In her speech at the launch of National Joint Campaign on ending Child Sexual Abuse, Mrs Kagame said that several campaigns have been organized to eradicate child abuse but all seamed in vain. Some of the past campaigns launched in Rwanda include: Treating every child as your own, guardian angels, be your neighbor’s keeper, and protest against adult child abusers among others.
“When you look at all that has been done, you wonder the root cause of why the crime of child abuse isn’t eliminated completely. You even start thinking how adverse humans are when you see what has happens when a parent abuses a child,” she said.
Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) figures show that at least 10, 456 children were sexually abused in the past three years, most of them in age bracket of 15, 17 and below 10 with 98% of them being girls and only 2% boys.
Most of these were abused by their parents, family members, housemaid, and worst of all the boy or girlfriends within their age brackets. The First Lady asked what should be done, for if this trend continues in Rwanda and the world, yet there are laws in place.
“It is very painful to see that research shows 20.5% of children below 11 years are abused. Even boys are now abused. I don’t know how we can term this but it’s not right and it is a disgrace,” Mrs Kagame said.
Considering the psychological effects that come with child abuse, Mrs Kagame asked that since gender equality has enabled Rwanda to progress in many ways, parents should now come out and play their role in child protection, starting with men.
Mrs Kagame said: “I specifically call on you (men) and trust that you will be able to uproot this problem completely.”
To women parents, teachers especially, Mrs Kagame said that they should renew their commitment to watching out for every child, and befriend the child more so as to encourage openness to speak out of their experiences.
To stakeholders and development partners, Mrs Kagame called for aggressive and innovative measures in making sure child abuse crimes are reported and timely prosecuted.
To girl children, the First Lady asked them to be mindful of being lured by men and avoid any temptations which can hurt their future for good, but also report the abuse incidences immediately.
The ninth contingent of 162 aviation personnel, including pilots, flight engineers, and logisticians will replace their colleagues who have completed their tour of duty under UNMISS.
The first batch of peacekeepers was airlifted from Kigali to Juba, South Sudan at 0600hrs and the same number arrived back home.
While briefing peacekeepers at Kigali International Airport on behalf of RDF leadership, Col Louis Kanobayire, urged the aviation personnel to maintain discipline and focus on the mission mandate.
“Be always guided by the RDF values, have team spirit and safeguard the good image of Rwanda by performing your mission at high standards”, he briefed the outgoing RDF peacekeepers.
The main tasks of the aviation unit include air patrols, reconnaissance and rescue operations, medical evacuation, troops transportation during regular rotations, and airlifting UN workers and their cargo among others.
Rwanda Aviation Unit 8 (RAU) Commander, Lt Col Christophe Semuhungu said that the RAU 8 tour of duty lasted for 14 months instead of twelve due to COVID-19 restrictions in troop rotations.
“In the past 14 months, RAU 8 successfully accomplished the mandated mission with no incident registered,” he said.
Rwanda Aviation Unit has its main base in Juba and a forward base in the northern South Sudanese city of Malakal.
The Rwanda Defence Force maintains three infantry battalions, Rwanda aviation unit with six helicopters serving in UNMISS in the Republic of South Sudan.
The medal parade held at the RWAFPU-3 base camp in the capital Juba, was presided over by the UNMISS Police Commissioner, Madam Unaisi Lutu Vaniwaqa.
The event, which was conducted in consideration of the recommended preventive measures against COVID-19, was also graced by host government authorities and other UN officials.
The UNMISS Police Commissioner thanked the decorated men and women for their dedication and commitment to peace.
The medal, she said, commemorates their service to UNMISS and more so to the people of South Sudan.
“I would like to convey the mission’s sincere gratitude to the Government of Rwanda for its commitment to the UN Peace Operations globally. Rwanda is the third largest contributor in UN Peacekeeping operations, and I am sure it’s a record all Rwandans are proud of,” Madam Vaniwaqa said.
The medal, she observed is a symbol of dedication and commitment for the entire operational task that the awardees have undertaken during their deployment.
“Thank you for your tireless efforts contributing to all efforts here in UNMISS especially for you serving here in Juba.”
RWAFPU-3 includes 80 women. This uniqueness, the Police Commissioner said, is their “strength” to contribute as women standing side-by-side with their male colleagues and most importantly their contribution, as women, to UN Police Women’s Network and Gender Responsive Policing.
Their experience, she said, should encourage other female colleagues back home in this journey to be peace ambassadors.
She commended the decorated officers for their “teamwork and obedience to the call to fulfill all that was required of this contingent here in UNMISS.”
Madam Vaniwaqa challenged them to maintain the “zero tolerance to sexual exploitation and abuse.”
She further urged them to maintain their commitment to serve the people of South Sudan especially the vulnerable ones, with dignity and respect.
“Coronavirus pandemic has changed almost everything but not the service, sacrifice and selflessness of men and women in RWAFPU 3. It is, indeed, our individual and collective responsibility to maintain the dignity of people whom we are here to protect.
We must always uphold the high standard of integrity and professionalism in our work and ask that you pass this message to those who, soon, will be here to take over from you.”
“Although you still have a short period remaining in your tour-of-duty, we salute you today for your hard work in support of the UN Mission in South Sudan and we thank you for your service. You have made me proud, made us all proud and you are worthy ambassadors of your country and the United Nations.”
Speaking on behalf of the medalists, RWAFPU-3 contingent commander, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jackline Urujeni, thanked the UNMISS leadership and the entire mission family including peacekeepers from other contributing countries, for their support, cooperation and guidance.
She thanked the officers under her command, for their hard work, professionalism, discipline and resilience as well as their continuous commitment to achieve the mission mandate.
The medals, she said, motivate them to renew their commitment to fulfill the tasks ahead in order to bring durable peace “to our brothers and sisters” in South Sudan.
“Today marks another achievement in our service to humanity; we have now completed more than 15 months of hard work, at times challenging and very demanding, yet fulfilling.
On that note, I also acknowledge our friendly stakeholders that were always there, supporting RWAFPU-3 operationally and administratively making our tasks much easier to successfully complete our assigned tasks. For that, this medal is dedicated to you all,” SSP Urujeni acknowledged.
She noted that through cohesion and teamwork, they managed to contain the spread of COVID-19 within their unit as they continued to execute their mission mandate.
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The medal parade coincided with the rotation of another contingent; RWAFPU-2, also serving under UNMISS.
RWAFPU-2 under the command of Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Carlos Kabayiza occupied the stands of the similar unit, which safely returned home later the same day after 18 months in their tour-of-duty.
The officers, who came back home aboard the national carrier, RwandAir, were received at Kigali International Airport by Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera, Commissioner for Public Relations and Media, on behalf of Rwanda National Police (RNP) leadership.
On arrival at Kigali International Airport, the unit was taken through the compulsory COVID-19 prevention measures, including the disinfection process, ensuring that they dispose of safely their hand cloves and facemasks, and are given new ones as well as sanitizing their hands.
All this was done in consideration of physical distancing.
The contingent will also be tested for COVID-19 and quarantined for at least 14 days.
CP Kabera thanked the officers, who returned home, for their bravery and selfless service, despite the challenges, especially those posed by the pandemic of novel Coronavirus.
“Due to the shortcomings brought about by COVID-19, this contingent, which was supposed to serve for one year, had to confront all the challenges to selflessly serve for 18 months. We salute them for not relenting in their mandate even in such hard times,” CP Kabera said.
A medical team under Rwanda Formed Police Unit Three (RWAFPU-3) has started training and equipping the local Police with First Aid skills.
On Wednesday, October 7, Rwandan Police medical doctors led by RWAFPU-3 contingent commander, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jackline Urujeni trained 32 South Sudan Police officers on First Aid and response to emergency cases.
The basic training held at Juba Grand Hotel also included personnel from community policing and reform pillars.
The theory and practical session held under the theme ‘Public Order Management in relation to human rights’ focused on responding to breathing difficulties, bleeding and fractures.
The training was conducted in consideration of all COVID-19 prevention measures such as social distancing, wearing of facemask, washing and sanitizing hands as well as wearing gloves.
SSP Urujeni reminded the trainees the urgency of fighting sexual and gender based violence, and child abuse as well as the overall security of people and their property.
She noted that world over, women and girls continue to be abused and that protecting them is the duty of law enforcement organs along with other responsible institutions.
“To effectively ensure public order as our mandate, we must fully understand orders and directives in enforcement and keep observing and protecting human rights with special consideration on women and children, because they are most vulnerable. Officers must bear that in mind during the management of public order, or any other police operations” SSP Urujeni said.
Participants thanked the Rwandan peacekeepers for the productive workshop, emphasizing its importance to their policing and security career.
Inaugurated in August 2019, the Kigali Arena has, among other events, successfully hosted renowned R&B star Ne-Yo in a sold-out concert as well as the Basketball Africa League (BAL) regional qualifiers.
Kigali 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 Kigali’s world class venues which QA Venue Solutions Rwanda aims to add to the roster of key venues used by the events industry.
Under the agreement, QA Venue Solutions will work with local and international federations, event organizers, PCOs (Professional Conference Organizers), promoters and the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions) industry to develop a full and robust events calendar diversifying to include sports for the Kigali Arena.
QA Venue Solutions will invest US$ 2.4 million and aims to host a multitude of remarkable and memorable events.
The company will integrate various online and physical systems to better the workability of the Kigali Arena, i.e. online ticketing, facility management systems, Sound/AV systems, work with ‘Made in Rwanda’ brands/products to ensure all retail points in the facility are full and operational to the public and continuously adapting the venue based on market requirements, to ensure the experience at the Arena is both pleasant and memorable. In addition, QA Venue Solutions will work with local and international stakeholders to develop a backstage academy, aimed at developing local skills in the events industry.
Following the signing of the Management agreement, The Ministry of Sports Permanent Secretary, Didier Shema – Maboko said:
“The Kigali Arena has already hosted a number of successful events since it was inaugurated last year with success. The facility is set to position Rwanda as a top African destination for indoor sports tournaments and other events. With the facility being first of its kind in the east and central African region. The Government of Rwanda intends to work with QA Venue Solutions to bring the best of events from around the world to Rwanda, which will ultimately boost the tourism sector and position the country as a sports and entertainment hub.”
Also speaking on the signing, QA Venue Solutions Director, Kyle Schofield said:
“QA Venue Solutions identifies the need for infrastructure in the sports and entertainment industry in Africa and has taken on the mission of developing a self-sufficient venue management model for the continent that will assist in maintaining and developing the infrastructure needed for our sports men/women and entertainers to prosper and showcase their craft. Our aim will be to develop the Kigali Arena as a hub for holding events in Rwanda, offering state of the art space for companies to host sporting events, banquets, conferences, award evenings, fitness events, children’s events and exhibitions/fairs. Kigali Arena will lead the charge in developing an international standard events eco-system to encourage international bodies to host major events in Rwanda.
We want to invite local, regional and international businesses to partner with us to find the right opportunities to further their business growth through the Kigali Arena.”
QA Venue Solutions Rwanda has partnered with local companies and continues to encourage businesses in Rwanda to engage with the management team regarding opportunities in the venue. The partnerships validate the businesses’ efforts of inclusion and development in the local economy, forming a strategic alliance that will ensure the Arena caters for the people of Rwanda.
{{About QA Venture Solutions}}
QA Venue Solutions was established by an experienced, dynamic group of people whose philosophy is based on developing a new model of venue solutions across the African continent and beyond. The company comprises of a team of proudly African individuals who together possess decades of experience in the events, entertainment and hospitality industry, in addition to venue management, design and operations.
QA Venue Solutions is proud to have been at the forefront of major sports events in Africa. QA Venue Solutions Director, Kyle Schofield worked with NBA (National Basketball Association) and NBA Africa as Head of Event Operations for the continent, leading the 2017 and 2018 NBA Africa Game Operations.
Venue Management for Sun Arena | Time Square – Menlyn-Pretoria – Sun International, a 8,500 -10,500-Seater multi-purpose Arena in Pretoria, QA Venue Solutions managed the calendar, contracts, operations, technical, safety and security aspects of all shows being hosted at the venue. In 2018 QA Venue Solutions was directly involved in the venue operations for the 2018 NBA Africa Game at the Sun Arena.
QA Venue Solution consulted for Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) to ensure the smooth running of the FNB, Orlando, Dobsonville and Rand Stadiums and as experts in large event production, QA Venue Solutions provided technical direction for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2010 FIFA Football World Cup as well as the 2014 African Cup of Nations Cup.
Under QA Entertainment Technology Consultants (Pty) Ltd, QA Venue Solutions has been, and is still involved in, consulting on venue concepts, commercialization, feasibility, operations and technical requirements for various venues throughout Africa and internationally.
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.
