Akamanzi will be presented the doctorate during the university’s spring convocation ceremonies that will take place on June 11th, 12th and 13th 2018.
In the ceremony, Akamanzi will be awarded along other ten individuals who have made their mark in the fields of law, art, Indigenous rights, journalism, nanoscience, business and philanthropy.
According to the university, the honorands join more than 5,600 students who will receive their degrees and diplomas.
{{About Akamanzi}}
An international trade and investment lawyer, Clare Akamanzi received a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School (HKS). She received awards for academic excellence and distinguished contributions to the HKS community.
Akamanzi also holds an LLM (with distinction) in International Trade and Investment from the University of Pretoria as well as an LLB (Honors) from Makerere University, Uganda.
During her international career, Akamanzi has worked as a commercial diplomat in London and a Trade Negotiator at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
In 2012, she was named Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, and a year later was selected as one of Africa’s Top 20 Leading Women in Economic Development by Forbes.
On the agenda of the ceremony, Akamanzi will address the John Molson School of Business on June 13.
The laboratory that has been operating under Rwanda National Police (RNP) was operationalized Thursday and started to function as an independent institution.
The Rwanda Forensic Laboratory was handed to its officials in a ceremony held at its headquarters in Kacyiru and presided over by the Minster of Justice, Johnston Busingye.
The Director of the Laboratory, ACP Dr François Sinayobye said that previously, they have been providing few services.
He said that the laboratory has been upgraded and is able to conduct DNA tests which facilitate to establish the evidences with findings from the scene of crime. It is able to test family relationship among other services.
“The aim is to support justice by providing scientific and reliable evidences. The laboratory has skilled employees and are ready to contribute to justice with reliable evidences, professionalism and impartiality,” he said.
The laboratory is capable to deal with physical evidence, biological evidence and chemical evidence, DNA samples, document examination and fingerprint analysis.
The laboratory will offer among others toxicology and ballistics services. Toxicology is a test done on a person who, for instance, is poisoned while ballistics are tests that involve arms and explosives.
The chemical evidence division will identify and analyze poisons or drugs and their effects on the body; chemicals on different crime scenes like fire accidents or arson. On such scenes, investigators seek to identify whether there is presence of fire accelerants, which help the investigator to conclude for a fire accident or arson.
Police Inspector General, Emmanuel Gasana said that since RNP was formed in 2000, different changes have been conducted and led to the establishment of such laboratory.
“We are pleased with having this laboratory along the journey of constructing strong justice system,” he explained.
Minister Busingye said that though the launched laboratory does not have all services, but those available are the first to be offered in Rwanda.
“Evidences like those for gender based violence cases, family relationship, poison among others are available like it is done in other countries,” he said.
“Today we celebrate this milestone. Foreign forensic laboratories were costing the country in terms of time and resources,” he added.
Prosecutor General, Jean Bosco Mutangana said that there have been facing challenges like forensic evidences which they used to conduct from German and were costly. He said that at least they need to conduct 800 forensic tests every year and needed to wait above two months to receive the results, things which used to delay justice.
Rugwabiza made the remarks Wednesday at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which convened a meeting reviewing the work of the MICT.
In her remarks with stern message, Rugwabiza highlighted the lack of transparency and accountability of the MICT procedure for early releases.
She said that Rwanda has not opposed the potential early release and has released genocide convicts more than any other country.
“Rwanda is not opposed to the principle of potential early releases and there is not a single country or international jurisdiction, anywhere in this world that has reduced sentences and released genocide convicts more than Rwanda,” she said.
“The problem lies with the lack of transparency in the process and criteria considered in decisions of early releases. These convicts haven’t shown any remorse, the decisions are made by one person, the President of the MICT, with no obligation of accountability,” she explained.
She said that the decisions are not communicated to the government of Rwanda, as the survivors and government learn about them through the media.
Meanwhile, ICTR through Meron has acquitted Protais Zigiranyirazo, Justin Mugenzi, Prosper Mugiraneza, Gen. Augustin Ndindiriyimana and Major François Xavier Nzuwonemeye.
He also reduced sentence for masterminds of the genocide including, Colonel Théoneste Bagosora from life sentence to 35 in appeal trial that he (Meron) was presiding.
He also reduced sentence for Col.Anatole Nsengiyumva and Capt. Ildephonse Nizeyimana. Currently, Nsengiyumva who is known for being among masterminds of the genocide against the Tutsi in former Gisenyi Prefecture has been released.
Rugwabiza underlined that a number of those released before the end of their sentences have since regrouped in an association denying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
“They do so with no consequences because they are released with no conditions. The mechanism and its current President will not be able to escape this daunting legacy,” she said.
{{Recommendations to UNSC}}
Rugwabiza recommended the UNSC to urge the ICTR to put in place clear rules of procedures and criteria of early release and be requested to apply them transparently.
She said that such rules should include conditionalities to prevent genocide convicts benefiting from early releases from engaging in activities promoting genocide ideology and denial.
{{Reactions from UNSC members}}
Ethiopia Ambassador to the UN, Mahlet Hailu Guadey noted that Rwanda’s concerns on early release of persons convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity cannot be overlooked.
Guadey emphasized that in the process leading to early releases, it is important that other judges are consulted and Rwanda consulted particularly on the implication.
The US Ambassador to UN, Mark A. Simonoff encouraged the MICT to respond to concerns with early releases, noting that some individuals have subsequently denied as being responsible for their crimes.
“This denial undermines the fight against impunity. The US also recognizes and encourages the practice of consultations before early releases,” Simonoff said.
The order dated May 30th 2018 says that along the process, the US Department of Transportation gave interested people 21 days to file objections to the Order. The office said that if no objections were filed, all further procedural steps would be deemed waived, and the Department would enter an order which would make final the findings and conclusions of the Order.
“We make final our findings and conclusions as stated in the Order and award to ‘RwandAir’ Limited Liability Company the foreign air carrier permit with associated conditions attached to the Order (and attached as the Appendix to the present order),” reads the order.
However, the order shall become effective on 61st after the day it was submitted to the President for review.
“Unless disapproved by the President of the United States under 49 U.S.C. §41307, this order shall become effective on the 61st day after its submission for section 41307 review or upon the date of receipt of advice from the President or his designee under Executive Order 12597 and implementing regulations that he or she does not intend to disapprove the Department’s order under that section, whichever occurs earlier,” reads the Order issued by Brian J. Hedberg, US Director Office of International Aviation.
Once RwandAir is authorized, according to the Order, will be able to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail from points behind Rwanda via Rwanda and intermediate points to a point or points in the United States and beyond.
It will also engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between the United States and any point or points.
RwandAir will also engage in charter foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between any point or points in Rwanda and any point or points in the United States, and between any point or points in the United States and any point or points in a third country or countries, provided that, except with respect to cargo charters, such service constitutes part of a continuous operation, with or without a change of aircraft, that includes service to Rwanda for the purpose of carrying local traffic between Rwanda and the United States.
Currently, RwandAir has 26 destinations and 12 aircrafts.
RIB took over some of the functions formerly exercised by the Rwanda National Police, such as criminal and counter-terrorism investigation, economic and financial crimes investigation and crime intelligence.
Speaking to the press, Wednesday, RIB’s Secretary General, Col. Jeannot Ruhunga, said the new uniform will be unveiled soon.
“So far, what distinguished us from others was a duty card that indicated that one worked for the judicial sector. Now, we’ve decided to bring in a special uniform that clearly be used to identify a RIB officer from other law enforcers,” he said.
RIB announced that it will take up to four months for the investigators to have the said uniform.
Rwanda Investigation Bureau has powers to arrest and detain suspects in criminal cases; restrict access to an area or set up a roadblock for the purposes of maintaining security, preventing and detecting crimes.
Officiating the Bureau, 463 police officers previously working under CID plus other officers from different departments were also transferred to RIB, immediately shedding off their status as police officers.
The meeting between both officials was held yesterday in Paris, France.
Through her twitter account, Mushikiwabo said that she met Diouf who is also former Senegalese President as part of her candidacy for La Francophonie.
“Very interesting meeting with President Abdou Diouf tonight in Paris. As part of my candidacy for La Francophonie, I am honored to be able to benefit from his valuable advice and 12 years of experience heading the OIF,” reads her tweet.
Diouf had been the President of Senegal from 1981 to 2000. He was also the second Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie from January 2003 to December 2014.
After leaving office as President of Senegal, he was unanimously elected as Secretary-General of La Francophonie at the organization’s Ninth Summit on October 20, 2002 in Beirut, Lebanon following the withdrawal of the only other candidate, Henri Lopes of the Republic of the Congo.
Diouf took office as Secretary-General on January 1, 2003. He was re-elected as Secretary-General for another four years at the organization’s summit in Bucharest, Romania in September 2006.
Recently, Mushikiwabo revealed that she has started to campaign for the leadership of the international organization representing French speaking countries. She said that her priority will be to move the organization towards being multilingual.
Premier was speaking Wednesday in Kigali while officiating the launch of Africa Innovation Summit (AIS) held under the theme; “Addressing Africa’s Challenges”.
The AIS is an Africa-wide and home grown initiative aimed at harnessing the innovation potential on the continent. It also aims at mobilizing people and especially those with capacity to promote and build an enabling environment for innovation in Africa.
Ngirente said that Rwanda is taking strides in building a robust ecosystem for innovation in order to help the country meet its aspirations of a knowledge-based economy.
“We have also created a conducive legal and regulatory framework for doing business, invested in infrastructure and improved health system. All these have started to boost innovative activities in the Country,” he said.
He said that next week the governmentwill launch a Research and Innovation Fund.
“I am pleased to share that we will officially launch our National Research and Innovation Fund next week that we believe shall serve as a major research funding vehicle through which research and research-based innovation activities shall be supported,” he revealed.
Ngirente said that Africa has consistently invested in infrastructure development, agriculture, conducive policy and regulatory environment to attract private investment.
He oberved that the continent’s many development challenges can be addressed through innovation.
“Africa has not been able to leverage private sector as an engine for transformation. The fact is, the only way to resolving these and other challenges facing African countries is innovation. We must innovate. We must build robust ecosystems for innovation,” he noted.
The three-day Summit brought together investors, policy makers, researchers, academics, business community, youth, innovators and thinkers from around the World.
RMB Chief Executive Officer, Francis Gatare revealed this yesterday in a consultative meeting that brought together sector players including government institutions, business community and donors.
Gatare said that the good sector performance is attributed to the recovery of minerals price on international market and improved production from mining companies.
“Last year, mining sector contributed enough to the development of the country where it earned Rwanda a total of $370 million from exports. We target to increase mining earnings to $600 million this year,” he said.
“This is possible basing on measures that have been taken like raising mining production capacity and embracing modern mining practices,” he added.
Rwanda has been exporting wolfram, coltan and cassiterite and gemstones.
Gatare said that this year, they will invest in buying modern mining technolgies which will help double the production.
“The challenges this sector faces include poor technologies which only extract less than 40% of the real potential,” he explained.
The coordinator of Mining Companies in Northern Province, Placide Gaju told IGIHE that it is possible to raise the production capacity once they revised mining process.
“We lose big quantities of minerals along mining and separation processes. With the use of modern practices backed by polished skills, production will certainly soar,” he explained.
Last year, Rwanda exported a total of 7000 tonnes and this year target 10,000 tonnes. Rwanda targets $800 million from mining in 2020 and $1.5 billion in 2024.
Often the best marketing campaigns are controversial and shocking and that is exactly what Rwanda Tourism has achieved. Even before a ball is kicked with their logo emblazoned on the Arsenal FC shirt, they have already generated press coverage around the world.
The controversy surrounds a three-year £30 million sponsorship of one of the most high profile and wealthiest teams in the world – a global football brand with a new manager for the upcoming season.
What is so controversial is that it could be argued as indulgent and a private passion from President Kagame, who is publicly an avid fan of Arsenal, while the country received millions in aid from other countries (£60 million-plus from the UK alone) and over 60% of the Rwandan population live in poverty.
Far removed from the genocide 25 years ago, Rwanda is a country rich in assets, welcoming more than 1.2 million tourists in 2017. Best known for its gorillas in the volcanic mountain region, it also boasts beautiful lakeside resorts and a national park, which is home to the “big five” game animals.
Unlike many areas of the world, Rwanda is said to be “generally safe” by the UK Foreign Office (FCO) with low crime rates. The economy is on the up and recent times have seen an influx of foreign investment into five-star hotels in the capital city and wider region.
There are three direct flights a week from Gatwick to Rwanda, which has driven an increase in visitors to the region with UK visitors growing by 20% in 2017. Indeed, tourism now accounts for over 12% of GDP, with over 100,000 people employed in Tourism-related jobs.
The aim of the sponsorship is to heighten awareness of Rwanda and grow visitor numbers to 1.7 million in the next ten years while growing tourism revenues to £800 million over the next six years.
While the sponsorship investment has sparked controversy, and many countries including Holland and Germany have called for an inquiry, the chief executive of the Rwanda Development Board has been very public and vocal to highlight that the investment has come from existing tourism revenues and not from government aid.
The UK government has also clarified that foreign aid is earmarked for specific development activity rather than using taxpayers’ money for sponsorship of a very wealthy football team.
While the sponsorship has created a significant division of opinion, my view is that this is an incredibly smart piece of marketing by Rwanda Tourism. Advertising is awash with destination management companies and tourism boards trying to entice potential tourists to visit.
What Rwanda has achieved is a significant cut-through and builds awareness globally through a single piece of sponsorship. In any business you have to invest money to generate revenue. Responsible tourism, eco tourism and the economic prosperity of locals have become significant concerns for travellers.
This campaign has already achieved a lot through PR alone. On the basis that the population of Rwanda receives the benefits of the tourists who come to enjoy their country and, over time, reduces the dependency on foreign aid, it could prove to be one of the most successful campaigns by any tourist board.
The auction of the factory’s machinery slated next Monday to recover the balance on tax arrears amounting to Rwf6 billion allegedly evaded in the period spanning from 2012 to 2017 follows another one of March 28 in which the factory’s tobacco stocks amounting to 7,195 cartons were auctioned at Rwf512 million to Murado Business Ltd.
“As recommended by RRA and after reviewing the tax-establishing decisions given to Premier Tobacco Company Ltd; with an intention to recover tax arrears, the professional bailiff announces to the general public that there will be an auction of the machines used in processing tobacco belonging to Premier Tobacco Company Ltd on Monday 11/06/2018 at 10:00 am,” reads part of the statement released last week and signed by bailiff Védaste Habimana.
The auction of unspecified number of tobacco processing machines will take place at the factory located in Gikondo industrial area in Kigali and visiting the machines has started this afternoon.
Speaking to IGIHE immediately after the previous auction, RRA Commissioner General, Richard Tusabe had said that they would auction more Rwigaras’ properties to recover the balance of about Rwf5.5 billion tax arrears.
“If the money is not enough, we should seek where to get it. We shall get it from other properties,” he said.
At the tobacco auction, however, the Rwigara family was not contented with the Rwf512 million, saying it had a value of around Rwf1 billion. They 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.
