The new facility employs RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), an advanced laboratory technique for testing for diseases by detecting the presence of their genetic material in the body.
Such testing methods are considered as the ‘gold standard’ for the detection of some viruses and is characterised by high sensitivity and specificity.
Rwanda is among few countries to set up such a COVID19 PCR lab within an international airport.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije has said that the development aligns with measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Setting up a laboratory at the airport is meant to help us continue delivering better services to incoming passengers. We have observed that incoming passengers have increased nowadays yet quite a number of them are COVID-19 positive. Doing tests from hotels and taking them to national laboratory would take time. With the facility, we wanted to take tests here making it easier for us to follow up everyone’s results,” he said.
Dr Ngamije explained that the laboratory is equipped with technology helping to identify who have not yet got results and update them on reasons for the delay.
“We sometimes use ‘pooling system’ making it necessary to attend to every sample test. The result for such person might be delayed,” he noted.
Rwanda already had National Referral Laboratory used for different tests including COVID-19.
RNP spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera said that as Rwanda, like the rest of the world, is still faced with the deadly COVID-19, it requires changing attitude and actions in the festive season celebrations.
“As you start or plan for the festive celebrations, remember that the pandemic of COVID-19 is still in our midst; we are seeing many daily infections and people are still dying. As we have seen, the virus affects and kills all age groups and it is spread by the people,” CP Kabera said.
On December 23, the Ministry of Health reported 87 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the number of cases still active to 1369. A total of 66 COVID-19 related deaths have so far been recorded in Rwanda.
“The situation demands from us all to change our festive celebration lifestyles in line with the health guidelines for everyone’s safety. Avoid unnecessary movements, abide by the health guidelines if you have to move. The guidelines include wearing facemask properly covering the nose and mouth, washing or sanitizing your hands regularly, social distance, avoiding the tradition of hugging or shaking hands, and in case of celebrations of any kind, do it at your home with internal family members; don’t invite other people from outside.”
According to the spokesperson, Police and other entities in local government, health, community policing groups and the general public are working together to ensure maximum compliance with the national health guidelines and for the violators to be penalized accordingly.
CP Kabera said: “Everyone should be home by 8pm. For this to be possible you should plan ahead, anticipate the time your activities will take so that by 8pm you’ll be home already; prioritize what’s important and do it on time so that 8pm won’t find you on the road; make sure any trip you take allows you to be able to reach your home before 8pm; we all don’t have to use the same routes when there are alternative routes you can use to avoid traffic jam; If you use public transport, make sure you get to the bus park early so that you can avoid overcrowding.”
Movements in Musanze District are prohibited between 7pm and 4am.
He further warned against holding house parties, operating bars or relocating them into homes.
{{Road safety}}
CP Kabera further advised against movements which can lead to further spread of the pandemic.
At least 109 new infections were also reported on December 22, with cases registered in City of Kigali and other 15 districts including six out of seven districts of the Eastern Province. One COVID-19 related death was reported on the same day.
He, however, called upon motorists to respect traffic rules and regulations such as regulating speed as well as adhering to COVID-19 preventive measures.
Public transport vehicles are required to operate at 50 percent capacity in compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures.
CP Kabera further reminded organizers of religious services that places of worship operate once a week with no more than 50 percent of maximum occupancy, except in Musanze where attendance is at 30 percent maximum occupancy.
Uwinkindi was a pastor at a Pentecostal church in the former Rural Kigali Prefecture (now Bugesera District) during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
He had appealed against the verdict of the High Court claiming that he was not given enough resources to hire private investigators for his defence, and that he was not given the defence lawyers he wanted.
The Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict after finding no reasonable evidences for his appeal.
Uwinkindi was convicted of murder as crime of genocide and extermination as crime against humanity.
The court said he committed the crimes between April and May in 1994.
According to the prosecution, between 100 and 150 Tutsi had sought refuge at Kayenzi Pentecostal church where Uwinkindi was a pastor.
Uwinkindi was arrested on June 30, 2010, in Kampala, Uganda. On July 2, 2010, he was transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha.
In November 2010, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda requested his referral to Rwanda. On June 29, 2011, ICTR Referral Chamber ruled in favour of extradition, marking the first time in the Tribunal’s history to do so.
Uwinkindi was born in former commune Rwamatamu in Kibuye Prefecture currently in Rutsiro district.
The statement released last night shows that the deceased include two women aged 55 (from Huye) and 69 (from Kigali) and a 46-year old man (from Kigali).
New patients were found in Kigali: 35, Rubavu: 25, Nyamasheke: 5, Huye: 2, Muhanga: 2, Rusizi: 2 and Nyamagabe: 1.
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March 2020. So far, 7670 people have been tested positive out of 707 401 sample tests of whom 6203 have recovered, 1398 are active cases while 69 have succumbed to the virus.
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 activity that was scheduled from 28th December 2020 has been postponed to the beginning of next year.
“The National Electoral Commission would like to inform the general public that picking candidatures for aspirants seeking to join districts’ advisory committees scheduled on 28th December 2020 has been postponed,” reads the statement released by NEC.
The Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission, Charles Munyaneza has told IGIHE that the exercise has been postponed because the commission didn’t have enough time to mobilize people for participation due to COVID-19.
“We didn’t have enough time to run activities aimed at mobilizing citizens to participate in elections following the recent cabinet meeting. We have pushed the exercise ahead so that we can get at least two weeks, thus candidates will submit have enough information before submitting forms of candidatures,” he said.
Munyaneza explained that the postponement won’t affect dates for advisory committees’ elections scheduled on 22nd February 2021.
Mayoral elections scheduled from 2nd and 3rd March 2021 have been also postponed to 5th March 2021.
The upcoming elections will begin with the selection of districts’ advisory committees among whom the executive committee comprised of mayor, vice mayors for economic and social affairs will be elected.
The advisory committee is made of members selected at sector level, members from National Youth Council and the coordinator of National Women’s Council at district level.
Others include the coordinator of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities at district level and the President of Private Sector Federation in the district. Women representation in the district’s advisory committee is supposed to be 30%.
Today, SBL has put 7 brands in the market with SKOL Malt being the first brand brought to the Rwandan market, it then introduced SKOL Gatanu, Virunga Mist and Virunga Gold, SKOL Panache, SKOL Lager, SKOL Select and just last Friday Virunga Mineral Water and Virunga Sparkling Water “the first Rwandan mineral water in a returnable glass bottle”.
The company has always been in production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic malt-based beverages until 2019 when the Government of Rwanda voted the Law N0 17/2019 of 10/08/2019 relating to the prohibition of single-use plastic items in the country; SKOL as a company with a commitment to environment sustainability and contribution to Government’s agenda on prohibition of single-use plastic items, decided to invest in a Mineral Water production line, that is now fully operational.
SKOL Brewery Ltd has a reputation of not only offering high quality products to its consumers but also giving pleasure and much fun through different promotional and marketing activities held throughout the years such as the SKOL World Cup Village, SKOL New Year’s Village, SKOL Lager Comedy Nights, Gikundiro Promotion, and more.
SKOL Brewery Ltd is involved in various Corporate Social Responsibility activities like local talent development through cycling teams – SACA and Fly Cycling Club, SKOL FXBVillage a program with the ambition to uplift its beneficiaries from extreme poverty, providing medical support to vulnerable families around the Brewery, and more.
It has also been sponsoring cycling since 2012 through Tour du Rwanda, Rwanda Cycling Cup, and football with Rayon Sports F.C. since 2014; and signed a sponsoring partnership with Arsenal F.C. in 2018.
SKOL Brewery Ltd goal is to not only make profits, provide Pleasure and Perfect products to its consumers but also to contribute to People’s development, wellbeing of its employees and the Rwandan community in general, while respecting the environment at all stages as states its slogan “Pleasure – People – Perfection”. This is also recognised by the awards won – 2018 Best Taxpayer, Best Investor and among Top Taxpayers in 2019; and its investment in a waste-water treatment plant.
The victims include residents of Rugeyo and Gisunzu villages in Kageyo cell of Mwili sector.
IGIHE has learnt that a cow belonging to a resident died of unknown disease on Thursday last week and the sector veterinarian agreed with residents to bury the cow. He prohibited them to eat the meat of the carcass to avoid any possible associated sickness.
It is said that residents shortly exhumed the cow, washed fleshes and sold meat to buyers in two neighboring villages.
They were not affected immediately after eating exhumed meat but started feeling bellyache and caught with diarrhea on Monday.
The executive secretary of Mwili sector, Bright Nsoro has told IGIHE that 42 residents have been taken to health facilities after developing health complications connected to eating exhumed meat.
“20 of 42 people have been attended to and discharged while 22 are still admitted at Kageyo Health Center,” he explained.
Nsoro appealed on residents to avoid eating untested meat and respect advice from veterinarians.
“No one knows the disease killing the cows. Sometimes, a sick cow is injected with various drugs for a long period before dying that its meat might be poisonous.That is why we recommend residents to buy meat from authorized butcheries instead of buying from un-kwon sources,” he noted.
All residents who ate the cow are showing symptoms of belly pains, vomiting and diarrhea among others.
Dr. Nsabimana made the pledge to the Senatorial Standing Committee on Economic Development and Finance as the latter assessed the competencies of officials appointed by the cabinet meeting recently.
The areas of priority were revealed yesterday during an extra-ordinary session of Senate that also approved seven heads of different institutions appointed by 14th December cabinet meeting.
These include Dr. Nsabimana Ernest , the Director General of RURA; Dusenge Byigero Alfred, the CEO of Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC); Gashumba Jeanne Pauline, the CEO of Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Vincent Munyeshyaka, the CEO of Business Development Fund (BDF) and Félix Nshimyumuremyi, the Director General of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA).
Others include Dr Rose Mukankomeje, the Director General of Higher Education Council (HEC) and Paul Umukunzi, the Director General of Rwanda TVET Board (RTB).
As they interacted with the Senatorial Standing Committee on Economic Development and Finance, these leaders committed to deliver on efficiency and fix existing gaps.
The Director General of RURA, Dr. Nsabimana Ernest expressed readiness to improve efficiency in public transport services, address the problem of inadequate infrastructure, buses, and roads for public transport as well as fixing irregular public transport fares.
He also expressed interest in providing solution to higher tariffs for water and electricity and telecommunications services experiencing network problems.
The CEO of WASAC, Dusenge Byigero Alfred pointed out the absence of board committee since 2018 among issues hindering performance of the institution.
He committed to improve efficiency in funds mismanagement and scale up efforts in water and sanitation services.
The CEO of BDF, Vincent Munyeshyaka revealed that he is aware of gaps indicated by the Auditor General which he will leverage to improve performance.
The Director General of Rwanda TVET Board, Umukunzi Paul committed strong collaboration with relevant institutions to identify and prioritize skills needed at the labor market and update school curricula as well.
Among others, the Director General of HEC, Dr Rose Mukankomeje committed to draw emphasis on promoting quality education within all schools and update standards that new schools have to meet before authorization.
The contest was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Rwandans to stamp their creativity onto the Kigali Arena, one of the most famous African sporting and events venue.
The logo that won the contest will not only be used in the Arena but also on all online, print, merchandise and visual collateral.
As he announced the winner, QA Venue Solutions Director, Kyle Schofield said: “For the logo that we chose, we looked at the criteria that we gave at the very beginning on the contest. We wanted to get a logo that was simple, relevant and easy to apply. The logo that we selected not only fit those criteria but it also have us the identity that we were looking for.”
“We are confident that the Kigali Arena brand will continue to grow, and the logo that we now have will match the heights we intend of taking Kigali Arena too. Moving forward, we shall work with Axel to create the different applications of the new logo as we create the new Kigali Arena corporate identity. We are confident of the partnership between Kigali Arena and Axel,” he added.
Explaining the inspiration for the logo, winner Axel Kalisa said that inspiration came from the architectural design of the Kigali Arena.
“We made everything from scratch, whether the drawing or the digital creation process,” he explained.
To take part in this contest, contestants visited the Kigali Arena website on www.kigaliarena.rw and completed the Official Entry Form. The winning entry was chosen by a judging panel which included representatives from the artistic community, Government of Rwanda and the Kigali Arena management.
The deadline for submission was 20, November 2020 (4:00 pm Kigali time).
{{About Kigali Arena}}
Rwanda has been consistently ranked the second most popular destination in Africa for hosting international conferences and events by the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) and the award-winning Kigali Arena is one of Rwanda’s world class venues.
Inaugurated in August 2019 and managed by QA Venue Solutions, the multi-purpose Kigali Arena has, among other events, successfully hosted renowned R&B star Ne-Yo in a sold-out concert as well as the FIBA Afrobasket 2021 Regional Qualifiers.
This fabulous a 10,000 seating capacity Arena can host live concerts, sporting events, beauty pageants, gala dinners, product launches, exhibitions and much more. With the Arena comes a host of meeting rooms, open spaces and VIP Suites. With its state of the art facilities, Kigali Arena is the ideal home for Africa’s events and sport industry.
The violators include 14 young women and two young men.
The birthday party for a certain Deborah Shema was held in the night of December 19, in Niboye Sector, Kicukiro District.
It came to light after some concerned members of the public reported the violations.
The party included a silent disco.
Deborah Shema told journalists that the party had been organized before the new directives were issued, during the period when she thought there were no “tough restrictions.”
“We organised my birthday party before December, and it was to include a silent disco. I invited 16 of my friends but I do not know how our photos were leaked for the Police to know about it. Everyone, who attended the party was called by the Police on Tuesday and we are all here,” Shema narrated.
She added: “We knew what we were doing was prohibited, but we did not know that anyone or the Police would know about it since even the music was silent… not even the neighbours would suspect anything; at least that is what we thought.”
To Annet Kyatengwa, who also attended the party, she regretted being part of it even when she was well aware that what she was doing was contrary to the Government directives and putting lives at risk of catching and spreading the COVID-19.
Equally, Arlette Iribagiza advised other young people to suspend such social gatherings for their safety. No doubt that such parties put their lives at risk.
All the 16 violators were also subjected to COVID-19 tests. As of Wednesday afternoon, when they were paraded, their test results were yet to be released.
At Amahoro stadium, they were also enlightened on the pandemic, Government directives meant to prevent further coronavirus spread but also fined accordingly.
Rwanda National Police (RNP) spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera warned that every violator will be held accountable, even if the violations are brought to light days or weeks after.
“We are in a fragile period where only one person can lead to mass spread of COVID-19, further killing many people. No one should allow such gatherings in their neighborhoods. Please report them,” CP Kabera said.
“These people came from different places. They did not know their status, meaning either of them could be infected and easily infect others.
They tried to secretly hold the party but as usual it came to light because of the responsiveness of some members of the public. Even if the prohibited gathering or celebrations were held last week and Police gets to know about it today, we will locate and arrest you,” he warned.
He reminded the general public that such gatherings and celebrations are prohibited.
“If you cannot postpone your party or wait for safer days ahead, do it with your internal family members but do not invite anyone from outside.”
“The Police is working with other entities from local government, health, community policing groups and members of the public to enforce the directives especially in the forthcoming festive period, and ensure that any violator is held accountable.”
