic, an opportunity has been created to fundamentally change the pharmaceutical production landscape on our continent. This window will not stay open forever. Now is the time to act, decisively and quickly together. As Africa and also globally,” he noted.
The event, jointly hosted by the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation as well as Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, offered learning opportunities to help start-ups scale and grow their business to compete across the continent.
The SCIP bootcamp brought together private and public partners of the programme, including top industry experts from Volkswagen, Angaza Capital, Viktoria Ventures, and more.
Together with subject matter experts from entrepreneurship support organisations, MEST and AfriLabs, these partners offered masterclasses, co-creation workshops, pre-pitch practice and networking events that equip the supported start-ups with the needed skills and knowledge to grow and better fine-tune their solutions after the programme.
After almost two years of operating under the difficult conditions of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, start-ups closed the event praising the opportunity of meeting fellow innovators and local and international partners in-person again. For some entrepreneurs, the bootcamp was the first opportunity of in-person pitches and networking since they started operations only two years ago.
Since SCIP’s launch in September 2021, start-ups commenced their six-months journey to scale innovative products which can boost the potential of urbanisation, ensuring smart cities achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. By scaling innovations for smart cities, the programme concretely contributes to Africa’s urban transformation and the creation of new jobs in Rwanda and beyond. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Prior to this Bootcamp, 31 start-ups were selected out of more than 300 innovators that responded to the call for applications issued from April to May. The selected start-ups are grouped in three tracks addressing common topics of smart cities: Cleantech & Smart Housing, Smart Mobility and Fintech for Affordability. They had participated in a virtual Bootcamp in October as part of the programme.
SCIP is part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation – also operating under the brand Invest for Jobs – and Make-IT in Africa implemented by GIZ on behalf of BMZ. The Programme’s implementation is supported by Luvent Consulting, AfriLabs and MEST.
{{About GIZ}}
As a service provider with worldwide operations in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ works with its partners to develop effective solutions that offer people better prospects and sustainably improve their living conditions. GIZ is a public-benefit federal enterprise and supports the German Government and a host of public and private sector clients in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, and peace and security.
{{About the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation}}
Under the Invest for Jobs brand, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has put together a package of measures to support German, European and African companies in investment activities that have a high impact on employment in Africa. The Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation – the official title – offers comprehensive advice, contacts and
financial support to overcome investment barriers. The development objective is to team up with companies to create good jobs and training opportunities in the partner countries, of which there are currently eight, and to preserve them during the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim is also to improve local working conditions. The Special Initiative is implemented by GIZ and KfW, among others. Further information is available at www.invest-for-jobs.com.
{{About Make-IT in Africa}}
Make-IT in Africa believes in African innovation and digital technologies for a green and inclusive development. In close collaboration with start-ups, local innovation enablers and political partners, it empowers entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems. Together it aims to strengthen an environment in which the full potential of digital innovation can unfold.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements the project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Further information is available at www.make-it.africa
The incident took place on Saturday 4th December 2021 when the student in first year, pursuing Science and Technology related courses went to swim along with his colleagues.
The university’s management has told IGIHE that the young man was seen floating in critical condition, shortly after submersion.
He was immediately taken to Kabutare Hospital where he breathed the last around 8p.m on Saturday.
Ndahiro was arrested red-handed in a coltan and cassiterite concession owned by Eastinco mining company limited located in Mirambi Village, Nyarubuye Cell of Musasa Sector.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, said that Ndahiro was at the time found with 7kgs of unprocessed minerals.
“Police received a call from the mining company that owns the site about a man, who was extracting the minerals in their concession. Police swiftly responded to the information and Ndahiro was arrested at the concession with a sack containing 7kgs of unprocessed minerals,” said CIP Karekezi.
CIP Karekezi warned against such unlawful activities and urged the public to always report anyone they suspect to be engaged in such illegal acts.
The suspect was handed over to RIB at Ruhango station for further investigations.
Article 54 of the law N° 58/2018 of 13/08/2018 on mining and quarry operations, states that; “any person, who undertakes mineral or quarry exploration, exploitation, processing or trading without a licence, commits an offence.”
Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of between two and six months and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf5 million or only one of these penalties.
The court also orders confiscation of any seized minerals or quarry in storage, trading or processing without a license.
Rwanda’s Presidency has revealed that they were hosted at Village Urugwiro on Sunday 5th December 2021 but did not mention areas of discussions.
The discussions were also attended by Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije.
The Meeting on Partnerships for Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa will take place in Rwanda from 6th to 7th December 2021.
It is taking place at a time when Rwanda is among other African countries selected as vaccine manufacturing hubs.
The plant to be established in Rwanda is expected to help the continent reduce over-reliance on imported vaccines.
Dr. Nkengasong and Prof. Fisseha last met with Kagame in May 2021 at Village Urugwiro.
Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation is a charitable not-for-profit organization focused on promoting the health of women and girls throughout the world.
Prof. Fisseha is a globally-recognized leader in reproductive health and rights and a lifelong gender champion.
She currently serves as the Director of Global Programs at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, as well as Chief Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization.
Dr. Nkengasong is also a leading virologist with over 30 years’ experience in public health.
As the founding director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and former deputy principal director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Global Health, Dr. Nkengasong has used his public health expertise to champion effective and accessible approaches to strengthening global health equity.
During COVID-19, he was also appointed as special envoy to the director general of the World Health Organization for pandemic preparedness and response.
