Albert Kan Dapaah, the Ghanaian National Security Minister, disclosed this at a press briefing to throw more light on steps so far to protect the territorial integrity of member states and the subregion in general.
“We are seriously considering establishing a standby force, but the form it would take is still under consideration,” Dapaah disclosed.
“The respective chiefs of defense staff from our member states have been holding discussions on the details of the standby force, and once we are ready, we would inform the general public on the form it would take,” he said.
He disclosed that porous borders in the subregion and ungoverned spaces in the various countries were some of the key attractions to the armed insurgents and the jihadist groups.
“One of our key considerations is ensuring that there are not many ungoverned territories in our member countries. We will also make it difficult for the jihadists to radicalize youth in border communities,” said Dapaah.
“Youth unemployment is one critical factor in radicalization. Our ability to handle youth unemployment in a more coordinated manner so that it does not become a threat to national and regional security will be key in dealing with the armed insurgencies in the member states,” he said.
The Accra Initiative was established in September 2017 to enhance intelligence and security cooperation among the member states, which include Ghana, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, and Niger.
The 48-year-old mother of three has a half-acre piece of land in the Kimuka region, which is located about 40 km southwest of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, and is covered with healthy green leaves despite the scorching sun which is present in the surroundings.
Tarasha told Xinhua in a recent interview that her fortunes changed for the better when she began tapping free water from the Kimuka-Oloishoibor water supply project which was inaugurated in 2019 and is located a few kilometers from her compound.
“I now have access to water which is sufficient to irrigate my garden throughout the year irrespective of whether it rains or not,” Tarasha said.
She added that before the project came to her area, she had to trek for at least two hours every day with a water container in search of the commodity and farming was not practical due to insufficient rainfall.
Tarasha said that currently, her vegetable farm in her homestead generates enough income to enable her to comfortably meet her daily needs.
“I also have clean water flowing to my house since I was connected to the water project through pipelines,” she added.
The water project was operationalized after the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) which was constructing the Nairobi-Suswa Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) discovered an underground aquifer while drilling the 4.5 km Ngong tunnel.
In order to benefit the local residents, CRBC constructed two underground water reservoirs, each with a storage capacity of 800 cubic meters that holds the water before it is distributed to the community at no cost to consumers.
The water aquifer and reservoirs are currently maintained by AfriStar which is the operator of the SGR commuter and freight services.
Obed Kirwa, the Track Technical Supervisor at AfriStar’s Nairobi-Maai Mahiu Workshop, said that since the water project was rolled out, the once-dry area is now a producer of various agricultural and livestock products.
Kirwa added that approximately 5,000 households and 10,000 animals are currently benefiting from the water project.
He observed that the area has largely avoided the negative effects of the ongoing drought due to the presence of abundant water resources.
Kirwa revealed that in order to ensure that the area has a continuous supply of clean water, Afristar has a dedicated team who regularly inspects the water aquifer to confirm that the system is operating smoothly.
He said that the underground water which was tested and found to be fit for human consumption has eradicated scarcity of the precious liquid in the arid surroundings.
“Before the water project was established, neighboring communities used to track for long hours by foot or using donkeys in search of water but now the issue has been solved,” said Kirwa.
Liu Qican, who was a structural engineer for CRBC during the construction of the SGR, said that CRBC found it wise to harness the water resource for the benefit of the local community instead of letting the water go to waste.
Catherine Kanya, a teacher at Cradle Education Center which is located in the Kimuka area, said that her school was connected to the water project in 2019 which has become a big blessing because the school used to lack a reliable source of clean water.
“Before the water project came to being, we had to walk for about two hours each day in search of water,” said Kanya.
She added that the school used to depend on water from a nearby dam but the problem was that it was contaminated which posed a major health challenge.
Kanya said that the project now provides clean water for cooking meals for students, watering their small farm as well as maintaining general cleanliness in the compound.
Beatrice Wanjiku Sekuda, the female owner of about 50 acres of land in the Kimuka region, is also a beneficiary of the water project.
“My land was mostly idle and left for animals to graze before I was connected to the water project,” Sekuda said.
The mother of seven currently practices commercial farming on her land thanks to the water project which allows for irrigated agriculture throughout the year.
“I am now self-sufficient since I sell vegetables, tomatoes, and onions to the nearby towns,” said Wanjiku.
President Kagame and Mrs. Jeannette Kagame arrived in Qatar on Saturday 19th November 2022 at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani who is a great friend of Rwanda to share the joy of hosting the World Cup 2022.
The reception was attended by other leaders including the President of Senegal, Macky Sall and the President of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA), Gianni Infantino.
Also present, were other dignitaries including the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres; Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas and his counterpart of Niger, Abdelmadjid Tebboune; the Prince of Saudi Arabi, Mohammed bin Salman among others.
The opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 held on Sunday 20th November saw Ecuador beating Qatar 2-0.
The short term courses will be offered for three and six months respectively. The agency’s trainings focus on digital marketing as well as full-stack web and software development.
WeDTC’s management affirms that the decision to open this training center surfaced after discovering that there are no such courses in Rwanda, despite the fact that the world is in the digital marketing and advertising era.
Those who enroll in this school’s short courses will have the opportunity to do an internship as more than 80% of the courses are practical.
The WeDTC management has also affirmed that it has developed a curriculum with more than 45 marketing courses and 17 web development courses.
The agency employs professional teachers who have extensive experience having worked with companies in Rwanda and abroad that have a solid reputation in the fields of marketing and the creation of internet social networks.
Graduates of this school will receive certificates and het an opportunity to work or intern at WeDTC or one of its partners.
WeDTC is located in Nyarugenge District of Kigali City in the Florida House building. Registration is still open, and the courses will officially begin on November 28, 2022.
Interested individuals have the option of receiving a scholarship to study at WeDTC, where those seeking to study for three months can pay Rwf110,000 while candidates applying to study for six months pay Rwf60,000 per month.
Those interested in obtaining the scholarship must have completed high school, be university students, or working for a company that provides services such as advertising or website development in a private or public company.
Registration is done at the school’s headquarters in Kigali City or through [the school’s website->https://wedtc.rw/].
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Last week, another parliamentarian identified as Gamariel Mbonimana resigned following reports that he was caught driving while drunk at different times.
Habiyaremye resigns after a short video showing him in heated argument with Traffic Police officers on duty went viral on social media.
He has told IGIHE that the video was taken in March 2021 noting that his resignation has nothing to do with the video.
“I would have resigned that time if it was connected to the same case. It has been more than one year and nine months since that happened. So, I have resigned for personal reasons. There are instances when one makes self-evaluation and find it necessary to resign,” said Habiyaremye.
The parliamentarian is from Rwanda’s ruling party, RPF Inkotanyi.
The soldier was shot dead in Gasutamo Village, Mbugangari Cell of Gisenyi Sector in Rubavu District in the night of Friday leading to Saturday 19th November 2022.
A statement released by Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) on Saturday indicated that the soldier crossed through the small border between the two countries in Rubavu District and started shooting at Rwandan soldiers on patrol, which prompted them to shot him dead.
Congolese Army spokesman in Northern Kivu, Lt Col Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko has confirmed to the media that the soldier shot dead is from FARDC.
“Following an investigation, we have established that he is a soldier of Congo who was recently deployed to Northern Kivu. He knew well border demarcations between Rwanda and Congo,” he said.
He further stated that the soldier was on patrol along with colleagues and mistakenly crossed the border between Rwanda and DRC.
Following his death, the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) was informed of the incident.
The EJVM is a mechanism of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) composed of military officers from the 12 member countries that is charged with monitoring and verification of border violations between DRC and neighbouring countries.
The Congolese soldier was shot dead in 50 meters from no man’s land. He is the third shot dead at the border between the two countries this year.
The first was shot dead in June as he crossed into Rwanda with a rapid fire on Rwandan police personnel and residents crossing the border.
The second was shot dead in Busasamana Sector of Rubavu District early August.
His death follows protests by Congolese accusing Rwanda of supporting M23 rebel group in clashes with Congolese Army.
Rwanda has however denied the allegations and accuses DRC of working with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in the fight with M23.
FDLR is a terrorist group formed by individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Mushikiwabo was re-elected on Saturday November 2022 during the 18th Summit of Heads of State from Francophonie held in Djerba of Tunisia. The summit ran from 19th to 20th November 2022.
Mushikiwabo was elected as OIF Secretary-General for the first time in 2018 and assumed office in 2019.
This time around, she was the sole candidate competing for the position. Heads of State and governments attending the summit unanimously re-elected her for another four-year term.
During her first term, the organization underwent reforms aimed at finding durable solutions for pressing issues facing the world including security threats and environmental degradation among others.
She explained that the reforms have started yielding while more are in the pipeline to keep the organization’s development on the turning wheel.
Mushikiwabo highlighted that OIF will in the coming years draw attention on projects in the areas of education, technology, trade and economy promising to foster the creation of employments for the youth.
The summit is usually held once every two years. It was initially scheduled to be hosted in 2020 but was postponed two times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and political crisis in the host country, Tunisia.
OIF comprises 88 member states and governments; of these, 54 states and governments are full members, 7 are associate members and 27 are observers.
Welcoming the developments, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, KC, stated: “I welcome this historic outcome from the COP27 summit and applaud the tireless negotiators who have helped bring about this significant step forward. This is an encouraging day for all Commonwealth member countries – including climate-vulnerable small states, least developed countries, developing countries, and indeed for all the world.
The Commonwealth stance on loss and damage has been unequivocal. When Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting met in Kigali, Rwanda earlier this year in June, they were united in their call for scaled up action and financing to address loss and damage resulting from climate change.
This follows on a long history of global advocacy on climate change, ever since Commonwealth leaders issued the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment in 1989, which underscored the need for worldwide collaboration on climate change to avert permanent and irreversible damage to our environment and way of life.
However, while I welcome today’s developments, the threats around us continue to intensify. We must work together to ramp up climate action and ambition, recognising that we are all in the same storm, and the only way for us to survive is by steering in a common direction and taking bold, courageous actions, together.”
The Commonwealth covers 56 diverse member countries from five geographical regions, including 33 small states, 25 of which are small island developing states.
This is part of the Rwanda National Police (RNP) strategies to take services closer to the people, according to the RNP spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera.
“The mobile automobile inspection lane will be stationed in Gisenyi town from Monday, November 21 to November 26, to check the roadworthiness of vehicles operating in the area and neighboring districts,” CP Kabera said.
“We urge owners of vehicles to seize this opportunity to have their automobiles checked, know their status and fix any identified mechanical fault to prevent accidents and to save lives,” he added.
He noted that the mobile lane rotate in regions to bring these services closer to the people to facilitate them from making long distances, to save time and resources.
“It is all about preventing accidents resulting from mechanical faults.”
The mobile lane goes to Rubavu from Rusizi District where more than 500 vehicles were inspected.
Vehicle inspection is compulsory under the Presidential Decree No. 85/01 of 02/09/2002 regulating general traffic police and road traffic.
There are other four automobile inspection centres located in Kigali, Rwamagana, Huye and Musanze districts with daily inspection capacity of over 1100 vehicles.
