Rwanda’s Presidency has revealed that President Kagame is in Singapore for a three-day visit. He is expected to meet with the country’s President, Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong.
In the morning of Friday 30th September 2022, the Head of State toured the exhibition showcasing the university’s history over the last 30 years that have led it to becoming one of the top academic institutions globally.
Kagame also delivered a lecture to close to 1000 participants in a session moderated by Prof. Subra Suresh, President of NTU Singapore.
As he delivered the lecture at a session attended by government officials and members of the private sector, Kagame said that Rwanda has been transformed for the better after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi owing to home-grown solutions.
Rwanda and Singapore enjoy cordial relations. The country’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong recently visited Rwanda during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June. He was also hosted at Urugwiro Village by President Kagame.
At the time, the Head of State said that he had a very productive discussions with the Prime Minister of Singapore and thanked the country for being a reliable partner with Rwanda and expressed optimism that both countries will be doing even more together, in the years ahead.
“We value highly the trade and investment links as well as the cooperation between our central banks. Both our countries have created a strong foundation. Singapore’s development model and its commitment to social cohesion and national unity are very impressive,” he said.
Both countries have partnership in the areas of investment, trade, education, rule of law, technology and air transport service among others.
The hearing of opening statements began on Thursday 29th September 2022 but Kabuga boycotted the court as revealed by Iain Bonomy, the presiding judge at the UN tribunal.
Bonomy said that Kabuga is in good health but did neither accept to attend in-person nor virtually.
The MICT recently rejected the request of Lawyer Philippe Larochelle who requested the suspension of Kabuga’s trial awaiting the ruling on suggested replacement of defence lawyer.
On 5th September, Lawyer Larochelle appealed against the ruling dismissing the request to replace Emmanuel Altit as Kabuga’s defence lawyer.
He claimed that Kabuga was denied rights to choose a preferred defence lawyer which ‘would have a negative effect on court’s proceedings’.
On 20th September 2022, MICT validated the relevance for Kabuga’s defence plea but rejected the request to suspend the trial.
According to The New York Times, Kabuga refused to appear in court, saying in a note that it was in protest against a refusal to let him change lawyers, but judges ordered that the proceedings should go ahead and asked the prosecution to read its opening statement.
Kabuga is charged with several counts including five related to genocide; genocide, complicity in genocide, director and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide.
Other charges are persecution and extermination, both as crimes against humanity.
Arrested on 16th May 2020 in France, Kabuga was transferred to a UN tribunal in The Hague for stand trial. He is known as the Chief Financier of Genocide against Tutsi.
Kabuga was a wealthy businessman and core member of the Akazu (a small powerful circle of ideologues that masterminded the Genocide). He was also the founding president of the board of shareholders of hate radio RTLM, which incited killings.
Kabuga was originally scheduled to appear in court in Arusha, where the other arm of the MICT resides, but judges had ruled he would remain in The Hague “until otherwise decided.”
It was hard to sustain his business given that social gatherings were prohibited.
Besides, visits to national parks and other touristic attractions were also suspended.
As the government eased COVID-19 restrictions to resume domestic tourism, Nzabonimpa mulled ways to encourage Rwandans to visit their country’s attractions.
The man owns a company dubbed Beyond the Gorillas Experience Ltd, which focuses on hiking, visits to historical and cultural vestiges among others.
Nzabonimpa had his eyes wide open and realized that Rwanda has a lot of attractions that locals and foreigners need to explore like lakes, hills, parks’ perimeters, cow-based tourism and king’s palace among others.
In collaboration with members of the Private Sector (PSF), Rwanda Development Board (RDB) seeks to promote such attractions beyond the experience of visiting national parks.
Speaking to IGIHE, the Head of Tourism and Conservation Department at RDB, Ariella Kageruka said that the country plans to increase touristic attractions.
“ It is evident and the demand analysis proves it. The latter continues to indicate that people around the world consider new ways of visiting countries where they can spend long time in one country instead of touring different countries for one trip,” she said.
“These are great opportunities for members of the private sector, and other sectors because many of them have a link to tourism, be it agriculture and transport among others,” added Kageruka.
Among the attractions to be given attention, she pointed out hiking, visits to national museums, tourism on Rwandans’ lifestyle among others that can make tourists’ stay a memorable one.
Nzabonimpa has explained that they have explored more attractions since they began exploring other touristic attractions outside national parks and encouraged Rwandans as well as foreigners to take their time to visit such features.
“There are lakes, hills, agritourism, watching how local banana brew is made and cow-based tourism among others. In Rubavu, there is a scenic view of hills along the road to Rusizi and Lake Kivu. In this area, we trek through the hills where we spend ten days from Rubavu to Rusizi. It offers an amazing experience as we camp in different places and experience diverse attractions,” he said.
Rwanda also has plans to promote sports tourism, entertainment events and international conferences among others.
“During COVID-19, Rwanda continued to host international conferences, concerts and sports events. This is an exciting milestone because the country has been expending much effort in infrastructure development. Besides, partners were reinforced to make improvements luring international events organizers to think of Rwanda as their destination,” said Kageruka.
She also hinted at major events the country is set to host including the Basketball Africa League (BAL) tournament to be held in Rwanda for the third time, the Veterans World Cup and UCI Road World Championships in 2025 among others noting that it is a positive development proving how more great things are on the way.
{{Speedy recovery from COVID-19 effects }}
On 27th September 2022, Rwanda joined the rest of the world to celebrate the annual World Tourism Day. This time’s celebration focused on rethinking the impact of tourism on sustainable development.
The celebration held on Wednesday 27th September brought together officials from RDB, and partners including MasterCard Foundation, members of the private sector and investors in the tourism sector. The event also coincided with tourism exhibition.
The day was observed at a time when Rwanda continues to make commendable steps towards recovering the tourism sector that had been shaken by COVID-19 over the past two years.
Figures show that revenues from Rwanda’s tourism sector have been increasing steadily following the drop by 70% owing to effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Rwanda registered an increase by 25% in tourism revenues reaching US$164 million up from US$131 million of 2020.
In 2019, the country generated US$498 million from tourism.
Kageruka has expressed optimism for Rwanda’s tourism to recover quickly from effects of COVID-19 and hailed Rwandans’ increased interest in exploring touristic attractions.
“As you know, tourism is rebounding, slightly over 80%. This evidences how people continue to promote tourism. RDB has also been introducing programs helping tourists to explore the country’s attractions. For instance, we have reduced gorilla trekking permit from US$1500 to US$200 for Rwandans and East African nationals and US$500 for foreign residents,” she noted.
The Director General of the Rwanda Chamber of Tourism at the Private Sector Federation, Frank Gisha Mugisha said that the country’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have played a pivotal role for the sector’s speedy recovery and expressed optimism that it will remain a major contributor to national development.
These include Lt Col Emmanuel Ruzindana, the Director of Operations promoted to Colonel and appointed Defence Attaché in Uganda.
Lt Col Frank Bakunzi, the Directing Staff of Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College (RDFCSC) in Nyakinama has been also promoted to Colonel and appointed Defence Attaché in Egypt.
Among others; the Head of State has appointed Brig Gen John Baptist Ngiruwonsanga as the Head Peace Support Operations (PSO) in RDF, Lt Col Claudien Bizimungu has been named Deputy Commander of Engineer Command; Lt Col Innocent Kayisire is named the Managing Director of Horizon Logistics; Lt Col Jean Paul Munana has been appointed as the Commander of Combat Engineer Brigade while Lt Col Faustin Mafura is appointed the Deputy Commander of Combat Engineer Brigade.
The statement released by RDF reads that the promotions and appointments take immediate effect.
The details emerged on Tuesday 27th September 2022 as the ministry announced results for primary school and ordinary level national examinations for the year 2021/2022.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Valentine Uwamariya has said that a total of 227,472 candidates sat for primary leaving national examinations of whom 125,169 are girls while the number of boys stood at 102,303.
“A total of 206,286 candidates obtained a pass mark, representing 90.69%. This means, the remaining 21,186 equivalent to 9.31% failed. Last year, pupils passed exams at 82.8%. This shows the improvement registered this year,” she said.
As for ordinary level, only 126,735 sat for exams out of 127,589 registered candidates.
“A total of 108,566 students passed the national exam representing 85.66% while 18,469 representing 14.34% failed exams. Unlike primary national exams, the ordinary level’s performance is below compared to 86.3% registered last year,” said Dr. Uwamariya.
Of those who passed primary leaving exams, 26,922 received boarding schools while 179,364 were sent to day schools.
Dr. Uwamariya has revealed that all students who failed to secure a pass mark will repeat classes.
Last year, a total of 60,000 who failed primary leaving and ordinary level national examinations also repeated the school year.
Career counselor Faithful Esther advises people in this age group to start saving as much as possible so they can be financially stable.
Nonetheless for an individual to save they should have money to save. This raises the question: ‘how can people in their 20s make money?’
Most people in this age group are most likely starting university or graduating. So, how are they earning money?
Keza Nancy,22, a 2nd-year university student is conducting a professional internship.
Even though she uses most of internship facilitations for transport and lunch, Keza is convinced that it is a stepping stone for career growth and considers it a doorway for future employment.
Since most jobs require experience, Faithful recommends that people in their 20s take this as an opportunity to try internships or volunteer to explore diverse careers and find which best suits them while they are still young.
“Have a life plan to guide you and direct you so you’re not directionless or under pressure to keep up with the Joneses,” she says.
Another thing to consider is ‘reading extensively’. This is something everyone has heard of at least once in their lifetime. However, it is important to be intentional and start reading self-development books and, expertise in one subject but do not forget to look through different subjects for those cases when you find yourself amidst new people, so you can hold your own.
Also suggested is attending different conferences. A 20-year-old young person with a smartphone or with access to television or radio, has chances to learn about different conferences happening around their home or within the country.
If possible, an individual should attend these conferences and make connections with numerous people with various positions. By doing so, you will be more likely to find one that interest you and meet your future employer.
Again, be self-aware and do the work you need to be your best version. Be honest about your strengths and areas for growth.
According to a psychologist and blogger, Dr. Jennifer Baker-Porazinski, brain changes with age where the brain of individuals in their 20s is considered to be fine-tuning or maturing.
In this regard, ‘areas of the brain responsible for planning, working memory, and impulse control finish developing and the brain has reached its peak in terms of performance’.
Porazinski also highlights that it is a perfect time to work on oneself and learn new things.
Habits or hobbies are also important to a person’s life. Counselor Faithful advises that an individual should find interests, hobbies, and passions and pursue them intentionally to get better.
This can be either by learning to play an instrument or learning to speak a new language. A growing individual should be active in activities that will better them rather than destroy them.
Another aspect to be considered is about investing in relationships, and know the people you spend time with. The people in someone’s life should be pushing them to be better. Relationships are based on mutual respect, understanding, good communication, trust, and more. Be intentional in starting a relationship platonic or not, and keep in mind that to have a good friend you should be a good friend.
Counselor Faithful advises individuals to ‘take time and learn not to take things personally, extend grace and benefit of the doubt because everyone has stuff they’re dealing with and each has a story you know nothing about. So just Learn to be kind early.’
“Travel, travel, travel! Even if you have to backpack on your own, don’t cancel your trips if your friends back out at the last minute,” says Faithful.
There are benefits of traveling; stress relieving, promoting physical activity, being educational, and exploring different cultures.
And lastly, learn not to be a people pleaser, and set boundaries. This builds self-esteem, builds character, and tests a person’s self-respect and discipline. It is a bold statement to make but it proves its point.
He receives the promotion following his tour of duty in Cabo Delgado, of Mozambique.
The statement released by RDF on Monday 26th September 2022 reads that the appointment takes immediate effect.
Rwanda started the deployment of 1000 troops of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and the Rwanda National Police (RNP) to Mozambique on 9th July 2021, to fight terrorist groups, honoring the request of Mozambique. The troops had increased to nearly 2000 by the end of the year 2021.
The situation in the country had worsened since October 2017 when armed extremists launched an insurgency in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique.
Mozambique Defence Armed Forces battled the extremists but many civilians were killed and displaced by the fighting.
Before Rwandan troops’ intervention, terrorists had killed 3000 civilians while more than 800,000 were displaced. The insecurity had also put to halt all development projects in the area controlled by insurgents.
The joint operations between Rwandan and Mozambican troops yielded big where different regions were seized from rebels.
Rwanda and Mozambique have been enjoying vibrant relations for many years.
Lt Gen Kabandana who has been commanding the Rwandan JTF was recently replaced by Maj Gen Eugene Nkubito.
During his tour of duty, Lt Gen Kabandana was deputized by Brig Gen Pascal Muhizi who served as joint operations commander.
Lt Gen Kabandana once served as Defence Attache’ to the Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC.
Among others, he held different positions as a Brigade staff officer in charge of Civil Military Affairs, Chief Instructor at Rwanda Military Academy in Gako, and Deputy Chief Military Personnel Officer in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan -UNMISS Sudan.
He was also once the Chairman of the Military Tender Board: Chief of Logistics, RDF HQ; Commandant of Rwanda Military Academy and Director of Rwanda Peace Academy.
Figures released by Ugandan authorities on Sunday indicate that 34 people have been suspected of testing positive for Ebola virus. Of them 16 cases have been confirmed while 21 people have died after the country confirmed the first Ebola case one week ago.
The Ministry of Health has reassured Rwandans that the epidemic has not yet reached the country noting that travelers from Uganda are being isolated at designated sites where they are released within 21 days after undergoing medical checkups and testing negative.
Minister Ngamije has requested Rwandans to avoid unnecessary travels to areas affected by the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
“We call upon residents in the districts neighbouring with Uganda to avoid unnecessary travels to the country, especially during this time when the virus is reported there. People can cancel their travels awaiting the situation to normalize,” he said.
Dr. Ngamije has also advised those traveling from Uganda against crossing through porous borders lest it affects the population in case they conceal details about their travel yet got in contact with people infected with Ebola.
“We request people staying there to remain cautious, while those coming back have to alert health and security officials at the border to record genuine details of his/her journey. It is worthless to conceal information,” he noted.
Minister Ngamije has urged the general public to gather information about neighbours and visitors coming to their villages to contain the spread of Ebola virus because it is deadly.
“We have not yet confirmed the virus in the country. We will continue to scale up efforts to contain the epidemic and have necessary equipment to conduct tests for Ebola. We remain standby to respond swiftly,” he said.
Ebola symptoms includes fever, headache, joint pain, soar throat, fatigue, diarrhea, regular vomiting several times, stomachache and bleeding through different body parts.
The general public is also advised to avoid contacts with blood, body fluids, items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids ; avoid contact with the body of an Ebola victim or dead wild animal or eating its meat ; always wash hands with soap and clean water and seek medical care whenever they do not feel well.
DRC has been accusing Rwanda of supporting M23 rebel group after resuming fight with Congolese Army (FARDC). Following the resurgence of the rebel group which accused DRC of failure to implement Nairobi peace accords signed in 2013, M23 has so far captured different areas including Bunagana town situated at the border with Uganda.
To find a lasting solution, East African countries agreed on the deployment of a joint regional force to fight armed groups in eastern DRC.
Speaking to Aljazeera; the President of Kenya, William Ruto has reiterated his country’s commitment to deploy troops because the issue of DRC affects the entire region.
He explained that the deployment was thoroughly discussed.
“I have had an occasion to have a discussion with President Tshisekedi, and I have also had an opportunity to speak to President Kagame. He has been forthright that they have nothing to do with M23. There are other people who think otherwise but we do not want to engage ourselves in blame games and finger pointing. We have to get our hands on it and sort out the issues,” he said.
“The good thing is that both President Kagame and Felix Tshisekedi are committed to making sure that we sort out that problem as a region. And that is why all our countries are contributing troops to stabilize that region,” added Ruto.
He hailed the contribution of his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta through the Nairobi process and reiterated commitment to continuing the journey to restore peace in DRC.
{{Deployments has begun}}
Congolese President, Felix Tshisekedi recently agreed that regional troops continue to arrive in his country where Kenyans are expected in the near future.
Speaking to France 24 and RFI, Tshisekedi said that there are no specific timelines or deadlines for arrival but confirmed that Burundian troops are already deployed in DRC.
He explained that Uganda will send a small number of troops compared to other regional countries including Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania.
DRC has however boycotted the deployment of Rwandan troops amidst the ongoing tensions.
RwandAir was ranked first out of ten other African airlines all contending for the top spot.
The carrier’s staff – both on the ground and in the air – were praised by airline customers for their excellent service.
The African carrier also won the award for ‘Best Cabin Crew in Africa’ and ‘Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness in Africa’, completing the trio.
Commenting on the development on 24th September 2022, RwandAir CEO, Yvonne Makolo, said that it induces pride to have the airline’s staff recognized for their dedication by Skytrax.
“We are delighted to know that our customers choose to fly with us and distinguish the level of quality of our service,” she noted.
The World Airline Awards began in 1999 when Skytrax launched its first global, annual airline customer satisfaction survey. They are referred to as the Oscars of the aviation industry.
Based in Kigali, RwandAir is one of Africa’s most ambitious airlines with a reputation for delivering a premium service to all its customers.
RwandAir currently operates to 28 destinations across 22 countries throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
{{About RwandAir}}
Operating from Kigali, RwandAir is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines and operates one of the youngest state-of-the-art fleets on the African continent. With a reputation for delivering a premium service to all its customers, RwandAir operates 12 aircraft with an average age of just under six years. The airline currently offers services to 28 destinations across 22 countries throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
