The statement released last night shows that no one has succumbed to the virus.
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March 2020. Since then, 17 484.
People have been tested positive of whom 15 125 have recovered, 2120 are active cases while 239 have succumbed to the virus.
Figures from the Ministry of Health shows that the prevalence of new infections, recoveries and deaths toll stands at 5.3%, 86.5% and 1.3% respectively.
Among others, 10 patients are reported to be critically ill.
The Ministry of Health has also reported that 15 patients are critically ill.
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 separate operations were conducted on Sunday, February 14, in the districts of Kamonyi, Gisagara, Huye, Ruhango and Nyanza where the nine suspected producers were arrested with combined 1200 litres of Muriture.
Their arrest and subsequent seizure of the psychrotropic drinks came a day after nine other suspected producers were arrested in Gisagara with 840 litres of illicit brew.
Muriture is among “simple drugs” under the Ministerial Order No.001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorization.
Article 5 of the same legal instrument, partly, defines simple narcotic drugs as all alcoholic drinks produced without complying with standards and other laws.
The Sunday operations were conducted jointly with local leaders and community policing groups including DASSO and community patrols locally known as Irondo.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Theobald Kanamugire, the Police spokesperson for the Southern region said that these are continuous operations targeting mainly producers of assorted illicit drinks.
“Three producers were arrested in Kabagesera, Runda Sector, Kamonyi District with 540 litres of Muriture; three others were arrested in Gisagara District with 310 litres,” SP Kanamugire said.
“Other major producers were arrested in Huye, Ruhango and Nyanza while the search is still underway for another major producer in Nyanza, who managed to flee during the operation in Busoro Sector, Gitovu cell, Kayenzi village where 120 litres were seized from the production house,” SP Kanamugire said.
He warned that further operations will be conducted based on the compiled list of suspected distillers and big sellers in local bars.
The spokesperson observed that the psychrotropic substances, besides being harmful to consumers also cause insecurity as consumers engage in other unlawful practices including fights and domestic violence.
Some of the raw materials used in the production of illicit drinks are considered harmful. In some cases, producers use burned bricks, sugarcane residues, spirit and other raw materials prohibited by Rwanda Standards Board (RSB).
RSB specifies that “only food grade processing aids recognized as safe for human consumption shall be used during the manufacture.”
Other standard requirements include labeling as a prerequisite; the name of the products, physical and postal address of manufacturer; net contents in milliliters or liters; ethyl alcohol content; date of manufacture and expiry date; storage instruction; statutory warnings; and list of ingredients in descending order.
According to SP Kanamugire, producers of these illicit drinks operate in unhygienic places using dirty containers.
All the seized substances were disposed of during which authorities urged residents to desist from consuming the harmful drinks and to continue exhibiting the community policing spirit by reporting producers and bars selling illicit brew.
Under article 263 of the law determining offences and penalties in general in Rwanda, anyone convicted for dealing in “simple drugs” faces between seven and ten years in prison and a fine of between Rwf5 million and Rwf10 million.
Celestin Hakizimana, Bishop of Gikongoro Diocese has been an Apostolic Administrator of Cyangugu Diocese for two years following the death of former Bishop of Cyangugu Diocese, Bimenyimana Jean Damascène in 2018.
Prior to his new appointment, Sinayobye served as the Rector of Grand Séminaire Propédeutique de Nyumba (Nyumba Major Seminary).
In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, Bishop Sinayobye revealed that he was very excited for the good news which he welcomed with humility.
“I was very surprised. It is a demanding mission beyond human capacity. I welcomed the appointment with reverent feeling to God that chose me as a cleric to serve the church and become a preacher,” he said.
“That is the oath I took. I have dedicated my whole life to serve God as man of the church. All my deeds wherever I am, will be dedicated to spreading the Gospel and bring to limelight God’s Kingdom,” added Bishop Sinamenye.
He explained that reverence to God and collaboration with colleagues, will among other things, characterize him on new duties.
“It is the prayer that capacitates me to do everything. Like everyone serving on God’s calling; remaining dedicated to God, and asking him strength is the main virtue I acquired from the Church besides collaboration with others. I will gradually get familiar with the new duty of managing a diocese. Most importantly, it is a duty that requires understanding others and collaborating with them respectfully, “highlighted Bishop Sinamenye.
He also urged Christians to uphold the church’s essence of collaboration and remain committed to serving God’s community.
Father Rugirangoga died on 7th January 2021 succumbing to COVID-19 related complications. On 27th January, Christians and friends of Rwanda in USA organized a farewell Mass prayer held at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
IGIHE has learnt that the aircraft carrying his body is expected to take off on 24th to arrive in Rwanda on 26th February 2021 to proceed with farewell mass prayer and burial.
A brother to Father Rugirangoga has told IGIHE that flying his body to Rwanda delayed due to involved processes for flight route clearance.
“The processes were stalled by the fact that flights from America to Africa transit through Europe yet most of these countries are placed under lockdown. That is why we are looking for an aircraft that will directly fly to Africa,” he said.
He revealed that they have started negotiations with airliners that the body of Father Rugirangoga might arrive in Rwanda towards the end of this month and buried immediately.
Burial rituals will take place at Agasozi k’Ibanga ry’Amahoro (Hill of Secrete to Peace) located in Kamatita cell, Gihundwe sector, Rusizi district of Western Province.
The hill of 25 hectares is located in Nkanka Parish, Cyangugu Diocese.
Father Rugirangoga is renowned for delivering healing prayers, unity and reconciliation initiatives.
Father Rugirangoga was also renowned for psychiatric initiatives and healing prayers launched in Mushaka Parish that encouraged Genocide perpetrators to seek forgiveness and survivors to forgive offenders as a healing process from the wounds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
In 2015, Father Rugirangoga was selected as Protector of Friendship Pact ‘Umurinzi w’Igihango’ for outstanding contribution promoting unity and reconciliation among Rwandans across the country.
In 2019, Father Rugirangoga wrote a book dubbed “Forgiveness Makes You Free” aimed at consolidating Rwandans unity and reconciliation efforts.
Father Ubald Rugiranoga was born on 26th April 1955 in former Rwabidege sector, Mwezi parish in Commune Karengera, Prefecture Cyangugu currently in Rusizi district.
He was ordained priest in 1984 at the age of 29. He used to organize different gospel crusades in which many people healed from different diseases.
IGIHE has however learnt from credible sources that Rwanda received approximately 1000 vaccine dozes that have been already used.
The WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines were received through existing agreements with partners other than the official equitable vaccine sharing initiative known as COVAX and the African Union’s Africa Medical Supplies Platform.
Rwanda is among four African countries expected to receive the first batch of vaccines through COVAX initiative. These include Cape Verde, Tunisia and South Africa. Rwanda recently received five ultra-cold freezers with the capacity to store all types of Coronavirus vaccines.
The fridges can store vaccines at -70 and -86 degrees Celsius. It is expected that Rwanda will have received 1,098,960 vaccine dozes by February 2021 to vaccinate 549 480 people.
It is expected that health practitioners, patients with incurable diseases like blood pressure, diabetes and asthma among other respiratory diseases would be among the first group to be vaccinated in the first phase along with elders above 65 years and people whose line of duty puts them in a susceptible position.
The cost to vaccinate 60% of Rwandans is estimated at US$124 million (Rwf 121 billion).
It is reported that vaccines distributed through COVAX and African Union’s Africa Medical Supplies Platform have not yet arrived in Rwanda but delivery is expected in the near future.
The executive secretary of Rubavu sector, Tuyisenge Annonciata has said that the suspect was handed over to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB).
“We learnt about the rape case yesterday around 10am upon information provided by residents. Concerned authorities in collaboration with security officials arrested the suspect and handed him to RIB,” she said.
Tuyisenge Annonciata thanked residents for continued collaboration providing information on various crimes including drug traffickers and smugglers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Article 197 of the Law nº 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offenses and penalties stipulates that anyone forcibly engaging 18-year old person in sexual relations is liable to a sentence between five to seven years.
When the offense is committed to a person in advanced age, differently abled person or patient; the convicted person is subject to a sentence between seven to ten-years and a fine between Rwf 500,000 and Rwf1, 000,000.
In case rape results into incurable disease to the victim, the offender is liable to a sentence between 10 to 15 years and becomes life sentence when rape results into death.
Gasharu village was built in 2007 to enable vulnerable genocide survivors live in decent shelters.
Some of the residents, who spoke to Huguka Fm, appealed for support to get new houses or renovate existing ones.
“The house and kitchen are about to fall down. Our life is at risk because these structures might fall on us anytime,” said one resident.
“I am in my advanced age and have no source of income. My wish is to get my old house renovated,” said another resident.
The mayor of Ruhango district, Habarurema Valens has told IGIHE that the old structures in question will be demolished to set up a new model village.
“We do send settlement experts to assess the robustness of their houses to avoid susceptible risks. We expect to demolish old structures that have existed for long to be replaced by a model village,” he noted.
“They should rest assured of that. We shall provide rental fees as we build new houses for them at the current site,” added Habarurema.
Ruhango district plans to start construction of the model village in collaboration with The Fund for Support to Genocide Survivors (FARG) from July in the 2021/2022 fiscal year.
The development was announced on Sunday by the Ministry of Health via Twitter account.
The Ministry also revealed that the country is using limited quantities acquired through international partnerships.
“The Ministry of Health’s National Vaccination Program has begun vaccinating high-risk groups, notably frontline healthcare staff, with WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines acquired through international partnerships in limited quantities,” reads the statement.
The statement released yesterday also shows that the initial vaccination program will be followed by a wider roll-out in the same month.
“This initial phase will be followed by a wider roll-out this month with supplies expected from the COVAX Facility and the AU’s Africa Medical Supplies Platform. Rwanda’s COVID-19 vaccination plan is ready, with infrastructure, protocols, and personnel in place,” adds the statement.
IGIHE has learnt that King Faisal Hospital staff and players of the National Football Team, Amabuvi are among people who have been already vaccinated.
Rwanda is among four African countries expected to receive the first batch of vaccines through COVAX initiative. These include Cape Verde, Tunisia and South Africa.
The confirmation followed an assessment by World Health Organization (WHO) which established that Rwanda is prepared enough to administer vaccines.
Rwanda recently received five ultra-cold freezers with the capacity to store and freeze all types of Coronavirus vaccines.
These fridges can freeze vaccines at minus 70 and 86 degree Celsius. It is expected that Rwanda will have received 1,098,960 vaccines by February 2021 to vaccinate 549 480 people.
It was expected that health practitioners, patients with incurable diseases like blood pressure, diabetes and asthma among other respiratory diseases would be among the first group to be vaccinated in the first phase along with elders above 65 years and people whose line of duty puts them in a susceptible position.
The cost to vaccinate 60% of Rwandans is estimated at US$124 million (Rwf 121 billion).
The deceased include two women aged 69 and 49 from Ruhango and Kigali respectively as well as a 63-year old man from Nyagatare district.
The statement released last night shows that 76 new cases have been found out of 4675 sample tests while 315 patients have recovered.
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March 2020. Since then, 17343 people have been tested positive of whom 14792 have recovered, 2312 are active cases while 239 have succumbed to the virus.
The Ministry of Health has also reported that 15 patients are critically ill.
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.
Vuki Ltd introduced sex toys in Rwanda to enable transparent acquisition of related products that were already in use without license.
In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, the management of Vuki Ltd explained that they launched a shop in Rwanda to help people struggling to find quality sex toys.
“We knew such products were already available in Kigali, but illegally. We wanted to regularize it in order to make sure these products meet international standards for security and health of customers. We also understood that there was a demand for adult’s toys, which is why we decided to open this business and to launch Vuki Ltd,” explains one of the managers.
Following the penetration into Rwanda’s market, and getting licensed by Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Vuki Ltd expressed delight to have been welcomed smoothly.
“Since we launched Vuki Ltd, we have not received any bad feedback from the Rwandan Market. Of course, you can imagine the atmosphere when we have opened our goods at the Custom! And when communicating with people during the process of market’s approvals, they were rather smiling and assisting.”
Vuki Ltd has a wide range of products including ‘Lingerie’, or women’s underwear. They are manufactured locally and Vuki Ltd considers it a great contribution to boosting ‘Made in Rwanda’ program. Vuki Ltd has developed partnership with a company dubbed ‘IsLo Collection’ to manufacture those garments.
According to the management, Vuki Ltd has expended much effort to produce some of products in Rwanda.
“Indeed we have launched this new category in December 2020 together with our local partner Islo. We wanted to promote made in Rwanda products and this local brand that produce high quality fashion clothes. This is why we have launched a new lingerie collection. This allows us with creativity to make products with local partner. By the way, the lingerie of this collection is custom tailored. Basically once you place your order we produce the model with the required size and deliver it within 24 hours.”
As you visit the online shop, a disclaimer appears suddenly restricting visits by minors below the age of 18. The website appears in dominant black color, seemingly, a dark room with insufficient light.
Products displayed on the platform are classified into six categories: toys, lubricants, oil massage, aphrodisiac, wellness and lingerie.
As per product’s catalogue; Toys are the shop’s main market and the product’s category which is the more demanded by women and men while Lubricants are used mainly to solve frigidity and dryness problems.
Aphrodisiac is sold for the purpose of solving some problems of sexual desire; Oil massage is meant to enhance foreplay preliminaries and bring intense arousal of the couple.
Wellness products are particularly dedicated to women, among other cups which are used as a permanent solution for periods. These include products enabling women to urinate with a standing position.
Lingerie is there to bring colour in a relationship and stimulate the desire both of men and women.
{{Women are major clients at Vuki Ltd}}
Majority of clients at Vuki Ltd are women. It is not the exclusivity of Rwanda because women occupy large global clientele due to the fact that most of toys are made for them or used on their bodies.
Vuki Ltd asserts women represent at least 60% of it clientele.
“Basically, the highest proportion of our customers are women. We estimate they represent 60% of our customers even if you don’t need to precise your gender when you want to order our products. A large part of our selling is gifts for anniversary or any other occasion. For example, Valentine’s Day goes with higher demand usually.”
During Coronavirus pandemic which saw many countries imposing lockdown, the sales in sex toys increased exponentially especially between January and March last year.
For instance Italy is reported to have increased sales by 60%, France by 40%, Canada by 135%, United States by 75% while Hong Kong and Australia grew sales by 71% and 31% respectively.
Vuki has revealed that sales also flourished on Rwanda’s during lockdown.
“Indeed, we have noticed increased sells during the lock-down; sadly we had to increase the delivery rates during this lock-down but we are still operating for the happiness of our customer. It is true that being locked home can be difficult for many couples and our products can also help to maintain a good relationship,” explains the company’s management.
Vuki Ltd has highlighted that the business doesn’t dilute Rwanda’s culture noting that Rwandans have had enough sexual knowledge dating back from colonization era.
“Actually there is no really limited sexual knowledge in the Rwandan culture, but an important place for it in the traditions. This limitation has come with the colonization. The idea is not to import practices which are outside the Rwandan culture but rather promote couple’s communication, stability and flourishing,” asserts Vuki Ltd.
The management says, it is committed to respecting everyone’s privacy which prompted to dodge mass media campaign lest some clients feel offended.
To date, Vuki doesn’t have any physical office and operates exclusively through an e-commerce platform.
The company plans to explore some possibilities like having a partnership with pharmacies as dealers of its products.
The management says, the company looks forward to partner with more Rwanda companies to promote local products.
“We are looking into to increasing Made in Rwanda products, building new partnerships with Rwandan producers, in a short term, and of course, preparing Valentine’s Day.”
{{Sex and culture in contemporary Rwanda}}
Beliefs or social norms might be a constraint to openly visit the shop selling products stimulating sexual desire but interested individuals should not be condemned for their rights to visit or use them given that sexuality is a God-given passion.
Not so coincidentally, sexual relations and related practices have been areas of concern for long in Rwandan traditions. Perhaps, you might have got the wind of ‘labia stretching’ locally known as ‘Gukuna’ or ‘Gukazanura’ (a tradition involving father in law to taste how sweet the new daughter-in-law is sexually gratifying) in Rwanda’s traditional culture. Have you ever wondered why or when such traditions ended? This is a small portion of a wide range of practices transpiring from sex-related traditions in Rwanda that are rarely discussed in public but etched on many people’s hearts and implicitly or explicitly reflected through their deeds.
To this end, implicit allusion to sexual relations that also manifests in artistic works, has been a vast topic of discussion that created mixed reactions among Rwandans. Such artistic creations especially in the music industry have been attracting public attention that artistes have been actively taking heed on the topic to draw closer to public attention. For instance, ‘Rwagihuta’, is one of songs that earned Massamba Intore great fame of legendary ranking.
Releasing songs alluding to sexual relations is gradually coming of age that super star artistes are making it an optimal choice. If you are an entertainment fan, you might know them better but I recommend you to listen to ‘Saa moya’ by Bruce Melodie, ‘Ifarasi’ by Davis D, ‘Igare’ by Mico the Best to be on common ground. These songs have been brought to limelight and convey implicit message that everyone interprets her/her way. So, Vuki’s presence with products stimulating sexual desire is not an odd to Rwandans’ debated topics.
{{‘Sextoys’ turning traders into millionaires }}
At global level, sex toys have increasingly become basic products especially in developed countries in a sense that they help spouses and unmarried people to continue enjoying sexual relations in the absence of a partner.
Figures on frequently searched words, show that ‘sex toys’ are mostly searched in countries including Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Netherlands. In the meantime, China and India as the world’s most populated countries record the highest number of people using sex toys.
Tracy’s Dog, a company selling sex toys recently conducted a survey to respondents from different countries. 62% of respondents owned sex toys while 57% of the rest planned to buy sex toys in case a lockdown is imposed.
47% of respondents are from the United States of America, 32% are from Europe, 13% are from Asia, while 8% are from Australia.
In brief, several reasons have provided ground for increased users of sex toys. These include reduced price due to increased manufacturers including China producing 70% of the world’s sex toys.
Besides mass production, the quality and sophisticated technology made with these smoothened toys to help individuals reach orgasm is another reason that draw sex toys market on peak.
As a result, sex toy traders have been reaping big, and expect bigger returns in the future. For instance, the value of sex toys market was valued at over US$ 25 billion in 2018, increased to over US$ 26.6% billion in 2019 and over US$ 30$ billion in 2020. The market is estimated at US$ 48.2 billion in 2027.
There are no official sources showing the current status of sex toys trade on African continent, because many countries (excluding South Africa and few others) don’t authorize the use of sex toys due to cultural constraints and beliefs against such practices. However, sex toys are present on the continent.
Continuous use of such toys secretly might lead to several health risks and damage body parts over the application of substandard toys.
