Thanks to Japan’s generosity, WFP will provide nutrition assistance to 55,445 refugees which includes supplementary nutrition assistance to 9,203 vulnerable refugees such as infants and young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and those living with HIV and tuberculosis.
“WFP welcomes this generous contribution from the Government and people of Japan. This will enable WFP to procure over 1,800 metric tons of food commodities locally, including nutritious foods to support the most vulnerable children, men, and women in Mahama camp,” said Edith Heines, WFP Representative and Country Director in Rwanda.
At the same time, pre-primary schoolchildren, including 2,536 children from the host community, will also receive a daily nutritious mid-morning snack.
“It is our pleasure that our support will improve the food security and nutritional status of refugees in Mahama camp, thereby increasing resilience against COVID-19. Japan appreciates the efforts which have been made by the Rwandan Government and WFP in this regard, and we wish to continue working with them,” said Masahiro Imai, Ambassador of Japan to Rwanda.
Mahama camp is the largest of the five refugee camps in the country. It was established in 2015 following an influx of Burundians fleeing violence and insecurity related to the country’s socio-political crisis. Currently, WFP provides nutrition assistance to 114,000 refugees in Rwanda.
However, despite this new funding, WFP is still not able to provide full rations to meet the minimum food requirements for refugees.
In May 2021, WFP introduced a prioritisation scheme – a system under which refugees are given rations according to their levels of vulnerability. Under this scheme, the most vulnerable refugees receive 92 percent of a full ration and those deemed moderately vulnerable receive 46 percent of a full ration.
This ensures that the most vulnerable refugees are prioritized for general nutrition assistance while more self-reliant refugees are supported to graduate from external support.
During her visit, Ms. Russel is expected to meet and interact with high-level dignitaries including several cabinet ministers to discuss how the country has made huge strides toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
Rwanda has also succeeded in vaccinating over 60% of its total population against COVID-19, and the overall management of the COVID-19 response has been a model in the region, especially by prioritizing the vaccination of teachers to reopen schools.
Ms. Russell will also visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial to pay respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
The Executive Director will also visit a UNICEF supported project in a school in Kayonza district in Eastern Rwanda, where remedial learning classes are playing an important role in helping students make up for identified deficiencies in reading, writing, and math. She will also visit a market based ECD center in Rwamagana.
She will conclude her trip to the continent by visiting the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
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This means the two banks will now operate as a single entity named BPR Bank Rwanda Plc, with KCB Group as the majority shareholder with effect from 1st April 2022.
The combined bank will become the second largest bank in the Rwanda banking industry and gives KCB Group a stronger edge in deepening the ongoing Group strategy to scale regional presence.
Commenting on the development, KCB Group CEO and MD Joshua Oigara said: “BPR as we know it today has a lot of potential. The success of this business will build on our era of undisputed leadership in the market and contribute towards Rwanda’s economic success journey. I am confident that we can re-write Rwanda’s next chapter of development and economic growth.”
“The success of this integration now allows our customers to enjoy exciting retail and wholesale offerings and the wide branch network is an opportunity for us to roll out products and services to MSMEs and the rural community,” he added.
Subsequently, the BPR Bank Rwanda Plc Board has approved a new organization structure for the integrated entity which takes effect immediately subject to governance approvals obtained from the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR). Mr. George Odhiambo, a seasoned banker has been appointed as the Managing Director BPR Bank Rwanda Plc. George was the Managing Director of KCB Bank Rwanda.
“The structure has considered the necessity of smooth post-integration transition with minimal business and human capital disruption whilst retaining key talent resources as well as alignment to the KCB Group Structure for support and governance,” said Mr Oigara.
The new entity has a new trademark and registration operating as BPR Bank Rwanda Plc; a new approved organizational structure; aligned products and services for the market; integration of core banking system; credit process automation and rebranded branches and customer touch points amongst other deliverables.
BPR is a strong retail and SME Bank with the largest branch network in the sector and a long history spanning over 45 years in Rwanda.
The merger will provide current KCB Rwanda’s customers with access to a larger network of branches and agents across the country, while BPR’s customers will benefit from best-in-class digital capability, transactional banking solutions, trade finance expertise and international banking offering from KCB.
Urayeneza, who was the Director General of the Ruhango-based Gitwe Hospital and the legal representative and founder of Gitwe University, was arrested in June 2020, along with several other individuals on accusations of committing genocide crimes and covering them up.
The arrest came after several remains were unearthed from hidden graves in the hospital premises.
Urayeneza had been handed life sentence by Muhanga Intermediary Court over complicity to commit Genocide and concealing evidence but appealed against the verdict.
He denied all charges during trial proceedings.
Urayeneza was acquitted on Thursday 31st March 2022 along with co-accused individuals including Samuel Nyakayiro, Dominique Rutaganda and Elise Nsengiyaremye.
These individuals had been handed eight-year jail term.
The court also convicted a co-accused of complicity in Genocide but acquitted him of the charge of concealing evidences. He was sentenced to 25 years.
Regarding remains of Genocide victims which Urayeneza was accused of hiding, the court considered testimonies of former Bourgmestre Alphonse Habiyambere who revealed that retrieved remains would not be buried before the go ahead from Gitarama Prefecture.
Elise Nsengiyaremye who once served as a leader and President of Gacaca court in Karambo was accused of hiding documents containing evidences gathered during hearings of Urayeneza. The court acquitted him on grounds of lacking enough evidences pinning him.
Leon Munyampundu Alias Kinihira who was found guilty had admitted, during Gacaca court hearings, that he killed a person and dumped him/her in a latrine.
It was revealed that he also owned a gun as per testimonies of witnesses who saw him at road blocks mounted to kill Tutsis. The court handed him 25-year sentence.
Urayeneza and co-accused have been serving their sentence in Muhanga Prison prior to the acquittal.
The delegation including Police officers and other officials from various entities, is headed by the advisor to the Minister of Interior for Ivory Coast,Traore Wodjo Fini.
They are in the country since March 27, learn from RNP’s training, human resource management and logistics.
In Rubavu District, they were received by the Western Regional Police Commander (RPC), Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Edmond Kalisa.
ACP Kalisa briefed them on the security situation and RNP operations in the region to encounter the identified security challenges especially those that are cross-border in nature such as drug trafficking, smuggling and illegal cross-border.
The delegation visited Gisenyi police station and La Corniche One Stop Border Post with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they observed how RNP controls the traffic flow across the borders.
Traore appreciated the discipline that defines RNP officers and how they carry out their duties properly in collaboration with the public.
“We have been pleased by the visit to this region to see how people work together with security organs to ensure public safety. The role of the community in security management is a tremendous step achieved by Rwanda and it is fruitful,” said Traore.
The money was stolen on Monday, March 28, from one Pierre Ndayishimiye, a resident of Gitega Sector, Nyarugenge District.
The Southern Region Police spokesperson, Superintendent of Police (SP) Theobald Kanamugire said that the money was recovered from two suspects thieves identified as Lambert Niyonkuru, 23 and Jean Claude Ntirenganya, 23, who were located and apprehended in a guest house located in Mukindi Village, Kibinja Cell, Busasamana Sector.
“Niyonkuru was Ndayishimiye’s close friend and had managed to acquire his mobile money account PIN.
On Monday as they were together in Maji Village, Kora Cell, Gitega Sector in Nyarugenge District, Niyonkuru borrowed a mobile phone from Ndayishimiye, apparently to make a call. He instead wired Rwf700,000 to Ntirenganya’s mobile account,” SP Kanamugire explained.
The victim did not know that he had been robbed until the following day and Niyonkuru was nowhere to be seen.
“Suspecting that Niyonkuru was connected to the theft, Ntirenganya headed to Nyanza District, where the suspect hails from but he was not at home and he decided to report to the Police in Nyanza.
Police located are arrested Lambert Niyonkuru and Jean Claude Ntirenganya in a guest house in Mukindi village with only with Rwf370,000. They had already spent the rest,” SP Kanamugire added.
The suspects were handed over to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) at Busasamana station for further legal process.
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.
Despite bold strides taken by the Government of Rwanda in women empowerment, Gender Monitoring Office has recently released research findings indicating that women there are still some job opportunities women are not offered.
This research has demonstrated that 9% of the workforce in the mining sector are women while the remaining percentage is represented by men. In transport sector, women constitute 3% while men have 97% representation.
Among others, women occupy 17% of the labour force in construction sector.
In decision-making seats, women constitute 32% and 33% in business where they are mostly running medium and small businesses.
Women representation is not only low in the above mentioned sectors but also in mechanics and others where they are considered to be out of the norm due to societal stereotypes.
When I heard about women mechanics, a sector in which women are few and in which most women dread, I wondered how these beautiful intelligent women mustered the courage to do something which was out of the norm.
I made my way to meet Donata Umutesi and Niyodusenga, two female who are currently mechanics at Pida Deputy Garage located in Kiyovu.
They told me that they grew up with dreams to become mechanics. Families supported them but there were some people who were showed little enthusiasm and constantly discouraged them.
“As I grew up, I always knew I would end up doing a job that people considered to be boyish but I stayed determined even though some people were really discouraging me,” Umutesi said
Niyodusenga said that she also got the support of her family but experienced the same fate with her friends.
“My family really supported me as they could but my friends were the ones to discourage me,” she said
There are people in the Rwandan society that still consider that some jobs are meant for a particular gender but this was intensely opposed by these young girls since they can attest themselves that anything is possible.
They told me it all depends on what you are passionate about and if it is empowering you in some way.
“I was passionate about this, I really did not care of what people would say, even when I was still in school, I would exceed more than others including boys. I always came first,” Umutesi said. “Sometimes appearances are misleading,” she added
Even though they have attained their goals the journey is still long they have faced some challenges and the constant discouraging voices have not made their journey any easier.
“My greatest challenge was people who consistently discouraged me. They would say that I would become a drunkard, prostitute or get pregnant. So many painful things,” Niyodusenga said
Challenges are part of life and so is discouragement but with their perseverance and patience, Umutesi and Niyodusenga never settled to conform to the norm, their hard work paid off since they have seen the fruit of their labor.
Umutesi said, she is able to live off of the work of her hands, that she no longer and will never depend on anyone to satisfy her basic needs.
Niyodusenga revealed that being a mechanic is very profitable than most people think.
As Niyodusenga explained, she had been able to pay school fees for her siblings that her family no longer worries about her financially.
“I can see the profit, I have been able to pay fees for my siblings and my father no longer worries about me.”
They have wished to tell other women they should have the confidence to break the norm and status quo to empower themselves and do something they are proud of.
They visualize that in the next five years to come they would have reached even greater lengths than they have reached now through saving and perseverance throughout their journey.
Jean Eric Niyitegeka, the Managing Director of Pida Deputy Garage said that the girls they have working there had shown the will to learn and will to work.
“We started by giving them an internship to learn, some of them would ask me to come over on the weekends to practice what we had taught them, they showed great will,” he said
Niyitegeka continued to say that when you see a person with such will, humanity, and work ethic you have to help them and teach them all that you know.
He emphasized that women are capable, thus should be confident and pursue their dreams.
“After knowing that you are capable, you must also take the first step with courage and pursue all your ambitions,” he said
“There are things that our society considers a woman cannot do but we have so many references either internationally and locally of what great lengths a woman can go and what they can achieve,” added Niyitegeka.
Kagame received these envoys on Thursday 31st March 2022.
As he received the delegation, Kagame was with other officials including the Minister of Infratsructure, Dr. Ernest Nsabimana; the Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire and Prof. Manasseh Nshuti, the State Minister in charge of East African Community (EAC) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINAFFET).
Rwanda and Tanzania enjoy cordial relations and cooperation in the areas of politics, infrastructure, economy and security.
Tanzania is considered a major development partner where over 70% of Rwanda’s imports and exports are transited through.
In August last year, President Suluhu came to Rwanda during a visit which left more cooperation agreements signed between both countries.
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent Biruta also visited Tanzania recently and held talks with Samia Suluhu.
CORE project was established in 2015, with an aim of significantly increasing household off-farm incomes for women and youth by 2021, in the two areas of interventions of Nyamasheke and Rusizi districts.
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) funded project, which was in its second phase of implementation since 2018 (CORE II), was designed to respond to the challenges of limited access to market information, limited business management skills, limited access to vocational skills, limited support structures for entrepreneurs and limited access to financial services for women and youth.
Speaking at the event held on 29th March 2022 in Rusizi District, World Vision Rwanda’s Country Director,Pauline Okumu revealed that the project has created a huge impact to beneficiaries.
“Through this project, a lot has been achieved that deserves to be celebrated today. We now have over 180 functional off farm women and youth cooperatives /business groups, there’s been a tremendous increase in trade volumes for women in tailoring business and those that deal in honey production, the number of savings groups has highly increased and we also have more women and youth accessing formal and informal financial services, to mention but a few. We attribute all these achievements to the CORE 11 project which was funded by SIDA,” she said.
When the project started, Okumu added, all the beneficiaries were in the first and second category (Ubudehe wealth ranking category) but many of them testify that they have been empowered and qualify for the third category.
She appreciated The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for their generous support through funding this project that transformed thousands of people in Rusizi and Nyamasheke district.
Judith Mukantirenganya from Bugarama Sector attested that World Vision inspired them to work in groups to uplift their wellbeing.
“I was living in a rented house by the time we got married but I have become a smart woman with diversified income. Today, my husband and i live in our own house that we built together. My reputation has improved before my husband and he treats me decently as a life partner,” she said.
Mukantirenganya assured World Vision and SIDA that they will continue working hard to prosper and consolidate gains.
“We also mobilize neighbours and other members of the community to embrace saving culture if they are to spur economic growth,” she noted.
