The statement released last night shows that majority of new cases were found in Kigali: 121, Rubavu: 48, Muhanga: 21 and Rutsiro: 16.
Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus case on 14th March 2020. Since then, 28 912 people have been tested positive out of 1,516,498 sample tests of whom 26 383 recovered, 2 157 are active cases, 14 are critically ill while 372 have succumbed to the virus.
A total of 389, 719 people have been vaccinated since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation program on 5th March 2021.
Minister Busingye made the call during a three-day training aimed at building capacities for journalists reporting justice and human rights issues and exchanging ideas on the implementation the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations on human rights.
On 25th January 2021, Rwanda participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) where Minister Busingye presented Rwanda’s 3rd report to the Human Rights Council.
At the time, Rwanda received 284 recommendations from the United Nations Human Right Council, of which the country accepted to implement 160 over the next five years and took note of 75.
Busingye urged journalists to model good values and reminded them of their role in implementation process.
“The media plays a critical role during this process and is considered to measure moral virtues. I believe such subjects are covered at schools of journalism. Even though you might not have learnt it at school, it should be made clear that practicing journalists are like priests. Usually, a priest has a critical role in the society because he is not supposed to advise people against theft and later do the same after removing his clergy robe. A journalist also falls under this category of people highly expected to practice what they preach. When he/she is reporting and digging deeper into story details, the journalist should be modeling moral virtues,” he said.
Busingye highlighted that the media can help the Government to review achievements that no one should ignore its contribution to the society.
“It is not only the duty of our superiors to hold us accountable but also citizens should be involved. The media is a powerful tool to bridge us. It is considered the catalyst of positive transformations bringing together all concerned parties for common understanding which is a crucial aspect globally,” he said.
Taking an example of Rwanda’s dark history which led to the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, Busingye reflected how media houses including RTLM and Kangura served as tools to spread propaganda mobilizing Hutu to kill Tutsi and urged journalists to foster positive change.
The training sought, among other things, to know/understand and exchange ideas on the place and role of the media in the implementation of recommendations, increase the capacity of media professionals on the UPR process; informing and involving the public.
It also aimed at raising awareness of the media professionals on the general outcome of Rwanda’s third review under the UPR; discuss and adopt strategies for the implementation of the recommendations relevant to press and media freedoms.
These figures were released on Monday 14th June at the celebration of World Blood Donor Day held in Ruhango district at national level.
Ruhango is among top districts of Southern Province where a large number of blood units were collected.
This year’s World Blood Donor Day was marked under the theme ‘Give blood and keep the world beating’.
The mayor of Ruhango district, Valens Habarurema urged residents to continue supporting the good cause to save people’s lives.
“We are excited to see the World Blood Donor Day celebrated in Ruhango district at national level. It is not by coincidence but rather a result of residents’ generosity and commitment to donate blood. We should strive to do more,” he noted.
Dr. Swaibu Gatare, the Head of Biomedical Service department at Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) urged Rwandans not to lend ears to rumours about blood donation exercise.
“Some people spread rumours that donating blood once results into health complications like blood pressure among others. It is untrue,” he noted.
Dr. Gatare demystified such rumours adding that a blood donor recovers donated blood within 24 hours.
Benoit Munyemana, a resident who has donated blood 76 times emphasized the need to participate in the exercise to save lives and encouraged people to follow the suit.
“I am convinced that donating blood is a kind act to save lives of people in critical condition. Everyone should donate blood willingly because it has a far-reaching impact to the community,” he enthused.
A total of 203 blood units were donated in Ruhango district at the celebration of World Blood Donor Day.
According to the 2020 annual report of the Blood Transfusion Department of RBC, Rwanda needs approximately 288 blood component units every day. Most transfusion cases are due to Malaria, pregnancies and birth complication cases and cancer cases followed by road accidents.
The demand for blood components from health facilities were 100,935 units in 2020. Of these, RBC supplied 93,993 units which is 93.12 % hospital satisfaction.
World Blood Donor Day, an initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO), is observed every year on June 14. This day is celebrated to spread awareness about the significance of blood donation and to recognize the contribution of voluntary unpaid blood donors in saving lives.
The first World Blood Donor Day was observed by WHO in 2004 and was declared as an annual global event in the 58th World Health Assembly in 2005. The day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Austrian biologist and physician, Karl Landsteiner. He is considered to be the founder of modern blood transfusion.
The platform dubbed Teacher Management and Information System (TMIS) was officially launched on 1st June 2021.
Developed by Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) in collaboration with UNICEF, the TMIS, developed for Rwanda’s primary and secondary education, will support the monitoring of teachers’ licensing, appointments, placements, transfers, evaluations, promotions, and terminations as well as provide an accurate and timely overview of the teaching workforce in the country.
Gaspard Twagirayezu, the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education at MINEDUC has observed that embracing technology in teachers’ management is of crucial relevance noting that they will stay closer to them to boost quality education.
“This constitutes a significant innovation in this space. The TMIS will provide us with a list of active teachers, which will help us with planning and budgeting,” he said.
“We thank UNICEF and the Mastercard Foundation who have taken a bold step forward to support the improvement of teacher management in Rwanda. The TMIS delivers a real solution to a problem that has been affecting the education sector for some time in our country,” added Twagirayezu.
The TMIS, which has recently been upgraded to ensure its alignment with the new teacher statute, can be accessed by more than 14 categories of users in the National Education System. These categories range from the Senior Management of the Rwanda Education Board to the teams in charge of teacher placements, incentives, and trainings, as well as the directors of education in all districts of Rwanda.
Commenting on the system, Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF Representative in Rwanda said: “This TMIS will ensure that the education system has state of the art technology to support the administration and management of teachers thereby increasing efficiency and performance.”
This holistic approach will provide the Rwanda education system with an opportunity to not only better understand its human capital allocation resources, but also to improve the quality of teaching by providing teachers with more time to focus on their students.
Rica Rwigamba, Rwanda Country Head at the Mastercard Foundation commended the partnership that yielded fruits to enhance efficient teachers’ management and subsequently boost quality education.
“Quality education has always been at the center of our interventions and the TMIS provides a more automated as well as robust back-end to the education system, which helps to improve the qualitative aspects of the teaching workforce,” he said.
To date, UNICEF has officially transitioned the TMIS to the Rwanda Education Board but will continue to provide technical support as required during the maintenance period which will end in December 2021 – later on, TMIS will be integrated with the broader Education Management Information System as part of the 2nd phase of the project. The Rwanda Education Board will soon provide professional licenses to teachers who have fulfilled their requirements, as per the teacher statute.
A teacher can access the system through provided website link www.education.rw/tmis/ , click ‘existing teacher’, nationality and fill identifications in provided table.
Then, she/he clicks to ‘check’ whereafter a specific table to be filled appears immediately.
Police and local leaders found the group at about 9am, congregating in Ikadeshi forest located in Nyirabadugu Village, Gihembe Cell, Kageyo Sector.
Worshippers belong to Catholic and Pentecostal churches and had come from Burera, Rulindo and Gicumbi districts.
Felix Ndayambaje, the Mayor of Gicumbi District, who was part of the enforcement team, warned the believers against such prohibited practices.
“Behaving in such a manner during this critical moment… no one should entertain it. It is disregarding and hampering government efforts to contain the virus and putting other people at high risks of catching and spreading the virus,” Ndayambaje said.
“Real christians prayer for good health… for good life but not putting people in danger,” he added.
He advised them to go to churches which were allowed to resume rather than exposing their lives and those of others at risks.
Gicumbi District Police Commander (DPC), Superintendent of Police (SP) Jean Bosco Minani said that the violators were arrested due to a tip off by concerned residents.
“We were called in by residents who spotted a gathering in Ikadeshi forest. When Police and local leaders arrived there, we found 19 people praying and close to each other with no one wearing a face mask,” said SP Minani.
He urged the public to adhere to the government directives to protect themselves from the deadly virus.
“This is the second time in just two days that we have arrested people in these prohibited gatherings. Two days ago, we caught 30 people, now these 19; it is unfortunate that we can still observe people behaving like this,” the DPC said.
He warned that Police will not tolerate such behaviors and practices and called upon the public to continue reporting such violations.
The violators were taken to Byumba stadium where they were educated on health measures, government directives and handed administrative fines.
The deceased include a woman aged 57 from Rubavu and 73-year old man from Kigali.
The statement released last night shows that 42 have recovered.
Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus case onn14th March 2020. Since then, 28 614 people have been tested positive of whom 26 383 recovered, 1859 are active cases, 11 are critically ill while 372 have succumbed to the virus.
The majority of new cases were found in Kigali: 66, Musanze: 48, Rutsiro: 27 and Muhanga: 21.
A total of 389,658 people have been vaccinated 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.
The money was recovered from the prime suspect identified as Pacifique Tuyisenge, 20, who was located and arrested later the same day in Gatete Village, Kamushenye Cell, Kisaro Sector in Rulindo District.
Tuyisenge, a turnboy for one of the brewery depot vehicles in Gicumbi, allegedly stole the money from the truck at about 7pm as the driver was supplying drinks to customers in Gicumbi town.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Jean Bosco Minani, the District Police Commander (DPC) for the Gicumbi, said that following the alleged theft, the victim reported to the Police and the search for the suspect was immediately commenced.
“With Tuyisenge named as the prime suspect, the search for him was commenced swiftly. We later established that he had fled to Rulindo District where he was located and arrested at about 11pm in Gatete Village, Kamushenye Cell in Kisaro Sector. Police also managed to recover all the Frw2,477,000 from him and returned it to the rightful owner,” SP Minani said.
Bonifrida Mupenzi, the victim, thanked the Police for the quick response to recover all his money.
“I reported the theft to the Police at about 7pm. Although I hope that the suspect would be traced and arrested, I had no hope that all the money would be recovered. To my surprise, Police called me at about 11pm that they had the suspect in custody and all my money had been recovered. Such swift response makes us and our businesses safe,” Mupenzi said.
Tuyisenge was handed over to RIB at Byumba Police station for further investigation.
Article 166 of the law determining offenses and penalties in general provides that any person convicted for theft is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than two years and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf2 million, community service in a period of six months or only one of these penalties.
Kirubi, 80, died at his home at 1pm after a long battle with cancer, the family confirmed on Monday.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Christopher J. Kirubi who passed away today at 1 pm at his home after a long battle with cancer fought with fortitude, grace and courage. He was surrounded by his family,” his family said in a statement.
He has left behind two children. Details of his funeral will be communicated later.
Before his death, a tweet on Kirubi’s account read, “Top of the morning to you, my dear friend. It doesn’t have to be a tiring Monday. Instead, I bring to you good tidings of favour, success, achievements and happiness in the new week.”
“Give yourself a go towards your success plan. Enjoy today and the rest of your week.”
Kirubi had been suffering from cancer since 2017.
Kirubi first opened up about his battle in a brief video in which he appealed to Kenyans to undertake regular medical examinations.
“I hope that when you see me and think of me, you remember that cancer is treatable and curable. Go to your doctor and prompt them to profile your blood for cancer cells.
“We will only defeat cancer if we do something about it and I truly believe we can start with regular cancer screening tests which can catch some cancers early, when they are small, have not spread and are easier to treat.”
“I know that cancer diagnosis can be very devastating to the person who is receiving the news and the people close to them. I have been on the receiving end myself,” he said.
The businessman said other than medical checks Kenyans need to adopt healthy lifestyles.
When he returned to Kenya in mid-2018, cancer treatment had already taken a massive toll on his body as he had lost a lot of weight.
The tycoon, known for his vast business interests in a wide range of sectors, was flown to America in November 2017 and spent most of that year receiving treatment.
Kirubi continued to scale the heights of success with many investments under his name and shareholder titles in some of the biggest companies in East Africa.
Valued at over £300 million, he held shares in Two Rivers Mall through Centum, Haco Industries and Capital Group Ltd that owns Capital FM.
The upgrade follows subscribers’ complaints for network failures, dropped calls, unclear calls and slow internet.
New infrastructures have been installed in different parts of Kigali city to enrich customers’ with improved experience.
Eugen Gakwerere, the Chief Technical Officer at MTN Rwanda has explained that there are various reasons for slow internet.
“There are three major reasons causing slow internet. First, the subscriber might be located out of coverage area. Secondly, customers using the same network might be congested in one area. Thirdly, the telecommunication tower in the area might have had a technical problem,” he said.
Gakwerere revealed that the telecom has installed new towers to address the problem while more projects are in the pipeline to improve service delivery.
“We would like to reassure subscribers that we have installed 40 telecommunication towers within the past three months in Kigali. They were particularly erected in sectors surrounding Kigali namely; Nduba, Jabana, Rusororo, Bumbogo among others. MTN subscribers in these sectors and elsewhere are to witness changes, particularly, fast internet,” he explained.
“MTN is also installing 27 more towers to be completed by August 2021 to maintain improved service delivery to over 6 million customers who subscribed to its network,” he added.
Gakwerere said that some network problems in the past few days have resulted from upgrading activities and reassured subscribers of enriched experience with MTN network.
Apart from network upgrade, MTN Rwanda has also introduced ways helping customers to reset passwords while transacting with Mobile Money without necessity for physical presence at the telecom’s branches.
A subscriber who forgot his/her password with a balance below Rwf 3000 on Mobile Money can change password without further assistance by dialing *182*9*3# and follow instructions.
Among others, customers will be able to verify the telecom’s short service codes by dialing *456#.
The telecom is also set to launch a digital platform whereby subscribers will file complaints to MTN Rwanda staff directly via provided website link: www.mtn.co.rw.
MTN Rwanda will provide a Whatsapp number where subscribers can get real-time feedback.
Towards the end of 2020, MTN Rwanda launched MTN Device Trade-in (NI DILU), a program enabling existing MTN customers to upgrade any brand of their old devices (Basic phones, Feature phones or Smartphones) to new Smartphones without any other condition related to buying voice or data services.
Interested customers are able to get their old devices graded, valued, and receive an instant voucher. Upon agreeing with the valuation, the customer chooses any Smartphone in an MTN shop and get a discount that is equivalent to the issued voucher.
MTN’s Senior Manager of Customer Experience, Rosine Dusabe has explained that all these efforts are meant to facilitate customers to embrace technology.
“We want our customers to go with the current development pace and embrace technology to get services from the comfort of their homes without necessarily heading to MTN Service Centers,” she noted.
Dusabe reiterated the telecom’s commitment to maintain improved service delivery for the delight of customers.
Subscribers with rampant network problems are urged to click provided link: https://www.mtn.co.rw/personal/help/network-support/ , leave a message explaining the situation, phone number and location to have the issues fixed.
Rotary club is an organization purposed to bring together businesses and professionals to provide humanitarian services and providing support in addressing problems facing the world by combating illiteracy and poverty, contributing to the provision of safe water, handling disputes and fighting disease.
The new club was launched on Saturday 12th June 2021. With 25 members, the club birthed from ‘Musanze Murera’ club will operate in Western Province.
Members of Rotary Club Bugoyi Ibirunga who spoke to IGIHE expressed delight to be affiliated to an organization providing humanitarian assistance and pledged unwavering efforts to make meaningful impact to the society.
“I am excited to be part of this club as it gives me an opportunity to support Rwandan community with my colleagues. With established principles which we are bound to model, we are optimistic that we shall go far together to achieve great things,” said Marie Grace Umutoniwase.
Léopold Nirere said she did not hesitate to join the club considering that fact that the organization is promoting a good cause.
“I am delighted to be welcomed among members of Rotary Club to team up with others to bring impact to the community through acts of benevolence,” she noted.
The President of Rotary Club Bugoyi Ibirunga, Bishop Jean Faustin Gapira reiterated commitment to work hard for the progress of the new club.
“I am extremely pleased for the new club because the region where it will be based has many kind-hearted people willing to provide contribution to address pressing needs in the society. We will sensitize people to love each other and develop strong cooperation to support the needy,” he said.
The Assistant District Governor in charge of Rotary Rwanda, Jeannette Rugera applauded efforts that led to the foundation of the new club that comes in handy to complement existing initiatives.
“The new club induces great pleasure because it increases members and reinforces the organization to become more resilient. It gives a boost to existing activities we have been promoting in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda in health, education and other areas of development,” she stressed.
Bugoyi Ibirunga is initially expected to raise funds to support people affected by Nyiragongo Volcano eruption.
The launch of Rotary Club Bugoyi Ibirunga coincided with the celebration of 5-year anniversary since Rotary Club Musanze Murera was founded.
During the ceremony, members commemorated Masumbuko Moussa, who died few hours before assuming office as the President of Rotary Club Musanze Murera in June 2019.
