The President of one of the leading global economies will visit Rwanda following a State Visit of President Paul Kagame last year.
Kagame visited China in March 2017 and was welcomed by President Xi Jinping and held discussions which took place in ‘Great Hall of the People’.
Though no official statement from both countries has been made yet, sources say Jinping will arrive in Rwanda in July.
China is among the top contributing countries to the development of Rwanda in different sectors including trade, healthcare, education and infrastructure development.
RwandAir, National Carrier plans to launch flight services between Kigali and Guangzhou, China early next year.
Premier Tobacco Company Ltd (PTC) belongs to the family of late mogul Assinapol Rwigara.
The auction was scheduled today and interested buyers were present at the factory’s premises located in Gikondo industrial area in Kigali but Bailiff Védaste Habimana who chairs the auction announced the postponement.
Habimana first asked if there had been anyone from Rwigara’s family but none displayed the presence despite the presence of the family’s son. Anne Rwigara who is usually the coordinator of the family’s business was absent.
“The auction is not taking place today because the leadership of PTC was not contented with the property valuation; we have therefore postponed until next Monday at 11.00am in order letting PTC use its legal rights of opposing the valuation. PTC is allowed those rights and they will have given us their valuation by then,” said Habimana.
Media asked Habimana the value that was rejected by PTC and he said, “That is all I had to tell you, those who wanted to buy in the auction and journalists that I am seeing here. The available information is all that, no more.”
The auction of unspecified number of tobacco processing machines will also take place at the factory in order to recover the balance on tax arrears amounting to Rwf6 billion evaded in the period spanning from 2012 to 2017, according to RRA.
The auction of the factory’s machinery follows yet another of March 28 in which the factory’s tobacco amounting to 7,195 cartons were auctioned at Rwf512 million to Murado Business Ltd.
At the auction, however, the Rwigara family was not contented with the Rwf512 million, saying the tobacco had a value of around Rwf1 billion but Bailiff Habimana who presided over the auction said all was in line with the laws.
Anne Rwigara said the auction was conducted illegally and had earlier tried to challenge the seizing of the tobacco stocks and other properties in Nyarugenge Commercial Court which ruled in favour of RRA.
Speaking to IGIHE immediately after the previous auction, RRA Commissioner General, Richard Tusabe had said that RRA would auction more Rwigaras’ properties to recover the balance on the tax arrears.
Through his Twitter Account, Trudeau said that he was pleased to welcome Kagame in Canada. He said that they discussed the issues affecting both countries.
“Canada and Rwanda have deep ties and I was pleased to welcome President Paul Kagame to our country this weekend. Thank you for a very good discussion on fighting plastic pollution, and a variety of issues affecting our countries,” reads Trudeau’s tweet.
Speaking about ‘climate change and the importance of ending plastic pollution’ in the G7 Summit on Friday, Kagame said that plastic bags were banned ten years ago in Rwanda and brought great benefits to national environment.
He said that policy has also served to make citizens more aware of the importance of managing natural resources.
“When citizens understand what is at stake and how their behaviour can make a measurable difference, they become the most effective part of the solution. Involving and empowering citizens laid the groundwork to begin phasing out other single-use plastic products,” he said.
Ngirente was speaking yesterday at the enthronement ceremony of the new Anglican Archbishop who is replacing Dr. Onesphore Rwaje.
Speaking at the event that took place in Kigali, Ngirente promised the new Bishop of government support to successfully implement his responsibilities.
“The Government of Rwanda wants to continue cooperating with churches to implement programmes aimed at developing welfare of people so that a good Christian will have good welfare,” he said.
He hailed the Anglican Church role in the development of Rwandans and called upon its leaders to help people embrace government programmes like education, healthcare and economic development among others.
“What we request churches in general is to continue encouraging followers to participate in programmes that develop the economy, as well as fighting poverty,” he added.
The 64-year-old Mbanda who has been the Bishop of Shyira Diocese in Nyabihu District promised to develop the Church by championing self-reliance.
He said that he will strive towards finalizing the Church’s buildings that have been delayed, establishment of Anglican University in Rwanda and construction of nursery schools among others.
“I was blessed to go around different countries and got different experiences. I will learn from them to take forward given responsibilities. I should think and work as if I will live for many years,” he said.
Pastor David Nzungize requested Mbanda to focus on education in the Church.
“We want him to solve the education problem. Actually, we have few high schools; we expect that he is going to work towards their development. We are ready to support him,” he said.
Mbanda is the fourth Archbishop of the Anglican Church since its inception in 1922.
Kagame who is also the Chairperson of African Union (AU) was speaking Saturday at the outreach session held in Charlevoix, Quebec as part of the two-day G7 summit that has been taking place in Canada.
The Head of State who was speaking on ‘climate change and the importance of ending plastic pollution’ said that the role of oceans in regulating climate change has been severely affected and the human factor, among others, continues to contribute to the situation.
He said that the verse needs global action.
“Among other consequences, we may see tens of millions of people on the move, in search of new homes. No country on Earth is unaffected. And none of us can act alone. We have delayed to take action, with the necessary urgency and scale, but we still have the time and ability to mitigate the damage and stop the worst scenarios,” he said.
On Rwanda’s experience, Kagame said that plastic bags were banned ten years ago and brought great benefits to national environment. He said that policy has also served to make citizens more aware of the importance of managing natural resources.
“When citizens understand what is at stake and how their behaviour can make a measurable difference, they become the most effective part of the solution. Involving and empowering citizens laid the groundwork to begin phasing out other single-use plastic products,” he said.
He reminded countries to involve private sector in finding practical solutions for climate change.
“Involving the private sector in finding practical solutions, not only reduces resistance to change, it also supports the creation of new jobs and revenue streams,” he said.
He said that due to Rwanda’s plastic ban, the bonus is a more pristine natural environment for Rwanda’s citizens, residents and tourists to enjoy.
“Repeated on a larger scale, this experience shows, that it is possible to eliminate the plastic pollution that is choking our oceans, degrading our soils and poisoning our food supply,” he added.
He said that the African Union recognizes the key role of the blue economy in the continent’s socioeconomic transformation and is committed to creating healthier oceans.
Speaking on the Paris agreement, Kagame said that the G7 together with partners gathered at the summit has the opportunity and the obligation to translate the political will into concrete action before it is too late.
The primaries took place at district level by selecting four people from the 20 most successful candidates voted last week at the cell level.
In each district, four people, two women and two men who will make the final list to be submitted to National Electoral Commission (NEC) were elected.
IGIHE visited Nyarugenge District polling site where aspirants were explaining their manifestos to the electorate. Eugene Barikana and Edda Mukabagwiza who had been in parliament were re-elected. Others elected are Brigitte Gafaranga and Lambert Mucyo.
NEC will start to receive candidacy from 12th to 25th July and campaigns will start from August 13th to September 1st 2018.
Elections are slated on September 2nd for Rwandans in the diaspora while Rwandans in the country will elect on September 3rd.
Ngirente was speaking Friday when the Office of the Prime Minister, affiliated Ministries and parastatals staff were commemorating the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
He said that commemoration enables Rwandans to distinctly understand the country’s dark history that led to the genocide, strengthen them towards reconstruction and enable them to confront effects of the genocide as well as fighting any evil that could lead to its recurrence.
“Understanding the truth history of Rwanda is the foundation upon which we are rebuilding a new Rwanda,” he said.
He said that the light of hope should facilitate Rwandans embrace goodness and encourage youth to avoid conflicts and genocide ideology.
In a lecture by the Executive Secretary of National Commission of the Fight Against the Genocide, Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana said that the history of the genocide illustrates how Tutsi were segregated in government institutions and culminated into genocide.
He said that senior government leaders planned the genocide and incited people to implement it.
Bizimana said that the cabinet of 1994 which was comprised of 22 ministers, 15 among them were prosecuted in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Nine of them were convicted and some of them were sentenced to life in prison.
“It proves that the genocide was caused by bad leadership. Whoever is saying that the genocide was not planned by the then government is intentionally promoting falsehoods,” he said.
The graduation ceremony took place yesterday at RDF Senior Command and Staff College in Musanze District.
The 6th intake was attended by different senior officers from ten countries namely: Czech Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
According to Senior Command and Staff College Commandant, Maj. Gen Jean Bosco Kazura, the graduates have been undergoing training in analytical and communication skills, personal and collective values and professional military knowledge designed to help them in their future command and leadership management responsibilities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Defence Minister, Gen. James Kabarebe said that he believes that the officers have the capacity to overcome the challenges they may face along the execution of their responsibilities.
“The training was an opportunity for the trainees to not only recharge intellectually but also reassess themselves and their respective militaries. I believe that your studies here have equipped you with the necessary analytical, planning and communication skills to deal with the contemporary complex security challenges,” he said.
The overall best performer, Maj. Claver Gatsinzi from RDF said that they have acquired different skills.
“When we get the opportunity to learn together, it helps understand how we will address problems facing our countries. This course equipped us with new skills that we believe will facilitate us to perform our jobs better than we used before,” he said.
In the ceremony, twenty-nine among the graduates were awarded a Master’s degree in Security Studies from the University of Rwanda.
The course is organized under the partnership between the Senior Command and Staff College and the University of Rwanda College of Arts and Social Sciences.
The move, according to Judicial Spokesperson, Harrison Mutabazi aims at providing good services, resources and logistics management as well as easy process of infrastructure development in the courts.
Twenty-four courts remained untouched while 36 have been merged and became 17 and their names were changed.
Mutabazi said that the development will ease service delivery .
“As they have been merged, there is no need to relocate employees from one court to another, their services will be effective. They will discuss legal affairs and share ideas than they used to,” he explained.
Most Primary Courts have had two judges and two court clerks. Those from the urban used to have more than two judges because of the many cases.
He said that the reforms will lead to good management of human resources and logistics.
“Some courts had old infrastructures like roofs which were leaking. Instead of having many courts operating in old places and having insufficient materials, it is better to merge them and operate in a good environment,” he added.
He said that as people are accessing judicial services online, it was necessary to merge the courts.
According to Mutabazi, no staff will be rendered jobless as they will continue to work in newly established courts.
The Summit brings together leaders and policymakers from the most advanced economies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, to build consensus and set trends around challenging global issues.
As is the custom, the host country invites a select few non-G7 world leaders to what is referred to as ‘the Outreach Session’ where more common issues of concern are discussed.The outreach theme this year focuses on how to build healthy, productive and resilient oceans, coasts, and communities.
Outreach Leaders invited to Canada include Rwanda as the Chair of the African Union, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Seychelles, Haiti, Jamaica, Argentina, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Norway. Leaders of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have also been invited.
This evening, President Kagame will attend a reception hosted by the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard and attend a dinner held by Canadian Governor General, Julie Payette.
