The Deputy IGP made the call on Wednesday, September 15, while officially opening a four-day workshop on ‘community policing approach’ for 110 Police officers held at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) General Headquarters in Kacyiru.
The workshop brought together District Police Commanders (DPCs), directors and Police station commanders.
It was conducted in compliance with the national COVID-19 prevention measures including prior negative test results for each participant.
“Human security has been the priority not only for Rwanda National Police community programmes but also to other security organs since it serves as a major pillar of good governance and security as a whole. So, RNP through its community policing structures should serve as an architecture for promoting human security,” DIGP Namuhoranye said.
He added that poverty, natural disasters and diseases are part of insecurity and that RNP looks at the wider aspect to address causes of criminality or insecurity.
DIGP Namuhoranye reminded the officers to involve the public in all policing activities adding that sustainable human security requires collective participation, identifying community priority needs and joint implementation.
He emphasized the importation of promoting and sustaining community trust and confidence in policing and to be seen as part of the solution to community challenges.
CP Bruce Munyambo, Commissioner for Community Policing in RNP said that the workshop was organized to further enrich the knowledge and skills of officers in community oriented policing.
“This course will enable police officers to have the same view and approach towards sustainable security,” CP Munyambo said.
The workshop, the second of its kind, will cover key aspects of policing including the general security situation, force discipline, impact of Ndi Umunyarwanda on national cohesion and building post Genocide society in Rwanda; stress management and counseling; role of social media in crime prevention, crime prevention strategies and the role of RNP in promoting gender equality.
The statement released last night shows that 488 people have caught the virus out of 13 035 sample tests, six recovered, 22 are critically ill while the positivity rate stands at 3.7%.
A total of 1,138,219 people have been fully vaccinated while 1,829,974 received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation program on 5th March 2021.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
They were arrested on Wednesday, September 14, after they were found in two separate restaurants, which had been turned into bars located in Rukoroko Village, Mpenge Cell, Muhoza Sector.
They include a group of 18 people, who were found in ‘Be Well Bar and Restaurant’ and 10 others found at La Cortina Bar.
Under the government Covid-19 directives, bars remain closed.
Janvier Mutangana, 32, the manager of Be Well Bar and Restaurant admitted to the violations and asked for leniency.
“When Police officers arrived they found customers overcrowded and drinking. They were about 30 people but some of them run away,” Mutangana said.
Meanwhile, it was not the first time that La Cortina Bar and Restaurant has been operating contrary to the directives.
“I was arrested at about 8pm… I was hosting about 40 clients eating and drinking,” France Marie Niyigena, the manager at La Cortina bar and restaurant said.
The Police Civic Education Officer (RPCEO) for the Northern Province, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Alex Ndayisenga said that residents called the Police reporting the violations in the two hospitality establishments.
“The two restaurants had been turned into bars with so many people inside but some of them escaped in the process,” CIP Ndayisenga said.
He warned against such inappropriate behaviours and commended the role of the public in reporting violators and derailing national efforts against the pandemic.
“All national Covid-19 prevention guidelines must be observed including washing hands, maintaining social distancing, wearing well facemask and refraining from operating prohibited services,” he added
The violators were taken to Musanze stadium where they were educated and handed administrative fines accordingly while the restaurant services at the two establishements were also closed for at least 30 days.
Gihembe camp accommodates 9,922 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Some refugees who spoke to IGIHE lamented about the decision by the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management to relocate them to a new camp which previously accommodated refugees from Burundi.
Alice Mushimiyimana is among young people born in Gihembe camp who revealed that it won’t be easy to mix with the new environemnt.
“We are not happy with the decision. We have been familiar with this area which had become our home. Relocating us to another camp seems like we are seeking refuge afresh. Moving to different camps destabilizes our mindsets because there is no assurance that we won’t be moved to another place in the near future. It affects us in no smaller part. We have been living comfortably as proud residents. The relocation revives memories and living conditions in refuge,” she said.
Mushimiyimana said that it would be better resettling them in places where they will stay until they return to their native land.
Théo Mpatswe, another young refugee said that some of refugees are to leave occupations that helped them to feed their families.
“It difficult to get familiar with a new setting especially when you had strong connections with residents. Besides, the relocation will affect us in many ways because parents who have been running businesses to feed families will be hit hard as they get integrated into new life,” he revealed.
Goretti Murebwayire, Gihembe camp manager allayed fears for refugees noting that the relocation is meant to protect their wellbeing by resettling them in a more decent place.
“They should not be worried about the relocation to Mahama because the camp has been operational. Refugees with businesses will continue to enjoy such opportunity in Mahama camp and receive existing support. I would like to assure them that Mahama is more decent than this camp,” she explained.
Relocation of refugees from Gihembe camp will resume on 20th September 2021 where a total of 500 refugees will be relocated joining more 520 families comprised of 2393 refugees resettled to the place in May 2021.
Gihembe camp accommodates 9,922 refugees from 2227 families expected to have been relocated to Mahama camp by December 2021.
This initiative consists of various interventions that will ensure all MTN services offered are more inclusive and accessible to all members of society with specific emphasis on people with disabilities.
“Here at MTN, our customers are our priority, and we are constantly looking at how we can better serve all members of the diverse communities we operate in. Today, we are pleased to be partnering with the National Union of Disabilities’ Organizations in Rwanda as we embark on a journey to ensure that the services we offer are even more inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.
We are currently implementing interventions within our call center, shops, distribution footprint and marketing advertisements, which fall directly in line with our core belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life,” expressed Mitwa Ng’ambi, MTN Rwanda Chief Executive Officer.
As part of the Twese Initiative, MTN Rwanda will progressively enhance its service centres to ensure they are physically accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities. Additionally, MTN Rwanda will with immediate effect, include sign language communication in all its television advertisements as well as have interpreters in its Call Centre to aid persons with disabilities via video calls.
Noting that unemployment rates are reported to be higher among people with disabilities, MTN Rwanda has committed to reserve 60 MTN Agent positions across the country for people with disabilities (two agents per sector). These agents will be empowered through the provision of seed capital and MTN Kiosks to allow them to start up their businesses.
Alex Bahati, Member of East African Legislative Assembly Representing People with Disabilities highlighted that Twese initiative is a game changer and we appreciate the commitments made by MTN.
“The lives of people with disabilities are about to change for the better. This cross-cutting solution is the gateway to development and the end to many missed opportunities. MTN has led the way within the private sector, and we look forward to seeing other members of the sector picking a leaf from this,” he said.
MTN Rwanda has also committed to reserve a minimum of 10% of seats on its annual Graduate Development Program, for graduates with disabilities. This opportunity will allow for skills development and prepare the graduates with the necessary work readiness tools.
Speaking at the launch of Twese initiative, Dominque Bizimana, the Chairperson of National Union of Disabilities’ Organization thanked MTN Rwanda for taking an important step in becoming more inclusive.
“As the world continues to evolve, technology advances, our community does not want to be left behind. As of 2012 consensus, there are 446,453 persons with disabilities aged 5 and above are living in Rwanda out of which 221,150 are male and 225,303 are female. Therefore, by joining forces with MTN on this great initiative, our community will be provided an opportunity to use and enjoy the services and products offered to them. We would also like to appreciate MTN for their donation to our community,” he noted.
At the signing ceremony, MTN Rwanda also donated ten (10) million Rwandan Francs to facilitate the organization to procure these types of essential materials for people with disabilities.
Furthermore, MTN announced that it will be sponsoring the International Week of the Deaf Conference, which runs from 19 September 2021 to 26 September 2021, and will run an awareness campaign for other important dates such as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities taking place in December.
“We recognize that there is still a huge role that we need to play to support the continued build of inclusive and sustainable societies. It is for this reason that we look forward to working with NUDOR through this partnership,” concluded Ng’ambi.
{{About National Union of Disabilities’ Organizations in Rwanda (NUDOR)}}
NUDOR is a civil society organization established in 2010 by eight national organizations of persons with disabilities. NUDOR exists to strengthen the voice of the disability movement in Rwanda. Together NUDOR and its 13 members are working so that persons with disabilities can enjoy the equal rights to which they are entitled.
{{About MTN Rwanda}}
MTN Rwandacell PLC (MTN Rwanda) is the market leader in mobile telecommunications in Rwanda. Since 1998, we have continuously invested in expanding and modernising our footprint and are the country’s No 1 network.
MTN Rwanda offers various innovative services to consumers and enterprises, including personalised voice, data, home and fixed connectivity solutions. The company is also the front runner in Mobile Financial Services in Rwanda delivered through its FinTech subsidiary, Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd.
Tembea Nyumbani, Swahili for Visit Home, is a call to the citizens of the countries in the East African Community to visit each other’s countries in an effort to promote domestic and regional tourism business in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
In the spirit of East African unity, the tourism body is drawing wisdom from the popular adage that as an East African, any East African country you travel to is a home away from home.
Undertaken in partnership with stakeholders, the campaign will promote different tourist packages within the region. The campaign aims to spur tourism business within the region by showcasing the many hidden gems as well as affordable and exciting holiday packages that can be explored in what the world has come to know as Africa’s magical destinations. It is expected that an increase in interest to travel within the region will revive the tourism industry, which is a lifeline for millions of people.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism sector had become one of the most lucrative, but the pandemic brought it to its knees. As uptake of vaccines increases and recovery efforts start, many nations are cooperating to revive tourism. Before Covid-19, tourism contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of EAC Partner States by an average of 9.5% in 2019. It contributed an average of 17.2% to EAC total exports and 7.1% to employment. Research shows that EAC Partner States lost international tourism receipts to the tune of USD 4.8 billion in the year 2020. In terms of impact on employment, it is estimated that 2 million tourism jobs in the region were lost.
Efforts to deal with challenges associated with Covid-19 on domestic and regional tourism should focus on the long term, beyond the pandemic, in order to enable the industry to revive and thrive sustainably to withstand future shocks.
The EAC has a lot to offer in terms of products and attractions, with its enormous untapped tourism and hospitality potential.
Different discounted packages for East Africans are available on the Tembea Nyumbani platform https://tembeanyumbani.visiteastafrica.net/
The site features various tourist attractions, culinary experiences, tour offers and diverse travel experiences in the EAC. It will facilitate people to navigate and find a range of offers within the region and enable business owners to connect with customers easily. We are inviting all East Africans to visit the portal to start exploring beautiful East Africa.
Speaking during the campaign’s launch recently in September 2021, EATP Board Member and CEO of the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania, Richard Rugimbana said: “The tourism economy is at a crossroads. The coronavirus has heavily hit it, but this pandemic also brought us opportunities to explore new markets, open up new destinations, encourage innovation as well as think new and sustainable tourism development models.”
“The crisis is an opportunity to think about the present and the future. With the hard-hitting decline in international arrivals and recovery to pre-crisis levels not expected before 2023, Tembea Nyumbani will provide the much-needed boost to help sustain our region’s many tourism destinations and businesses. Besides promoting domestic and regional tourism, this campaign will be a key driver of business recovery in the short to medium term.”
“Recently, we re-introduced the www.visiteastafrica.net portal where tourists can plan and book tour packages and offers from service providers in the region. This is an addition to a great achievement of the East Africa Tourism Platform and its commitment to continue offering value to its members.”
More than 830 regional tour operators and travel agents will now be able to market and sell their packages through Tembea Nyumbani. More travel operators are welcome to join the platform, at no cost, by registering through their respective country tour associations.
Commenting on the development; Anataria Karimba, Director of Business Competitiveness at TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) said: “A return to pre-Covid-19 international tourist arrival levels may seem far off as travel restrictions still hold. However, this should encourage us as the Partner States to work together in addressing the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector and in joint tourism recovery efforts.”
“Tourism is one of the world’s major economic sectors, and the current crisis is an opportunity for us to rethink how we do things. One of the vital lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic is that domestic and regional tourism markets are very important. In such situations, they can help make the tourism sector resilient. We need to focus more effort on developing many creative and innovative packages for domestic and regional tourism. Tembea Nyumbani is long overdue.”
{{About the East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP)}}
The East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP) is the private sector body for tourism in East Africa, working towards promoting the interest and participation of the private sector in the East African Community (EAC) integration process.
The East Africa Tourism Platform was established in July 2011 after extensive consultations with tourism stakeholders. It became operational on April 2, 2012, with the support of TradeMark East Africa. The vision of creating and promoting a vibrant and diverse single tourism destination is the driving force.
The platform promotes intra and inter-regional tourism through advocacy, marketing, skills development, research and information sharing. It works closely with national ministries responsible for tourism, hospitality, wildlife, transport portfolios, the EAC Secretariat, TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), the East African Business Council (EABC) and private sector organizations in all EAC Partner States to promote intra and inter-regional tourism.
In a message released via Twitter handle yesterday, RMB revealed that the new CEO pledged to work hard in collaboration with her colleagues to take the institution to greater heights.
“Earlier today: The outgoing CEO Francis Gatare officially handed over to the new CEO Amb. Yamina Karitanyi. The new CEO pledged to work hard alongside the team to continue the journey of transforming mining, petroleum and gas resources into key drivers of Rwanda’s growth,’’ reads the tweet.
President Paul Kagame appointed Amb. Yamina Karitanyi as the new Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) on Tuesday, August 31 replacing Gatare who has been the CEO since the establishment of RMB in 2017.
The communiqué from the Office of the Prime Minister released at the time also read that the outgoing CEO, Gatare was named senior economic advisor to the President of the Republic.
This is not the first time Gatare is named senior presidential aide. He previously worked as the Principle Private Secretary to the President.
Before her appointment, Karitanyi served as Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, a position that will be occupied by Johnston Busingye, who has been serving as the Minister of Justice.
According to News.In-24, these two partnerships which fall within the framework of government agreements in the field of health between Morocco and Rwanda, affect various aspects of cooperation, in particular the sharing of scientific knowledge, training and the exchange of experiences.
The first memorandum of understanding, signed by the secretary general of the CHU Ibn Sina, Abdelhamid Ouaqouaq and the Director General of the CHUK, Theobald Hategekimana, concerns the development of the opportunities offered by scientific research and the exchange of information and documentation in all sectors of activity.
By virtue of this partnership, which is spread over a period of three years renewable by tacit agreement, the Ibn Sina University Hospital will welcome interns from the Kigali University Hospital for short-term internships intended to improve skills. The Rabat University Hospital is also committed to sharing its experience in the field of strategic planning and hospital management.
“This is a very important partnership which will allow the University Hospital of Kigali to benefit from the Moroccan experience in the fields of thoracic surgery, interventional gastroenterology and pediatric onco-hematology,” said Hategekimana.
“It is a key partnership for the development of our hospital but also for improving the training of our students”, he continued, adding that Morocco has accumulated a wealth of experience in health and training of medical personnel.
The second agreement, signed by Ouaqouaq and the director general of the King Faisal Hospital in Kigali Miliard Derbew, covers various aspects of cooperation, including the upgrading of professional medical skills and the development of certain hospital disciplines.
Within the framework of this partnership, the Ibn Sina University Hospital will contribute to the realization of the strategic objectives of the King Faisal Hospital relating to the promotion of the activities of cardiovascular surgery, kidney transplantation and hospital financial management.
“This partnership reflects the spirit of South-South cooperation advocated by Morocco which allows the countries of the African continent to help each other and share their knowledge and know-how”, Derbew pointed out.
In a statement to MAP, he said that “This agreement will help improve the services offered by the hospital and boost human resource capacities through training”.
For his part, the secretary general of the CHU Ibn Sina declared that these two agreements illustrate the privileged links between Morocco and Rwanda and reflect the will of the two countries to develop cooperation based on sharing, solidarity, enrichment and strengthening of skills in the hospital sector.
He noted that the Ibn Sina University Hospital has set up two steering committees with its Rwandan partners in order to monitor the implementation of the two signed agreements.
These steering committees, he added, will produce consensual programs reconciling ambitions, human resources available in the short term and the budget to be committed by hospital partners.
The District Police Commander (DPC) for Gicumbi, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ndahimana Gisanga said that the suspect was arrested due to a tip off by local residents.
“Residents in Rwankonjo reported that Nkoriki, who has been frequenting Uganda through illegal border points, had sneaking quantities of minerals into Rwanda. We conducted an operation and arrested him at about 9pm in possession of 80kgs of Wolfram,” said SP Gisanga
Nkoriki said that the minerals were brought to him by people, whom he did not disclose and that he intended to traffic them to City of Kigali to supply his client.
SP Gisanga warned against illegal cross-border and smuggling. He commended residents, who shared information leading to the arrest of the suspect.
Nkoriki along with the minerals was taken to RIB at Cyumba station for further investigation.
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.
The Western region Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Bonavature Twizere Karekezi said that Kayitare was reported by the residents.
“A resident of Nengo called the Police reporting a vehicle that left Kigali heading to Rubavu to carry smuggled bales of clothes and shoes belonging to Kayitare. Police swiftly conducted an operation and found Kayitare near Lake Kivu in the area known as Tam-Tam after loading the goods on the vehicle,” said CIP Karekezi
Kayitare admitted that he got the clothes from dealers who sneaked them into the country from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and were to be sold to his clients in the City of Kigali.
Kayitare was handed to RIB for further investigation while the smuggled goods were taken to Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA).
Under article 199 of the East African Community Management Act, which is also applicable in Rwanda, seized smuggled goods and automobile used in smuggling, are auctioned. The driver also faces a fine of US$5000.
{{Tax fraud}}
A taxpayer, who commits fraud, is subject to an administrative fine of one hundred percent (100%) of the evaded tax.
With exception to that penalty, the Tax Administration refers the case to the Prosecution service if the taxpayer voluntarily evaded such tax, like through the use of false accounts, falsified documents or any other act punishable by law.
In case of conviction, the taxpayer can be imprisoned for a period between six months and two years.
