The meeting held at Umuganda stadium brought together local leaders, police, military and about 400 community night patrol personnel from the sectors of Gisenyi, Rubavu and Rugerero.
The mayor of Rubavu, Ildephonse Kambogo thanked members of community night locally known as Irondo for their dedication in supporting security organs to enforce the rule of law.
The meeting was also attended by the District Police Commander for Rubavu, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aphrodis Gashumba.
“People cannot thrive when they are insecure and Police cannot be everywhere. The District leadership recognizes your dedication and contribution to maintain safety and security which is the cornerstone for development here in Rubavu district and the country in general,” said Mayor Kambogo.
He urged them to refrain from drunkenness and other misconduct that makes them lose focus and tarnish their image.
The DPC, SSP Gashumba also echoed the role of Irondo in improving security in localities, and particularly during this period of Kwibuka.
He said that cases of theft, assault, drug trafficking and illegal cross-border trade are still relatively high, and urged Irondo personnel to strengthen their night patrols against such crimes.
Museveni made the appreciation through a long Twitter thread in which he talked about his life in exile before taking power and expressed gratefulness for Kagame’s visit to Uganda who attended the 48th birthday anniversary of his first born, Lt Gen Muhoozu Kainerugaba.
The celebration took place at State House in Entebbe.
Museveni has said that Lt Gen Muhoozi Lt Gen Muhoozi was a gift to him and his wife in young days of struggle.
He was born on 24th April 1974 at Kurasini, Dar es Salam, the capital of Tanzania.
Museveni has revealed that his wife Janet Museveni was driven to the hospital by a Dutch Lady.
At the time, Museveni was among rebel outfits that had plans to overthrow the leadership of Idi Amin Dada who led Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He was replaced by Milton Obote who led the country from who had governed the country between 1966 – 1971 and regained power between 1980 and 1985.
When he was arrested and rescued by soldiers, Museveni revealed that Muhoozi was a little boy.
“He was the earliest Kadogo of the Resistance (only second to Julius Kategaya who took another path). He is also an early veteran at 5 years when we were arrested in Kireka by our UPC allies, they were planning to send us to God but our force with Kagame and Saleh rescued us,” he tweeted.
Museveni went on to explain that he doesn’t know what impact that scenario had on Lt Gen Muhoozi, because he was a prisoner of war. He also thanked Janet Museveni ‘who looked after him and his siblings right all through these situations, even in exile’.
“I would like to thank H.E Paul Kagame, we are happy that you responded to Lt Gen Muhoozi’s invitation and came. President Kagame and Muhoozi have a long history together. They are old friends,” he added.
It is said that the man killed his wife hitting her with a small hoe on the head. They have been living together in Karambi Sector of Gishihe Cell in Kigoma Sector.
Local leaders have revealed that the incident happened last night around 12:00 midnight.
The executive secretary of Kigoma Sector, Cassien Dukundimana has told IGIHE that the man had become a gang unwilling to work with her wife for the progress of their household.
“It is apparent that her husband had become a gangster. He killed her over disputes related to mismanagement of household’s property. The husband wanted to spend all the money earned together on drinks,” he noted.
Dusabimana and his husband had sired together three children.
Neigbours have revealed that disputes arose when the husband failed to get Rwf10,000 reserved to buy a roofing sheet that the wife had used to solve other household needs.
The suspect is detained at Simbi Police Station while the deceased was taken to hospital for postmortem.
Dukundimana appealed on residents to settle disputes amicably or seek assistance from local leaders instead of dragging themselves into crimes.
Nyamasheke District Vice Mayor for Social Affairs, Athanasie Mukankusi has told IGIHE that the incident happened on Saturday night around 11:00 p.m when landslide hit a house belonging to Gitsimbwe Village leader. She explained that a wall collapsed and fell on four children of whom three died on spot.
The survivor was taken to a nearby Karengera Health Center for medical attention. The deceased are respectively aged 8,9 and 12 while the survivor receiving medical attention is aged 15.
Similar incident also happened in Karengera Cell where landslide killed three people including two children and a woman.
Mukankusi has said that leaders have visited affected families, comforted them and requested residents to relocate from disaster-prone areas to avoid future incidents.
“We have also held a virtual meeting with sector executive secretaries and requested them to register houses in risky zones to be housed in churches,” she noted.
The ceremony took place on Friday 22nd April 2022 where the management of BK Group Plc and staff laid wreaths at the memorial monument carrying names of slain staff at its headquarters.
Commemoration activities continued with a visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial where the bank’s management and staff laid wreaths to the mass grave accommodating over 250,000 remains of Tutsis killed in different parts of Kigali.
The CEO of BK Group Plc, Dr. Diane Karusisi said that commemorating is everyone’s responsibility noting that BK employees need to pay tribute to slain colleagues regularly.
“Commemorating is not event which takes place one day or in April. It is our responsibility as BK employees to remember victims killed of torture, who contributed to the progress of this institution,” she said.
The Executive Director of Aegis Trust, Freddy Mutanguha thanked BK Group Plc for dedicating time for commemoration and its relentless support to Genocide survivors.
Athanase Murengerantwali who spoke on behalf of families whose relatives were BK employees killed during the Genocide, commended the bank for honouring them highlighting that its gives them hope for tomorrow.
BK Group Plc holds the event at a time when Rwanda is commemorating the Genocide against the Tutsi for the 28th time to honour over 1 million victims killed during 100 days.
“Congratulations on your well-deserved re-election President @EmmanuelMacron. This is a testament to your visionary leadership that seeks to unite and not divide. Rwanda looks forward to even more and stronger partnerships between our people and nations,” he tweeted.
Rwanda, France relations wavered in the past over the role France is accused to have played during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
However, both countries’ relations have been on good progress since Macron took office in 2017.
In 2021, Macron came to Rwanda for a two-day maiden visit from 27th to 28th May where he admitted his country’s responsibility during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
“Standing here today, with humility and respect, by your side, I have come to recognize our responsibilities,” said Macron as he visited Kigali Genocide Memorial.
At the time, he said that France had a duty to admit the “suffering it inflicted on the Rwandan people by too long valuing silence over the examination of the truth.”
Macron said that only those who had survived the horrors “can perhaps forgive ; give us the gift of forgiveness”.
The visit was held shortly after the release of Duclert report that reviewed archives on France’s role during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
It was made by an expert committee of French historians led by Prof. Vincent Duclert.
The report by French historians revealed that France bears “heavy and overwhelming responsibilities” over tragic history that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi which took lives of over 1 million victims.
The report blames the then French President, François Mitterrand, for a “failure” of policy towards Rwanda in 1994. The findings were made public after years of French official secrecy over links to the Government led by Juvenal Habyarimana.
On the first day of his visit to Rwanda last year, Macron visited Kigali Genocide Memorial where he paid tribute to over 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
He also participated in a joint press conference with his host, President Paul Kagame, visited Tumba College of Technology where a Department of Mechatronics would be set up through a partnership with French Agency for Development (AFD).
On the same day, Macron visited Gikondo Health Center before officiating the launch of French Cultural Center located near Kigali Convention Center, Kimihurura Sector, Gasabo District.
The center has a section dedicated to learning French, culture-based training and providing official French language certification, boasts a large outdoor stage that can host shows and concerts.
On Thursday night, Macron and Kagame also watched quarter-finals of the inaugural season of Basketball Africa League (BAL) during which Patriots BBC representing Rwanda beat Ferroviário de Maputo representing Mozambique73-71 at Kigali Arena.
Among others, his visit left various agreements signed between both countries. The pacts include a framework for bilateral cooperation signed between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta.
The two countries signed an agreement for sports and talent development which saw Rwanda receiving €1.5 million (approximately Rwf1.84 billion) for sport and talent development.
Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana also signed a Euro 60 million financing agreement with Rémy Rioux the Director-General of French Agency for Development (AFD).
His coming to Rwanda was considered a major milestone to turning a new page for both countries relations blurred by France’s failure to admit its role during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Rwanda, France diplomatic relations date back in 1962 after obtaining Independence.
Kagame arrived at Entebbe in Uganda in the afternoon of Sunday 24th April 2022 where he was received by Lt Gen Muhoozi and the Minister for National Security, Maj Gen Jim K Mugwezi.
Apart from attending the birthday celebrations, the Head of State also met with his counterpart of Uganda with whom they discussed on bilateral relations.
Following the discussions, Museveni revelead via Twitter handle that he held ‘bilateral talks with H.E President Paul Kagame on a number of issues, especially on regional peace, stability and cooperation. I welcome H.E Kagame to Uganda’.
President Paul Kagame was last in Uganda on 25th March 2018 for discussions on spoiled relations between both countries.
Towards the beginning of April 2022, Lt Gen Muhoozi announced that President Kagame was on the list of dignitaries he wanted to invite during celebrations of his 48th birthday.
Kagame attended the birthday party, few days after the first born of Museveni visited Rwanda for the second time to mend spoiled between Rwanda and Uganda that had deteriorated since 2017. At the time, Kagame gifted ten cows to Lt Gen Muhoozi.
The Head of State visits Uganda at a time when relations between both countries is on the mend following talks with envoys from Uganda including Muhoozi and Uganda’s Permanent Representative to UN, Adonia Ayebare.
Lt Gen Muhoozi has also revealed that he decided to organize a formal birthday party to celebrate achieved progress towards restoring bilateral relations to normal.
He has come to Rwanda two times this year on a mission to mend ties between Uganda and Rwanda that had worsened since 2017.
Since he was involved in the process to restore relations to normal, Lt Gen Muhoozi has been warning Rwanda’s dissidents that they have no place in Uganda. He recently revealed that no official fighting Rwanda would retain job in Uganda.
He also echoed similar message in February where he warned Kayumba against using his country to threaten Rwanda’s security.
His previous visit to Rwanda was on 22nd January 2022, a move that was followed by the reopening of Gatuna border.
Later on, Rwanda reopened all land borders on 7th March 2022.
On the occasion of his birthday celebration, Lt Gen Muhoozi said that both countries currently have good relations with optimism that the situation shall improve further in the future.
Lt Gen Muhoozi, the first born of Museveni was born in Tanzania on 24th April 1974. He is a father of three.
The centrist incumbent swept to victory by a comfortable margin, with some 58.5 percent of the electorate backing him versus 41.5 percent for Le Pen, according to a preliminary tally. That gives Macron a second five-year term.
But the president’s victory is clouded by the fact that his rival — an anti-immigration, nationalist candidate who advocates banning the Islamic headscarf in public, has courted Russian President Vladimir Putin and wants to turn the European Union into an “alliance of European nations” — won more votes than any far-right candidate in the history of the French Republic.
More than 12 million people chose Le Pen, about five million more than during her last presidential bid in 2017 — an increase that suggests that her strategy of trying to bring her party into the political mainstream has been largely successful.
The result carries also warnings for the EU and NATO.
In the midst of Russia’s war on Ukraine, with footage of bombed-out cities featured daily on TV news, a huge chunk of the French electorate backed a candidate who has called for forming an alliance with Moscow and said she would pull France out of NATO’s integrated command if elected.
In one of the EU’s founding countries, millions voted for a candidate whose campaign platform advocates dismantling the EU from within by suspending its free-travel rules and downgrading the supremacy of EU law.
“This result is [the sign] of a great mistrust against our leaders and against European leaders, a message they cannot ignore,” Le Pen told supporters in her concession speech. “Voters have shown they want a strong opposition power to Macron.”
Her strong showing will be seen as a warning in Brussels, which is still rattled by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and is locked in judicial battles with Poland and Hungary over rule-of-law disputes.
But the most immediate challenge will be for Macron, who embarks on his second term in a deeply divided country where political anger could easily boil over into street protests and violence.
The president acknowledged those divisions in his victory speech.
“Our country is full of doubts and divisions, so we will need to be strong. But nobody will be left by the wayside,” he said from an octagon-shaped stage set in front of the Eiffel Tower.
{{Unrest around the corner}}
While the vote means continuity will prevail in France, it also shows that divisions that have plagued French politics for decades are not shrinking, but getting larger with every successive election.
Le Pen is on her third presidential campaign but she has not ruled out another and is by no means finished politically. She has recovered from her defeat in 2017 and significantly expanded her party’s base. In her concession speech, the National Rally party chief struck a combative tone and hinted that she would be leading her troops into battle when voters elect a new French parliament in June.
“It’s a striking victory,” Le Pen told cheering supporters in Boulogne, a suburb of Paris that has historically been her party’s home base.
Hinting at potential alliances that could strengthen Le Pen’s party even further, far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who was knocked out in the election’s first round, called for the formation of a “patriotic bloc” uniting his and Le Pen’s supporters.
“We must forget our quarrels and unite our forces. It is possible, it is essential, it is our duty. Let’s build the first coalition of the right and the patriots as soon as possible,” Zemmour said after the election results were announced.
Macron crippled the mainstream center-left and center-right forces during his rise to power and Sunday’s vote showed that the once-powerful Socialist and Les Républicains parties are beyond saving. Neither party was able to gather more than five percent of votes in the first round, meaning that they will not be eligible to have their campaign expenses reimbursed by the state.
Their collapse accelerates the reformatting of France’s political landscape, away from a right-left divide, toward a split between nationalist anti-establishment populists and centrist pro-European progressives.
Embarking on his second term fresh from two years of COVID policies, amid high inflation and the war in Ukraine, Macron is unlikely to enjoy any sort of honeymoon period. Calls have already gone up to kickstart what’s known in France as a “social third round” of the presidential election — one that takes place in the streets, in the form of protests. Left-wing voters who held their noses and voted for Macron to keep the far right out of power are particularly motivated to apply pressure to Macron’s administration.
“It’s going to be a rocky ride,” a top official at Macron’s La République en Marche party told POLITICO ahead of Sunday’s vote.
“I don’t think there’ll be a big wide-ranging protest movement, but I do think we see a range of protests in different parts of the country, some like the Yellow Jacket [grassroots protest movement].”
Protests have already kicked off in French universities, with activists angry about having to choose between the far right and a pro-business candidate. Some leaders of the Yellow Jacket movement, which rocked France in 2018 and 2019, are already calling on citizens to take to the streets.
Discontent has also spread among leftwing voters, whose candidates were all knocked out of the first round of voting on April 10. Twenty-two percent of the electorate voted for far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round and were particularly divided over options in the second.
The France Unbowed party leader emerged as a champion of the left-leaning anti-Macron crowd, scoring highly in suburbs with a large immigrant population and with youth across the country, thanks in part to his green agenda.
As Macron enters his second term, there will be plenty of opportunities for protest. The president was elected on a platform of reforming state pensions and pushing back the retirement age from 62 to 64 or 65 years old. He also wants to reform and introduce more autonomy in French schools, an ambition that will put him on a collision course with France’s powerful teachers’ unions.
Macron’s first mandate was hardly easy, marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Yellow Jacket protests that began over a green fuel tax. This time around, he vows that he has learned from mistakes, and promises a new method aimed at building consensus to push through reforms.
But with inflation and energy prices going up, many observers believe the country is being primed for a backlash.
{{The third round}}
In the short term, Macron’s opponents are already readying for battle ahead of the parliamentary election in June. The president needs a majority in the National Assembly to be able to push through his reforms and campaigning is not expected to be easy.
Traditionally, French voters tend to vote the same way in presidential and parliamentary elections, so that the elected president and his government aren’t at loggerheads as they begin their term.
But for France’s left, the parliamentary election offers an opportunity for revenge. Mélenchon came a close third in the first round of the presidential election and his camp hopes to capitalize on his success and thwart Macron’s reform plans.
Much attention will also be on Le Pen’s National Rally, which will face competition or cooperation in the parliamentary election with Zemmour, who garnered 7 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election.
The hard right usually fares badly in parliamentary elections as mainstream parties tend to unite to block them out of office. In 2017, the National Rally only got eight seats out of 577, though Le Pen got 33 percent of the vote in the presidential election that year.
Le Pen pitched herself as the spokesperson for the downtrodden, the forgotten French against the urban elites. The French president has vowed to unite the country, but questions over how those voices are heard have never been more acute.
The event to be hosted in Rwanda for the first time will see 18 Commonwealth Africa Nations from the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies convening in Kigali to share expertize and innovations in combatting corruption.
The association was established in 2011 to foster collaboration of the Nations. The general objective of this year’s conference is to bring together member countries to concretize the strategies in the fight against corruption under the theme “Combating Corruption for Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa”.
It is being organized by the Office of The Ombudsman of Rwanda in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat. During the conference, every Head of the Anti-Corruption Agency will make a presentation on Innovative Projects done in the fight against Corruption.
There will be two set of presentations including Practitioners and Experts presentations. The practitioners’ presentations will be delivered by the Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies, to fulfil the aim of the Association of Anti-corruption Agencies of sharing experiences and learning from each other.
On another other hand, the Experts presentations will be delivered by experts from international organisations and other institutions. These presentations will enrich the conference discussions with current work and thinking in regional or global anti-corruption effort.
{{Guests welcomed}}
As we are few days to go for the conference to kick off in Kigali, Rwanda’s Chief Ombudsman, Madeleine Nirere has welcomed guests; shed light on expected outcomes, experiences to be shared and the advantages to pull from it.
“I am very pleased to welcome participants to Rwanda and I hope the conference will be successful and more relevant to the good and shared cause of preventing and fighting corruption. It is a great opportunity for Rwanda to showcase the best of our culture, promote Made in Rwanda and our home grown innovations. We also encourage Rwandan people to remain welcoming to make guests’ stay a memorable one,” she said.
More participants from international organizations in anti-corruption sectors will also attend the event.
{{Outcomes}}
Nirere has disclosed that ‘the conference is expected to come up with important resolutions useful in the fight against corruption, particularly, strengthening good governance to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16’.
The latter is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015 ‘to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’.
According to the Chief Ombudsman, participants of the conference will learn from each other to be able to initiate or update strategies in the fight against corruption in their respective countries.
Among others, Nirere said, the capacity of anti-corruption agencies will also be strengthened through international collaboration.
{{Rwanda’s best practices}}
The Chief Ombudsman has explained that Rwanda has achieved a lot along the journey to eliminate corruption noting that making the crime imprescriptible is one of best ways to discourage people promising, offering or soliciting bribes.
Other measures put in place include the establishment of anti-corruption committees among public and institutions, private sector, and civil society organizations as well as assets recovery.
For instance, Rwf1, 659,097,164 was recovered in the fiscal year 2020/2021. The Chief Ombudsman revealed that the country had cumulatively recovered Rwf6, 062,387,129; Euro 3,729 ; US$14,743 and a property worth Rwf100,994,000 from 2014 to August 2021 where assets recovery process abided by legal provisions.
More efforts were put in the sensitization of the adverse effects of corruption to different segments of the population through different communication channels.
Under the Vision 2050, Rwanda seeks to become the leading country globally in the fight against corruption. Else, the country’ has set an ambitious target under the Seven Years National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) 2017-2024 to fight corruption by 92.5% in 2024 from 86.56% of 2016 through collaboration with different stakeholders and church leaders to denounce the vice among others.
“This 12th conference will be an opportunity to learn from others and share Rwanda’s experience in combatting corruption. Rwanda has registered good records in combatting corruption at international and regional level which was possible because of the visionary leadership. We will also share how good leadership plays a big role in fighting corruption and the collaboration of stakeholders in this journey,” Nirere noted.
The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020 by Transparency International indicated that Rwanda ranked the 4th least corrupt country in Africa with 54 percent points, following Seychelles, Botswana and Cape Verde.
The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International also indicated that Rwanda is the 52nd least corrupt nation out of 180 countries globally.
{{Rwanda’s advantages}}
The Chief Ombudsman, Nirere has explained that selecting Rwanda as a host of the upcoming conference reflects the country’s reputation in fighting corruption to promote good governance.
As she said, Rwanda will also learn from other countries’ experiences in the fight against corruption, hence adding up to its bold ambitions to advance the cause.
“This will reinforce Rwanda’s commendable program to always create avenues aimed at fostering Zero Tolerance to Corruption policy,” noted Nirere.
{{Previous host}}
The annual Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in The Commonwealth Africa in 2019 was held in Kampala, Uganda where Members agreed that the next Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa in 2020 would be hosted by Rwanda in partnership with The Commonwealth Secretariat.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Conferences of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa for 2020 and 2021 took place virtually.
This year’s conference comes to Rwanda following fruitful efforts to fight the pandemic globally.
The weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 released by the World Health Organization (WHO) as of 20th April 2022, shows that the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths has continued to decline globally since the end of March 2022.
During the week of 11 through 17 April 2022, over 5 million cases and over 18 000 deaths were reported across the six WHO regions, a 24% and 12% decrease respectively, as compared to the previous week.
As of 17 April 2022, over 500 million confirmed cases and over 6 million deaths have been reported globally since March 2020.
The Association of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in The Commonwealth Africa is composed of Anti-Corruption Agencies from 18 African countries namely; Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Tuyisenge was caught in the butchery belonging to one Rachid Twagirimana, at about 5am after stealing Frw410,000. The money was recovered.
The District Police Commander (DPC) for Nyarugenge, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Eric Kabera, said that Tuyisenge had used a forged key to break into the butcher shop.
“On Saturday at about 5am, Twagirimana found his butchery open with someone inside. He called the Police and Tuyisenge was arrested inside the butcher shop after stealing Frw410,000,” SSP Kabera said.
“The owner of the shop alleged that he had left Rwf560,000 in his shop but Tuyisenge has been handed over to RIB at Nyarugenge station for further investigations,” he added.
Article 166 of the law determining offenses and penalties in general provides that any person convicted for theft is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than two years and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf2 million, community service in a period of six months or only one of these penalties.
In article 167, the penalty for theft doubles if the offender committed the crime through burglary, climbing or possession of keys other than the owner or the theft is carried out during the night.
