Kagame was speaking in Kenya yesterday during the 14th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects that was aimed at speeding up development of infrastructure in the East Africa region.
The summit reviewed progress made in the implementation of various resolutions reached during the 13th Summit held in Uganda in April, 2016.
Kagame thanked Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for hosting the summit.
“I thank President Uhuru Kenyatta for hosting and re-convening us after a two-year break to continue with the momentum we had started for our region, coming together and working on joint projects for the benefit of our countries and people. We had made headway in bringing government, businesses, local and foreign investors in partnership to enable these projects that are important to the development of our citizens,” Kagame said.
He noted that there is a lot of work to do towards the projects in the Northern Corridor Integration.
“There is always going to be a lot of work to do but this moment provides an opportunity to rexamine what has been done and what we still need to do,” he noted.
The NCIP is a multilateral development initiative established in 2013 and aimed at speeding up development in the region, particularly the improvement of infrastructure for ease of movement of people, goods and services in the East-African region.
It is also designed to link the land locked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi to Kenya’s Indian Ocean Port of Mombasa. The corridor also serves the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Tanzania.
In a media conference Tuesday, the Governor of Central Bank, John Rwangombwa said that the quarterly Monetary Policy Committee found that the Rwandan economy continues to register strong performance.
“The projection by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of 7.2% is quiet possible because the total turnovers grew by 16.5 percent during the first five months of 2018 from 16.2 percent in the same period of 2017,” he said.
The National Institute of Statistic of Rwanda (NISR) recently revealed that in quarter one of this year, GDP grew by 10.6%, a growth which was attributed to the increase in agricultural production by 8%, industries by 7% and services by 12%.
Rwangombwa said that Rwanda’s formal trade deficit reduced by 1.4 percent during the first five months of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017, following an increase in formal exports receipts by 29.0 percent which overweighed the increase in formal imports of 9.0%.
“The value of our exportation like minerals, agricultural products like coffee and tea were remarkably raised,” he said.
He said that consistent with the performance of the external sector, exchange rate pressures remained subdue. Compared to December 2017, the Rwandan Currency depreciated by 1.5% against the USD as at the end May 2018 from 1.0% and 4.0% observed during the same period of 2017 and 2016 respectively.
Speaking at Rwanda Disability Summit in Kigali on Tuesday, the President of National Union of Disability Organisations of Rwanda (NUDOR), Dominique Bizimana warned that the union’s 13 organisations are likely to stop activities because of financial constraints.
He asked the government and donors to increase the funding to the organisations and put in place a disability policy.
Minister for Local Government, Francis Kaboneka committed the government to improving the welfare of PWDs and cautioned the public against hiding PDWs behind the doors, keeping them out of the sight of those who would help them.
“We have reviewed our laws and made them disability inclusive in order to promote the full enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities. We are discussing with local authorities on mainstreaming persons with disabilities in districts development strategies, actions, plans and contract performance (imihigo),” he said.
Minister Kaboneka said the government released the categories of PWDs last week from which the government will give them special support starting from the first category of disability.
He added that in collaboration with development partners, the government is committed to tackling stigma and discrimination by removing all barriers in registration at a national level; expediting the development of national policy on disability and inclusion and increase resources for the education of PWDs.
On the sidelines of the summit, Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs and Social Protection at the Ministry of Local Government, Dr Alvera Mukabaramba told the media that 150,000 PWDs in the country have been placed in five categories for better consideration in social protection scheme.
She added that the current draft of policy on disability will have been enacted by the next fiscal year starting next month.
The British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Joanne Lomas said the British government is passionate about supporting PWDs and pledged further support to Rwanda’s efforts in this sector.
“We are also celebrating what people with disabilities have achieved here in Rwanda. We have seen very inspiring stories. There is need for ensuring that the status of women with disabilities is recognised,” she said.
The British High Commission co-hosted the summit alongside the Ministry of Local Government.
Ms. Lomas added that among their priorities include ensuring that children with disabilities start the school on time and receive the necessary needs for their education.
Rwanda Disability Summit is part of the Global Disability Summit 2018 which will take place in London, UK on July 24.
In a tweet, the Office of the President, Village Urugwiro announced that the Somalia leader has been in Kigali for a one day working visit.
“President Kagame today received Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre of Somalia during his one day visit to Kigali,” tweet reads.
As part of his visit, Mr. Khayre also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre and paid tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi laid to rest there.
Khayre toured the memorial’s exhibits to learn more about the history of the 1994 genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi.
In his message, Khayre said that he was delighted to learn from the way Rwanda overcame the tragic past.
“I am delighted to learn that Rwanda has managed to overcome those problems in a short period due to the leadership of President Kagame,” he wrote in the memorial’s guest book.
The Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) which is a multilateral development initiative established in 2013 is aimed at speeding up development in the region, particularly the improvement of infrastructure for ease of movement of people, goods and services in the East-African region.
In a statement issued in Nairobi, Kenya’s State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the regional summit will be attended by host, President Uhuru Kenyatta, and his counterparts Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame as well as a Special Envoy of President Salva Kiir of South Sudan.
“During the Nairobi meeting, the leaders are expected to review the progress made in the implementation of the various resolutions reached at during the 13th Summit held in Kampala, Uganda on April 23, 2016,” reads the statement.
The NCIP are designed to link the land locked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi to Kenya’s Indian Ocean Port of Mombasa. The corridor also serves the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Tanzania.
Among the key projects expected to feature prominently during the meeting is the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) where significant progress has been made with Kenya having successfully completed the Mombasa-Nairobi line and embarked on the Nairobi-Naivasha section which is now at 50 percent completion.
Leaders will assess and provide leadership on the progress being made in power generation, transmission and interconnectivity, and review progress on ICT and oil refinery.
The State House spokesman added that a commercial contract for the Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba sections and a modern port at Kisumu has already been signed with the China Communication Construction Company.
He said preliminary engineering design of the new SGR line from Kampala to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, was completed in January while in South Sudan, preparation for a bankable feasibility study for the Nimule-Juba SGR line is on-going and is expected to be complete by December this year.
In a tweet, the Office of the President, Village Urugwiro announced that Kagame met the team before the African Union Summit takes place in Mauritania.
“This morning in Kigali, President Kagame is now meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat and members of the AU reforms team ahead of the AU Summit to be held in Mauritania,” tweet reads.
According to AU, the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) will take place from 25th June to 2nd July 2018, under the theme “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”.
Bizimana was speaking Sunday in Kigali during a burial ceremony of remains of 359 victims which were recently exhumed in Ndera Sector of Gasabo District.
Speaking on behalf of survivor families whose relatives were buried on Sunday, Antoine Ruvebana said that it was difficult to know whereabouts of the remains because people who had enough information used to mislead them.
“This process shows us that some convicts who were released from bail and sought pardon for their role in the genocide were not changed. They were not repent because, they didn’t want to facilitate us by revealing whereabouts of our fallen families,” he said.
Reacting on Ruvebana’s concerns, CNLG’s Bizimana said that survivors would no longer beg convicts to reveal whereabouts of the remains after 24 years. He requested the use of technology in searching them as the system is applied to the Jewish Genocide.
“Continuing to beseech killers result in nothing, rather it encourages them to continue to gloat over survivors. Different institutions will continue to discuss it, and one of possible solution is use of technology. To use machines which can reveal where the remains of victims are located,” he said.
City of Kigali Mayor, Marie Chantal Rwakazina said that having people who still drug feet in revealing whereabouts of remains of genocide victims shows that there is a long way to go to end deniers and trivializers of the genocide.
“This opportunity should be there to remind us that we need to put in place new measures to fight against the genocide ideology, denial and trivialization of all forms, having people reluctant to reveal whereabouts of the remains inform us that there is a long journey in fighting denial,” she said.
Elected in February 2016, Uwiyoboye is the Coordinator of the National Youth Council (NYC) in Nyarubaka Sector of Kamonyi District. She had received no training until mid last year when Noyau de Paix opened a civic education camp meeting for 700 youth committee members from five districts.
Running from July 2017 to June 2018, the one-year project was funded by Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at a tune of Rwf25 million.
“We attended the training and learned of the importance of working closely with other authorities like local leaders in serving the country. We built up synergies to serve the country. We built 12 latrines and 12 vegetable gardens for 12 different vulnerable households in Kamonyi. We also encouraged our fellow youth to participate in the last year’s presidential elections,” said Uwiyoboye.
She said these activities have positively changed the image of the youth in their communities because adult especially elderly people are now looking at the youth as important members of the community, differently from the years back when they were considered as indifferent on the community’s activities.
“The demand for help is too high; people are asking us to do the same as we did in their neighbouring areas. We are commitment to reaching out to a bigger number of the disadvantaged,” she added.
Olivier Mahoro, the Coordinator of NYC in Bweramana Sector, Ruhango District, shared similar gains from the project, saying his peers have now understood their responsibilities towards the nation and working hard to meet them.
“We had our physical strengths for the work of construction but we needed some money to buy materials for the roof; so Noyau de Paix supported us with the skills and finances. This project has become a stimulus for us to do more; we are keeping on helping the vulnerable within our communities,” he said.
Hassan Jean-Aimé, the Coordinator of NYC in Cyanika Sector of Burera District, said “We have acquired to set targets as performance contracts (Imihigo). Youth are often indifferent about politics but we have got to know that politics affect our lives in one way or another whether we get involved or not. We have understood our role in our communities’ development. We were challenged by rainstorms during our concluded activities but we are now going to do more in this dry season. We have got courage and love for these activities.”
The youth were recounting achievements Friday during an event to close the project in Muhanga District.
According to Hyacinthe Kabalisa, the Projects’ Coordinator at Noyau de Paix, this is a platform of 25 local organisations but the concluded project saw the intervention of only three including Kabgayi Diocese of the Catholic Church for the project’s implementation in the districts of Kamonyi, Muhanga and Ruhango; Peace and Durable Development in Burera and Peace House in Bugesera District.
Kabalisa said the project intended to raise civic education among the youth and encourage them to help tackle the shortage of proper latrines and high rates of stunting among children, issues that are occurring in many communities around the country.
The project saw 700 youth members attend civic education training and went out to mobilise their peers who built 59 latrines, 58 vegetable gardens, renovated two residential houses, developed seven stoves and cemented three houses, among other activities targeting the vulnerable households in the five districts.
The op-ed recently published in The East African by Professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti is typical of this prejudice. A recognized expert in sports marketing, she is perfectly entitled to her opinions. But not to her own facts, and her mistakes are numerous.
First, memorial sites of the Genocide against the Tutsi are not tourist attractions. They have never been marketed as such, and never will be. These are sacred places of burial and remembrance for Rwandans. Visitors to our country who wish to better understand our history are of course very welcome to visit the memorials. But to claim, as Professor Neirotti does, that Rwanda’s only two attractions are gorillas and death, betrays profound contempt.
Second, interest in visiting Rwanda is rising, not falling, as she asserts. Rwanda’s three main national parks – Akagera, Nyungwe, and Volcanoes — saw a 6% increase in visitor numbers in 2017. It is easy to see why. Rwanda is one of the safest and most hospitable countries on the planet. It also the only place where tourists can see the “Big Five” (lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo), as well as the critically endangered mountain gorilla and several bird species endemic to the high-altitude rainforest in Nyungwe National Park.
Rwanda’s attractions are varied and exciting. With the launch of the Congo-Nile trail, sports and mountain biking enthusiasts from all over the world are flocking to Rwanda, and we are also home to East Africa’s only canopy walk.
Third, Rwanda’s tourism strategy is not based solely on wildlife. Conference and meetings tourism is growing fast, driven by strategic investments in RwandAir, world-class hotels, and the iconic Kigali Convention Centre, one of Africa’s largest and most modern. Citizens of any country in the world can get a visa on arrival in Rwanda.
In 2017, Rwanda earned US$42 million from this segment, this year’s earnings are projected to be US$74 million. We have hosted the World Economic Forum, and two African Union Summits. Nearly 30,000 international delegates are descending on Kigali this year to participate in more than 90 confirmed international meetings. Last month, the International Congress and Convention Association ranked Rwanda the third most popular destination in Africa for hosting international events.
Rwanda’s visitors have varied accommodation options, ranging from major international hotel chains such as Radisson Blu, Marriott, and Serena, as well as the award-winning boutique eco-lodge, Bisate Lodge, where Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi stayed on their visit last month.
Our country has come a long way. Today, Rwanda has over 10,000 hotel rooms, up from just 600 in 2001. Professor Neirotti claims there are no flights from Rwanda to the UK, but in fact RwandAir has been flying to London-Gatwick since May 2017, alongside more than two dozen other destinations, including Brussels, Dubai, Mumbai, and most major cities in East and West Africa. New routes to the United States and China are set to launch in 2019.
Arsenal is one of the most popular teams, in the most-watched league, of the world’s most popular sport. The Arsenal jersey is seen 35 million times a day. The ‘Visit Rwanda’ deal has created enormous global interest, which is exactly what we wanted. Whatever opinions they have about the deal, people are talking like never before about Rwanda as a tourism destination.
Ultimately, in Rwanda, we are going to pursue our goals the way we think best, just as every other country should. For us it is already a win.
Nduhungirehe was speaking Friday in Press Conference in Kigali. He openly revealed that there are poor relations between both countries.
“No secret there are problems. Last month Rwandans were arrested and tortured in Uganda, though they were later on released,” he said.
He said that both countries continue discussions on solving issues which would lead to the relations restoration.
“Despite Rwandans facing unjustified arrests and torture; other group of 40 people was arrested at Uganda-Tanzania borders heading for military rebel activities. This alerted us and started discussions,” he explained.
He said that both countries have had different discussions. There are those between Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and East African Community Affairs Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo and her Ugandan counterpart, Sam Kuteesa.
He said that President Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni also discussed the matter.
Nduhungirehe said that the joint commission that would discuss relations restoration is expected to meet in the near future.
“Problems are still there, that is why we should collaborate with Uganda in solving them, we need to tackle them from the ground. As East African Community member countries, we should foster good relations,” he added.
Nduhungirehe said that Rwanda continues to promote international relations in order to sustain benefits of the country.
