Mukansanga and former Mayor, Theoneste Uwanzwenuwe submitted their resignation letters Friday morning.
Speaking to IGIHE, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau Spokesperson, Modeste Mbabazi said that Mukansaga was arrested yesterday over allegations related to genocide ideology.
“The dossier has been prepared. I think that you have been following news on how she committed genocide related crimes. Today (Friday), she has been arrested and will appear in court on Monday,” he said.
It was said that Mukansanga refused to receive a candle to light the flame of remembrance at the Genocide against the Tutsi commemoration event in Nyabihu District last month.
She reportedly refused to receive the candle and said it should be given to others who have people they commemorate.
Speaking to IGIHE recently, Mukansanga rejected the allegations saying that there were many people who had no candles and suggested that they be first served. She said that people misinterpreted her motion.
The Head of Government was speaking in Kigali Friday at a press briefing about the disaster management in Rwanda.
The briefing follows earlier this week’s visit by the Premier and other cabinet membersn to districts of Karongi, Rutsiro, Rubavu, Ngororero, Nyabihu, Gakenke and Burera as the districts that have largely been affected by recent heavy rains.
According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), 183 people have been killed by disasters since January to April 30.
The majority of disaster victims in Rwanda are people living in high risk zone. Taking an example of the last weekend, eighteen out of 28 victims of the downpour across the country were from Rwankuba Sector of Karongi District where the landslides on the upland killed the 18, injured seven and destroyed 29 houses.
MIDIMAR reports that 1,201 houses were destroyed and 4,130 were damaged across the country since January to April 30.
According to Ngirente, Rwanda and the region experienced disasters caused by heavy rains that were not expected.
In the conference, Ngirente said that the government is always prepared for responding to disaster effects.
“The government does not wait for disasters to happen, the national budget has money for good settlements,” he explained.
Ngirente said that before the disasters started early this year, the government had assessed a total of 40,000 families to relocate from high risk zones and the resources had been in place. He said that the disasters increased the numbers due to new areas which were also affected.
“I would like to assure all Rwandans that the government plans to steadily settle all residents safely. Sustainably, there is an existing settlement programme and IDP Models which are being constructed in all districts, we are trying to construct durable houses. We will continue to invest in this programme and every year’s national budget will include the funding for the programme,” he said.
Ngirente said that the government continues to provide basic assistance to the population of various areas affected by disasters.
From the beginning of this year, he said the government has provided Rwf141 million for buying construction materials, over Rwf200 million for basic utensils and over Rwf5 million for direct support to families who lost their members in disasters.
He said that the government does not want to see any victim of disasters, the reason they will continue to use few resources in relocating people from high risk zones.
Ngirente reminded that the government does not construct for people, but they help them along the construction process. He said that they support the most disadvantaged people and provide others with plots on credit in places designed for human settlement and pay accordingly at a favorable cost.
IDP model village was initiated in Rwanda in 2010 to promote proper human settlement in rural areas.
Mukabalisa was speaking at the Conference on Achieving Gender Equality which was held under the theme ‘Changing Dynamics, Accelerating Progress’ in Kigali yesterday.
The conference was organised on the sideline of the Transform Africa Summit that has been taking place in Kigali.
The two-day conference was organised by National Gender Machinery, Smart Africa Secretariat and United Nations Rwanda.
Mukabalisa said that people cannot expect to develop countries and achieve the Africa’s agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030 if there is a big number of the population left behind.
“We recognise that African countries are pushing to ensure respect and promotion of gender equality which is essential for sustainable development, good governance, respect of human rights and democracy. Investment in empowerment of women and girls is a well-recognised development priority in Africa,” she said.
The aspiration six of African Union’s Agenda 2063 underlines the potential of Africa’s people, especially women and youth. Under this vision, it is envisaged that there will be gender equality in all spheres of life and an engaged and empowered youth including young girls.
The Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 is also committed to full gender equality and significant empowerment of African women by 2023 at the national, regional and continental levels.
Gender equality is also incorporated in the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“Africa of 2063 would see fully empowered women with equal access and opportunity in all spheres of life. This means that the African woman would have equal economic rights, including the rights to own and inherit property, sign a contract, register and manage a business. Over 90% of rural women would have access to productive assets, including land, credit, inputs and financial services,” said Mukabalisa.
Africa of 2063 would also see attainment of full gender parity. It would see women occupy 50% of elected offices at state, regional and local bodies, and 50% of managerial positions in government and private sector.
“It’s true that many African countries have made progress in setting up legal and institutional frameworks for gender equality, measures have been taken to close the gender gap in education and improve women’s economic and political participation,” she said.
“However, despite the favourable political context, more efforts are still needed for Government institutions, non-government actors including civil society and the private sector to ensure women’s empowerment or change the daily, lived reality of women, legal frameworks and policies may be in place and ensure its practical, tangible and effective implementation.”
{{Call for strong mobilization}}
Mukabalisa said that there is a need for mobilization among people to change mindset on gender issues to accelerate the promotion of equality.
“A strong mobilization of people to change the mindset on all persisting gender equality issues and ensure acceleration for promotion of gender equality by strengthening the accountability mechanisms and measures for gender equality is also needed to close gaps in terms of limited digital literacy, high poverty amongst women, low representation in decision making organs, all forms of violence and discrimination,” she explained.
She said that all these gender gaps have to be eliminated so that women fully enjoy all their human rights.
She added that all harmful social practices and all barriers to access quality health and education for women and girls would be terminated.
Mukabalisa also requested the participants in the conference to give special attention to building women capabilities especially in ICT sector saying that technological innovations represent a way for developing nations to foster economic development, improve levels of education and training.
The duo’s resignation follows March resignation of Vice-mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Development, Antoine Mugwiza and April resignation of the District Executive Secretary, James Ngabo.
All leaders cite personal reasons.
Uwanzwenuwe’s resignation news broke out Friday morning. Speaking to IGIHE, Uwanzwenuwe confirmed his resignation.
Nyabihu District Council President Jean Damascene Gasarabwe confirmed to IGIHE that he has received both resignation letters this morning with both officials citing personal reasons
On condition of anonymity, one official from Nyabihu District told IGIHE that the resignation is related to poor collaboration between the leadership.
“The Executive Committee has not been collaborating; everyone has been doing things alone. The resignations are also related with disputes in district’s offices construction and shoddy tenders in sand excavation,” a source said.
Efforts to talk to the Western Province Governor, Alphonse Munyentwali became futile by press time.
The law states that when there is no executive committee, the district council appoints interim leadership for the period not exceeding 90 days.
This was revealed yesterday as RMB officials discussed with Parliamentary National Budget and Patrimony Committee on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2018/2019 and Budget Framework Paper 2018/2019-2020/2021.
RMB Chief Executive Officer, Francis Gatare said that the board wants to promote mining sector for its increased contribution to the country’s economy.
Mining sector earned Rwanda a total of $373 million from 7,000 tonnes of minerals last year.
Gatare said they target to double the income next year through promoting professionalism in mining operations.
“We shall increase income from exported minerals up to $600 million and increase the quantity of production up to 10,000 tonnes,” he explained.
As a way to increase production, Gatare said that they will conduct research on 13 new concessions where they will extract minerals.
The board also targets to venture into decent mineral business by partnering with experienced business people. Gatare said that in line with the promotion of mining sector, the Government has banned flippant miners by denying them working permits.
The government targets to increase annual income from mineral exports to $800 million in 2020 and $1.5 billion in 2024.
In 2015, Rwanda registered the largest mining production in the Great Lakes Region with 840 tonnes from 815 quarries followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Latifa was one of the five finalists who presented their projects before the panel yesterday in Kigali, as part of the ongoing Transform Africa Summit.
This year’s problem for application was to identify opportunities in any sector and suggest solution that can allow Africans to collaborate, interact and trade.
Presenting her project, Latifa said that Niger counts 37% of road accidents in the region of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
She said that it is also difficult to provide first aid as people in charge do not easily establish where the accident took place or it takes long time to reach the scene of accident.
She said that it happens that locals reach the victims without having skills of how they could help to save their lives.
“Imagine being nearby a person who is in critical conditions due to injuries but you are unable to give them first aid. That is why I developed an app dubbed SARO which can be installed in a telephone or computer. The app is capable of taking a photo or video and sends it to people who can provide first aid. They can easily establish the scene of accident and provide first aid through people on the scene,” she explained.
Latifa explained that the app only allows a person to send a newly taken photo or video which are also original.
{{Top three awarded}}
Three girls who presented outstanding projects were awarded with different prizes.
Latifa was awarded with Rwf3 million and will attend International Conference on the ticket of Smart Africa and will also attend the European Development Days 2018 Conference slated in June in Brussels, Belgium.
Among the awardees also include, Christelle Mazimpaka, the 2018 Ms Geek Rwanda and the third in Ms Geek Africa. She received Rwf1 million and allowed to attend one international conference on the ticket of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA).
The second is Ndèye Fatou Mboup from Senegal who received Rwf2 million.
Among the five finalists were other two Rwandans Alida Umurungi and Sylvie Mahoro.
Speaking to IGIHE, the head of Girls in ICT which organised the competition, Lucy Mbabazi said that they had received 200 applications.
“We received 200 applications and selected 10 projects. Last week, we trained them on better organize their projects. Then, we selected five best projects,” she said.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Youth, Rosemary Mbabazi said that the initiative aims to promote girls capabilities to generate solutions that can change lives of their communities.
She said it is very important to involve young people so that they can own their development agenda.
Mbabazi added that women are innovators and the platform is giving them opportunities to explore their potential beyond.
“Strategically and logically, we could not do anything much without involving women, especially girls because the future is in the hands of technology, and if we are talking that the future is in the hand of technology, you cannot leave out women,” she noted.
This year’s Ms Geek Africa is the second edition, but Girls in ICT in Rwanda are celebrating the 5th anniversary of Ms. Geek.
Satellite is one of Rwanda’s most awaited infrastructures along the ICT promotion journey.
Speaking at the signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ongoing Transform Africa Summit in Kigali yesterday, Prof Shinichi Nakasuka from Tokyo University said that they build satellites since 2000 and they want to partner with Rwanda in making a small satellite which will not only be used in communication, but also a foundation to build more satellites.
He said that based on the trend of technology, it is not necessary to build a big satellite to be sent in the space. He said that they are using technologies which build satellites weighing below three kilograms.
On the budget of the satellite, Prof. Shinichi said that it will take around $200,000.
“Building such a satellite cost $200,000 (about Rwf173 million), while building the existing satellite could take at least $300 million (about Rwf260 billion),” he explained.
Before signing the agreement with RURA, Japanese companies signed the agreement with Smart Africa so that the satellite project can benefit member countries.
RURA Director General, Lt. Col. Patrick Nyirishema explained that Smart Africa has 22 member countries. On the side of Government of Rwanda, Nyirishema said that the project will be surely implemented.
“Rwanda wants to start the project with Japanese partners so that we can train people and build a satellite. By this period next year, we will present what we shall have completed. Great things are going to be done,” he explained.
The Executive Director of Smart Africa, Dr. Hamadoun Touré said that few Africans are skilled in satellite building, adding that many Africans are committed to joining the sector. He said that the training is necessary.
“Rwanda is committed to this project that will not only benefit Rwanda, but also the rest of the world,” he explained.
Sprawled across the Cap-Verde Peninsula, in the far west of Africa on the Atlantic Ocean, Dakar is the grand capital of Senegal also commonly known as “le Paris d’Afrique” due to the modernized changes the former French colonial city went through.
From Kigali on the RwandAir’s feel and experience touch, the travel proved relaxing and refreshing. The homey feeling I received from flight attendants made me feel like I was practically at my neighbor next door, with the sole difference being on a moving aircraft.
It was 13- hour entertaining flight as RwandAir flew from Cotonou-Bénin, Douala-Cameroon, Abidjan-Côte d’Ivoire to finally land in Dakar. You’d wonder why I said entertaining –well, Joseph, the waiter was ever so charming while making sure that I missed nothing, and I was no exception for he did so with everyone. From tea to water; everything I was given beheld Rwanda’s imprint, the only thing I may have not yet checked is the provenance of the tasteful fish I ate, although I would bet it was from Rubavu’s waters. A generous applause goes to RwandAir’s team.
Arrived at my destination, I reveled at the beauty of the exotic capital of Senegal. The catching beauty was not really in its architecture nor the dusty streets or the roads collapsed by traffic: but rather in its atmosphere and cheerful people.
It is a friendly city with a very complex native language known as ‘Wolof’. I would even say that anyone would get a bit lost trying to understand this language. During my stay, I tried to learn some of it; like saying I’m good is ‘Maa ngi fi’ [Spelled as Mængiːfiː], saying Yes is ‘waaw’ [Spelled as Wæwu], Saying ‘My name is Philbert’ is ‘Maa ngi tudd Philbert’ [Spelled as Mængiːtudu].
As I toured the country, here are some of the places that make the nation so singular and that will definitely mark you if you ever decide to travel to Senegal.
{{La Maison des esclaves in Goree Island
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Goree Island is a small 45-acre island located off the coast of Senegal that is only three kilometers away from Dakar. This quiet and quaint island was a prominent place for the development of Atlantic slavery trade and served as a center for expanding slavery trade by the Europeans.
The island which is considered as a memorial to the African Diaspora had over 20 million African slaves passing through it between the mid-1500s and the mid-1800s. During the African slavery trade, Goree Island was a slave-holding warehouse where African men, women and children were jailed before being shipped to the Americas.
The slave house that was built to keep the slaves had a small door called the “door of no return” through which every man, woman and child walked to the slave boat to be taken to the ‘New World’. The slave house built in 1776 remains intact to this day with cells and shackles, and is a major tourist attraction of Goree Island.
Chosen to be a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Goree Island still retains and preserves all the traces of its terrible past and displays to the world the miserable life once led by their ancestors.
{{African Renaissance Monument
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The African Renaissance Monument, also referred to as Monument to the African Renaissance, is a bronze statue perched on Mamelles hill in Dakar, Senegal. The representation of a man, woman and child emerging from a volcano stands erect against the skyline in Senegal at 164 feet high, taller than the Statue of Liberty in the U.S.A.
Visiting this place will only cost you 4000 CFA which is Rwf6500 and you are free to roam around and inside this monument.
The monument that was built by the former president Abdoulaye Wade in 2010 is about the culture and future of the African continent. It’s represented by a man and his wife together holding the hand of the young one, which means the next century is better than the past. The whole monument encompasses all generations for the future of the continent.
Upon entering, the “lobby” of the monument has a distinct presentation dealing with African, and African diaspora history, covering various renowned leaders such as Léopold Senghor or Toussaint Louverture and various historically important events such as the slavery trade or colonialism.
{{You cannot just leave without saying Hi to Saly…
}}
Saly is a beach resort area in the Petite Côte region of Senegal. A former Portuguese trading post, Saly Portugal village features restaurants and bars.
It is the “Rubavu” of Rwanda. It is one of the touristic resorts in Dakar and detains a much more relaxed energy than the center of the capital.
It is relatively clean and quiet. It is usually full of young people playing with street vendors and families.
A piece of advice would be that you stack some pants, since everyone in Senegal covers their legs pretty much. Also, the wind blows practically everything…dresses and skirts not spared.
To finish, le “Paris d’Afrique” may not be the most beautiful place on earth or a holiday destination for those seeking comfort but it has everything for a fascinating experience as a whole. You will be rendered speechless by the epic vistas of a gorgeously tropical and stunning natural beauty that is Africa.
The rankings, which were released by the ICCA on Monday are based on the number of association meetings taking place regularly (annually, biannually) rotating between at least three different countries and with at least 50 participants.
The association meetings organized by Rwanda included several high-level conferences such as Africa Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), Board Meeting of the Global Fund (BMGF), Annual Tourism Conference of the Africa Travel Association (ATA) and Annual General Assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) among others.
Rwanda is currently hosting over 4000 delegates attending the Transform Africa Summit 2018.
Commenting on the rankings, the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB), Denise B. Omany welcomed the position saying that they are working hard to attain more good position.
“These rankings are proof that our MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) strategy is creating value. Rwanda recorded 28,308 delegates in 2017, up from 23,804 in 2016. Tourism is the country’s largest foreign exchange earner and MICE is playing an important role in its growth, bringing in 15% of all tourism revenue,” Omany said.
MICE tourism contributed USD42 million in 2017 and they target to increase it to USD74 million this year.
“We are glad to retain the third position and we are working incredibly hard on attaining an even better position through hosting even more association meetings. With the support of the Government, as well as the private sector, Rwanda has been able to establish herself as a safe, secure MICE destination of choice due to the presence of world-class MICE venues, accommodation facilities, connectivity options and ease of service due to RCB support” Omany added.
According to Rwanda Convention Bureau, Rwanda is a preferred MICE destination due to its simplified visa process that allows nationals of every country in the world to get a visa on arrival for all visitors in addition to its easy accessibility due to the multitude of flight options offering connectivity to Kigali and the rest of Africa though the national carrier, Rwandair.
Rwanda Convention Bureau is the Africa’s latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Member.
In Rwankuba Sector of Karongi District, on Sunday, heavy rains caused landslides on the upland and killed eighteen people leaving seven injured and hospitalized as 29 houses were destroyed.
Speaking at the burial yesterday, Ngirente said that the government has the responsibility of taking care of Rwandans and most specifically on those affected by disasters.
“Today, I brought you comforting message. As you know, in few months we have experienced heavy rains which was not expected, killing many people and damaged properties in the country and the region; so today, we comfort you and Rwandans in general,” he said.
Also at the event, affected families were facilitated with Rwf50,000 each for buying basic materials.
He requested residents’ contribution in preventing disasters by relocating from high risk zones.
“The government will continue to support you through direct and long-term interventions. Though the government will continue to facilitate you, you should also play the big part by relocating from high risk zones and resettle in a safe places,” he said.
The Minister for Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), De Bonheur Jeanne D’Arc said that people are capable of preventing disasters from happening through creating radical terraces, embracing rain water harvesting systems and avoid constructing in high risk zones among others.
Recently, MIDIMAR announced that since January to April 30th climate-related disasters had killed 183 people. Across the country, Sunday rains killed a total of 26 people.
