The Head of state said this on Wednesday, October 07, when he was in a virtual Summit of Heads of State held via video-conference which was hosted by President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with Presidents João Lourenço of Angola and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.
“We are obliged to meet via video conference, but the spirit of positive cooperation demonstrated by this meeting is clear. Rwanda is pleased to participate and make our contribution,” said the head of state.
“Cooperation in fighting insecurity in our region is at the core of our efforts as we allow trade and investment to thrive across borders. Stability is the catalyst for increased trade and investment. This is in the interest of each of our countries and the region as a whole,” President Kagame said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has cost lives and disrupted our economies, but by working closely together to mitigate the impact, we can minimize the damage of this pandemic and build capacity to withstand future pandemics,” he added.
The DRC Presidency said the meetings in which Presidents Kagame, Museveni and Lourenço participated “relates to security, political, diplomatic, health and cooperation issues.”
The President of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye was supposed to attend this summit, but he did not attend and there was no explanation given for his absence. Burundi previously pulled out emphasizing that they prefer bilateral talks between countries
The meeting which is part of the initiative by DRC President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi, to convene a meeting of regional leaders to discuss security matters and the simmering diplomatic and bilateral relations.
In September, President Tshisekedi invited President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye and Angola’s João Lourenço in what was expected to be a physical meeting of the Heads of State to discuss regional matters.
However, the meeting has not taken place due to many reasons, mainly surrounding busy schedules of Heads of State as well as the New Coronavirus restrictions which made the organization of the meeting difficult. According to the organizers and hosts, DRC, the meeting will focus on peace, security, diplomatic and political relations.
The DRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed that the meeting which had earlier been scheduled to take place in Goma, Eastern DRC, will take place virtually this time, with all countries expected to be on board.
The meeting comes at a time when relations between regional countries are not at their best. Rwanda has maintained that it remains ready to work with neighboring countries especially Uganda and Burundi if they are willing to address some of the challenges that have affected their relations.
Experts say if President Tshisekedi pulls off the meeting, it will be a major step towards fully restoring peace in the Great Lakes Region and could address all the security-related challenges and thaw relations between states.
Since taking office in January 2019, President Tshisekedi has expressed the willingness to restore relations between Kinshasa and neighbors in an effort to pacify the region and end decades of conflict particularly in the Eastern part of the mineral-rich country which has been ravaged by years of conflict and violence.
President Tshisekedi has also been crucial in the mending of relations between Rwanda and Uganda, working with President Lourenço on the Quadripartite summit to mend relations between the two countries.
The order comes after the PAC discovered that Rwf17million meant for payment of medicine supplied was transferred to a private account number in the names of the district official in question.
Kamonyi district officials explained the at this officer in question doctored the account names of payee from Camerwa- now the Medical Procurement and Production Division (MPPD)) to his personal account.
The district said they didn’t notice this embezzlement move on time and the suspect managed to withdraw over Rwf6.9million. By the time the fraudulent action was discovered only Rwf10million was remaining on the false account.
“By the time we realized it he (the accountant) had manipulated the account numbers transferring the money to his account, but the suspect was arrested, and sentenced to three years- which he served and ordered to refund the balance,” said Emmanuel Bahizi, the Kamonyi district Executive Secretary.
The ES also revealed that for four years now the district has failed to recover the balance even with futile efforts to confiscate the suspect’s property, thus the district council decision in 2019 to write off the debt in their financial reports.
Just like other PAC members, MP Jean d’Arc Uwimanimpaye was not convinced that officer in question managed to change the original account name and have the OP signed by the district chief budget officer (the Executive Secretary) without notice or involvement of other parties.
The District ES said that during the prosecution of the suspect, all top district officials connected to the financial transfers were investigated and the culprit came out as the district pharmacy account.
“The rest of us came out clean but we even found during the investigation that he had done similar fraudulent transactions on other funds,” Bahizi said, adding that after failing to recover the balance, the district council authorized to write of Rwf6.9million as a bad debt.
PAC Chairman Valens Muhakwa was also not convinced the other officials were not involved and questioned why the council quickly took the decision to write off the money without, to the least, following guidance of the ministry of finance and the Office of the Auditor General on the procedure.
“For us (parliament) we see this as lost money because these funds can no longer serve the original purpose. We therefore want to know why you took this decision yet this money was stolen as a result of connivance,” Muhakwa said.
Kamonyi district council Chair Emilien Nyoni and Mayor Etienne Muvunyi tried to defend their ‘write off’ decision and exonerate themselves from the fraud but Muhakwa warned them that they should actually be prepared for another court case or return the money immediately.
This was backed by all PAC members who demanded for a date, month and year when the remaining balance will be returned to Kamonyi district treasury.
“Give us the timeline, we don’t want to hear anymore excuse since this is already a loss that was caused within you authority of which the law provides that in such misuse of funds, the culprits are held responsible,” MP Beline Uwineza stated.
After a long debate in which the Mayor said that they had already received administrative punishments for the incident and the ‘write off’ was their last resort, PAC members settled on having a roadmap to when this money will be recovered.
In response, both the Mayor and Council Chair confirmed a commitment to recover the money in the books of accounts as a debt by next year, of which the debts will have been cleared from the books of accounts and find a way of repaying.
The dialogue brought together over 112 participants including government institutions, Non-governmental Organizations, Community Based Organizations, Development Partners, academicians, members of the private sector and media.
The dialogue was based on an independent rapid assessment undertaken between June and July 2020 in eight district of Rwanda (Nyagatare, Kirehe, Musanze, Gakenke, Rulindo, Kamonyi, Muhanga, and Nyamagabe) and surveyed farmers and enterprises dealing with 22 various horticulture crops.
Speaking today during the policy dialogue, Dr Charles Ruranga, EPRN’s Chairperson of Board of Directors said: ‘’We are joining Oxfam to reiterate the need for action to be taken now by all actors including the
Private sector, as any delay only serves to worsen the already fragile situation of those affected by this global pandemic, and make the recovery process more expensive.’’
Oxfam in Rwanda Country Director, Mrs. Alice Anukur added: “This rapid assessment’s main objective was to collect scientific facts and evidence of the issues faced by horticulture value chains’ stakeholders as they battle the difficult effects of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that such dialogue will multiply in various platforms, as we all seek to provide strong recommendations to various entities for policy programming interventions to support many smallholder farmers’ families who are among those who have been mostly affected by this global pandemic.’’
COVID-19 pandemic is bringing not only global health risks, but also unprecedented economic damages and agriculture is among the affected sectors.
Prior to COVID-19, Rwandan horticulture sub-sector was playing a crucial role in the country’s economy and it contributed about 50% of non-traditional export revenues and provided income to hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers.
Fruits and vegetables covered an estimated 1.18% and 0.47% of the aggregate land occupied by all crops in Season A 2020 compared to 1.14% and 0.63% and 6.0% of the previous Season A 2019 (NISR, 2018).
However, the sub-sector is still dominated by smallholder farmers with per capita land size of 0.6 ha; weak market linkages to agribusinesses, limited and non-competitive input providers, processors, and traders.
Similarly, weak market- oriented production and aggregation, low value chain development and market connectivity constitute some of the major constraints that the government continues to address. Additionally, women who are outnumbering men in horticultural organizations by significant margin of 56.5% to 44.5% are yet to profit from the benefit of the sub-sector.
The Oxfam study and today’s dialogue have highlighted recovery pathways while acknowledging Rwanda’s efforts already undertaken including budget allocation to Agriculture sector in the recovery plan, providing safety nets (food distribution) as part of social protection, making essential the Agriculture services during the lockdown, innovations around e-commerce, supporting local exporters by negotiating subsidized (40%) price for transportation with RwandAir, supporting farmers in aggregating, making markets attractive to foreign investors and dealing with pre-COVID-19 existing challenges like availing agricultural inputs.
The dialogue was enriched by panelists from key institutions and diverse participants from the sector with recommendations and lessons learned including strengthening coordination, information sharing, sustaining dialogue, better targeted response that is informed by deeper gender analysis and effective involvement of private sector.
Oxfam and EPRN highly recommend that that COVID-19 response must target those in most need who are least able to cope with the shocks caused by the pandemic.
The effects of this pandemic have worsened an already delicate sub-sector which was supposed to benefit many women and contribute significantly to reducing poverty and food insecurity in many rural areas of Rwanda.
If decisions are not implemented faster and support provided soon to smallholder farmers and other horticulture value chain actors to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, the situation could become irreversible or remain for much longer and become more expensive to remedy.
A team of five EJVM members was received and briefed by Maj Alexis Nkuranga, the RDF 1 Infantry Battalion Commanding Officer on how RED Tabara’s combatants were apprehended. He told them that RED Tabara combatants on 29 October 2020 at 10 am, crossed Burundian border in Nyungwe forest and fell in an ambush of 1 Inf Bn soldiers where all were immediately arrested, disarmed and escorted to rear areas for further investigations.
Col Rigobert Ibouanga, the EJVM team leader, on his part informed the media that their mission was to verify and report back to EJVM Command on the cross-border incident.
“Our mission here today is to investigate the incident and thereafter we will submit the report on 7 October 2020 to the EJVM Hierarchy”, the team leader disclosed.
He also said that the cross-border incident shall be discussed during the next International Conference on the Great Lakes Region Chiefs of Defence Staff meeting.
Nkurunziza Egide, the Commander of the captured RED Tabara Combatants told the media that they infiltrated into Burundi from South Kivu DRC via Lake Tanganyika on 23 August 2020 and since then they were fighting against Burundi Defence Forces and Imbonerakure militias. He narrated how on 29 September 2020, were arrested by the RDF after found themselves on the Rwandan territory.
The Commander responded that since they were not familiar with terrain, they didn’t recognise whether they had crossed into Rwanda and consequently, they fell into an ambush laid by RDF troops along Rwanda-Burundi border in Nyungwe forest.
Dr. Uwamariya said this on Friday October 2, in a press conference with the key ministries, including the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Minister of Local Government, Professor Anastase Shyaka, Minister of Education, Minister of Trade and Industry, Soraya Hakuziyaremye, and the spokesperson for the Rwanda National Police, Commissioner of Police Jean Bosco Kabera.
Accoeding to the Minister of Education, the work to be done by these universities included extending classrooms to allow for the stipulated distances between pupils, or students, providing hand washing facilities, and generally raising the standard of hygiene.
First to reopen this month will be Universities and secondary schools, although not all Universities and secondary schools will open. Permission to open is dependent on the extent to which an institution is able, or has been able to provide online lessons, and guarantee that students will have the necessary facilities to observe preventive measures.
As well as hand washing areas, the institutions to open have been able to demonstrate that they have the space to keep the stipulated two metres between one student and another.
So far, six Universities, among them University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), African Leadership University (ALU), African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), have been given clearance to open for students on campus, but also to continue online classes.
Five more Universities, including the University of Rwanda, Mountain Kenya University and Rwanda Polytechnic will be allowed to open but only for students in their last years, third, fourth and fifth years.
This will allow these students to graduate, clearing space for others who come after them. All these institutions will be required to accommodate students at university campuses.
The minister assured universities that were not given the green light to open that their institutions will continue to be evaluated, and allowed to open, as soon they fulfill the criteria for reopening.
For secondary schools other those which follow a foreign curriculum, and study largely online, the plan is to reopen in November. Those that follow a foreign curriculum may open sooner, because much of their teaching was online anyway.
For all institutions, holidays and term times will now be determined not on the basis of the normal education calendar, but on the basis of what is required to protect that population and others, from Covid-19 infection.
As with Universities, priority for secondary schools will be given to pupils in their last years, so that as they graduate, they leave space for younger students. Schools will also be encouraged to prioritize the core subjects.
The incremental normalization of people’s lives largely depends on people’s adherence to preventive measures.
As of Thursday, 595 refugees had returned, including 452 from Mahama camp and 143 from other cities. The other 1,503 returned to their country in three batches.
The ministry said it would continue to help the rest return to their homeland in peace.
The majority of the refugees fled the country following the political crisis that gripped Burundi in 2015 when the then President, the late Pierre Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term, leading to countrywide protests as people opposed the move.
The first batch of refugees returned on August 27 and was welcomed by the President of Burundi, Gen Maj Evaritse Ndayishimiye.
President Kagame made the remarks on Tuesday during the Virtual Leaders Meeting on SDG Financing which brought together leaders from governments and international organizations to discuss specific actions to help countries and people address the devastating financial and socioeconomic impacts caused by COVID-19.
The meeting was convened to reflect the work done over the last five months by finance ministries, the UN and other international organizations and some of the world’s leading economists to find the policy options and solutions that can advance comprehensive multilateral response to the devastating social and economic impacts of COVID-19.
The Head of State said that SDGs are the world’s yardstick for much needed progress on human development, thanking the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, together with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, for convening the meeting.
“The 2030 Agenda may be off-track, but that does not mean we have to accept a smaller future. On the contrary, we can build back better and stronger by embarking on new and innovative approaches suited to the challenges ahead. That means adopting an implementation mindset and not doing business as usual,”
“Rwanda was pleased to co-lead the Discussion Group on Recovering Better for Sustainability, together with the European Union, Fiji, and the United Kingdom,” President Kagame said.
He said that Africa’s recommendations focus on four key strategies in close alignment with both the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, the first one being building resilient national health systems with Universal Health Coverage at the center.
“Second, double down on the digitalization of our economies and education systems by investing in new technologies and high-speed internet,”
“Third, orient action toward inclusion and fairness, especially for women and young people. Fourth, leave no one behind by ensuring adequate social and financial protection for the most vulnerable amongst us,” President Kagame said.
He pointed out that the financial system can be a force multiplier, but there is a need to strengthen adherence to global standards and norms by reporting data in a transparent and comparable manner.
“The menu of policy options being presented today gives each country the tools to prevail in its unique context. We cannot allow the Sustainable Development Goals to become a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other unexpected shock. Let’s stay focused.”
The Head of State, who is also the Chairman of the ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) made the remarks on Monday, while presiding over the party’s extended National Executive Committee (NEC), which was aimed at taking stock of the progress in fighting COVID-19 and asses economic recovery plans.
President Kagame said that the biggest challenge the country faces today is poor service delivery, not because of lack of infrastructure or means to provide good services but mainly because of a poor attitude that doesn’t give priority to urgency.
“We need to be doing things at the pace we need to develop. We need to do things faster and better. Mindset is very important,” President Kagame said.
“If you have everything required to provide services, why don’t you give it? Why do you need to wait another hour, another day to provide the service you should have provided?”
The head of state said it happens because of two reasons, one being the person who is supposed to give the service and is not doing so and the person who is supposed to get a service and does not get it.
“If you just accept things to be that way, you walk out of the room and go complaining on the way or you vent your anger elsewhere, you are part of the problem because you are not doing anything about it,” President Kagame said.
He urged the youth especially to be categorical in rejecting bad services and to also do something to address it rather than complaining.
President Kagame gave an example of a pregnant woman in Karongi district who lost her life and that of her baby due to sheer negligence because they could not trace her Mutuelle de Sante file yet she had paid her dues.
He said the woman was tossed up and down and told that they needed to address the issue regarding her records with the headquarters in Kigali and they asked her to go back home and wait, yet the woman had paid and needed a service urgently.
“It was not because she hadn’t paid. The problem was with the people supposed to give her a service. It was their mistake. They sent her back, later in the evening that same day, she died delivering. The baby died too. This is a true story,”
“Let us assume that she had other serious issues to address, first give her a service and settle whatever issue there is later,” President Kagame.
President Kagame said that what is unfortunate is that even the death of a person or people does not change anything people continue to go about their work with the same attitude, adding that it is the innocent people who pay the price; urging leaders to address issues around service delivery as soon as possible.
President Paul Kagame was on Monday, September 28, while addressing members of the extended National Executive Committee (NEC) of RPF-Inkotanyi, which took place at the party headquarters in Rusororo, Gasabo District.
“For years, we’ve had people requesting to be naturalized Rwandans. I keep telling leaders, I hope they agree with me, whoever wants to be one of us should be given the opportunity, as long as they want to make a contribution towards building our country,”
For Kagame, it would be shameful for any Rwandan to wish to belong somewhere else while many want to come here.
“I would not wish to be anyone else or from anywhere else. We must be proud to be who we are. Whoever wants to be someone else, that’s their problem. It would be shameful because there are people who want to be us,” Kagame said.
The president also referred to the hostilities of past Rwandan regimes that were against people, including Rwandans themselves and indicated that Rwanda today is different.
“We cannot say the country is full, like those before used to proclaim, therefore we could not be accommodated. That is not who we are. There is room for everyone, including those Rwandans who are still abroad,” the President said adding however that, accommodating people should not be interpreted wrongly.
“However, being accommodative of everyone should not be misconstrued to mean that we are submissive. It does not mean that some people are going to claim to be more important than everybody else. We are all equal and must be treated equally,” Kagame said.
Furthermore, President Kagame reiterated the values of a Rwandan leader and the dos and don’ts.
“Last time we met, we talked about corruption and other governance challenges that negatively impact Rwandans. This should not still be happening. When fighting a bad habit, we have to uproot it, rather than get to a point where it’s tolerable,” he said.
Kagame asked officials to work hard for the community they are meant to serve.
“Working for the wellbeing of Rwandans is a mandate that does not change under any circumstances. People should get what they deserve. We cannot be drawn back to where this country came from,” he said.
“For all our aspirations to be achieved, it will require effort of everyone, you and me. We may defer in ways we think or do things, but we have a common vision, building the nation. Everyone must make their contribution to move the country forward.”
President Kagame said that the government is doing all it can to ensure that life continues because when a business person isn’t able to trade, or children are not going to school, it becomes a problem not only for the people but also for the economy in general.
He said that whatever the government does is and should be for the wellbeing of Rwandans, something he said is a mandate that does not change under any circumstances.
“People should get what they deserve. We cannot be drawn back to where this country came from,” President Kagame said.
He said the ruling party will continue working towards achieving the goal but each and every Rwanda will have to play their part, especially young people, who he challenged to be solution seekers and stop pointing out where problems are in society without doing anything about them.
“For all our aspirations to be achieved, it will require effort from everyone, you and me. We may defer in ways we think or do things, but we have a common vision, building the nation. Everyone must make their contribution to move the country forward,”
“We face challenges in different forms; in our communities, as a nation, in the region we live in or even at the global scale. Overcoming these problems requires working together. Rwanda is not an island,”
The president was straight to the point where he indicated that it belongs to everyone to pay taxes.
“For instance, we must fulfill our fiscal responsibilities. When you have conducted business, it is your duty to pay tax. We need the tax to build schools, roads etc. It is for the general interest, so whether you like or not, you must comply,” he said.
The Head of State said that he has no problem with being insulted or Rwanda being called a ‘dictatorship’ as long as long as they don’t interfere with the country’s right to defend its territory or determine its development course.
Talking of bad services, President Kagame said that the biggest challenge the country faces today is poor service delivery, not because of lack of infrastructure or means to provide good services but mainly because of a poor attitude that doesn’t give priority to urgency.
“We need to be doing things at the pace we need to develop. We need to do things faster and better. Mindset is very important,” President Kagame said
He said there is a tendency of people saying that ‘the machine is not working’, ‘come back tomorrow’, and ‘we don’t have this or that’, just to delay a service that must be given to a citizen.
“The issue is in people’s mindsets. If you have everything required to give a service, why don’t you give the service? Why do you have to wait for another hour, another day to give a service you should give, there and then?”
He pointed out that that mindset or attitude cannot be imported from anywhere but it needs people to proactively reject bad service.
“It happens because of two reasons -the person who is supposed to give the service and is not doing so and you who is supposed to get a service and you don’t get it and then all of us who become part of the problem,”
“If you just accept things to be that way, you walk out of the room and go complaining on the way or you vent your anger elsewhere, you are part of the problem because you are not doing anything about it,” President Kagame said.
He encouraged the youth especially to be categorical in rejecting bad services and to also do something to address it rather than complaining.
