The Speaker of the Parliamentary Chamber of Deputies, Donatille Mukabalisa has revealed that hosting the session of continental interparliamentary organization, is a great honour not only for Rwanda’s parliament but also for Rwandans.
“It is our deepest hope that we will certainly have a highly fruitful Session of the APU Executive Committee, which will pave the way for us to discuss with our African counterparts how best to cater to the needs of our citizens and contribute to helping them fulfill their aspirations,” she said.
The Session serving as an ideal platform for delegates to learn from each other, will afford Rwandan Parliamentarians an excellent opportunity to share Rwanda’s best practices in terms of good governance, Rwanda’s innovations and successes in response to COVID-19 and efforts towards accelerating economic recovery and implementing the African Continental Freed Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
In a bid to witness firsthand Rwanda’s history and transformational journey, participants are expected to visit Karama Integrated Development Model Village , the Campaign Against Genocide Museum and Isange One Stop Center.
The Governor of Cabo Delgado Province, Mr Valige Tauabo chaired the event accompanied by Mocimboa Da Praia District Permanent Secretary Mr Saraviva Joao Joaquim as well as the District’s Municipal Council Leader Mr Momba Carlos and other local leaders.
About 200 residents from Cabo Delgado Province mostly from Palma, Mueda and Pemba districts attended the event including Mozambican Defence and Security Forces representatives in the Northern Theatre.
In his remarks, the Governor of Cabo Delgado commended the work done by the Joint Forces in fighting Al Shabaab in Cabo Delgado.
He told participants that he believed that Palma and Mocimboa Da Praia were safe now and that soon displaced people would fully return.
Tauabo also assured the participants of the event that the Mozambique government was doing its best to expedite the process of rehabilitating essential infrastructure such as hospitals and schools. Other basic needs such as water and electricity have already been restored in the city.
The participants were entertained by the various Mozambican cultural groups who mainly travelled from Pemba.
They were delivered by four women from the management of KCB Bank Rwanda Plc on Tuesday 8th March 2022 as the world celebrated the International Women’s Day under the theme ‘breaking the bias’.
Odile Mukayiranga, one of representatives from KCB Bank Rwanda Plc has told IGIHE the talks are aimed at mentoring girls from secondary school and remind them of their role to strive for a bright future.
“We came to talk to them about their prospective careers after graduation. Children study with many expectations. We gave them examples proving how people with similar dreams saw them becoming a reality. There are some of us who went through similar learning conditions but currently serving in different positions. We are here to share experience,” she said.
Mukayiranga highlighted that children need to learn from role models to emulate outstanding deeds.
“The absence of this leads to lack of concentration on courses. We have come to instill competitiveness and the culture of hard work to achieve one’s goals,” Mukayiranga noted.
Students were advised against sticking to dark history but rather remain dedicated to achieve their aspirations for a prosperous future.
They were also asked to stand against seductions leading to sexual intercourse and drug abuse and advised to inform their parents or educators on their problems to get assistance.
During the session, parents were also asked to interact with their children, give them guidance and inspire them to stick to God in whatever they do.
{{Students thankful}}
Students who attended the session have told IGIHE that they acquired essential skills to shape their future and lead purpose-driven life.
“I have learnt a lot, most importantly, the need to develop reading habit to gain knowledge. The talks delivered today have unleashed my fears and instilled confidence that I am short of nothing to achieve great things. Doors are open for ample opportunities. What I need is to unleash fear and be self-confident,” Cynthia Gihozo Muhongayire said.
Ineza Liza Ines revealed that sticking to prayers and striving for purpose-driven life will be guiding her future steps.
“We have been advised to involve God in our plans and remain disciplined,” she said.
Another student, Atete Olga commended the talks highlighting that they are of critical importance in building their confidence as future leaders.
The head teacher of Ecole Notre Dame de la Providence Karubanda, Sister Philomene Nyirahuku thanked KCB Bank Rwanda Plc for coaching these students.
“Such talks are significant to student’s intellectual journey. Knowledge is not only about what we read in books but also can be acquired from shared experiences. That is why we extend out since gratitude to the delegation from KCB Bank Rwanda Plc for constructive talks delivered to female students, as the world celebrates the International Women’s Day,” she said.
Through IGIRE program, KCB Bank Rwanda Plc sponsors the education of dropouts to attend vocational training every year.
Trained as an aeronautical engineer, my life changed when I understood, through the work of researchers and journalists, that my country, France, could have been involved in Rwanda in a Genocide. The importance for me of this question comes, even if it took me long to admit it, from the history of my family : my mother, Charlotte, has been, when she was four years old, caught in 1942 with her own Polish mother, Shana, by the Parisian police, both being taken to the Veld’Hiv. My mother will get out of it, otherwise I would not be here today in front of you, thanks to a French nurse, which was not the case of her mother who was murdered by nazis in Auschwitz. For more than fifteen years, it has been impossible for me to give up the Rwandan affair. I have worked on the evolution of post-genocidal Franco-Rwandan relations on which subject I have written a lot. I have also collected, in Rwanda, the testimonies of lots of people, whatever survivors or former genocidaires, gathering them into in a book, all the witnesses speaking with their faces uncovered so that whoever wants hearing them after me has their name to do so. All of this led Mr Richard Gisagara to consider that my point of view on this matter might interest you.
Before starting my testimony, I would like to express the interest I generally have in listening to the various analyses of Ms Polony. I say this so that you know I have personally nothing against her. Thus, even if her words, which create confusion between victims and killers, deeply shocked me in the context of a genocide, I first imagined she did not know the subject enough (Indeed I still wonder how journalists manage to have something to say on every subjects) and that she could have been manipulated.
But it does not fit with the activism of the magazine Marianne to falsify the History of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi of Rwanda, not only since 2004 but since Ms. Polony was her director in 2018. And we cannot, in my opinion, properly analyze her words without taking this context into account. So when she says that « we had bastards in front of bastards », this sentence should be analyzed in the light of the article she will let Judi Rever write a bit later in Marianne. In this article, Rever will explain that the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi of Rwanda would have been partly executed by the current Rwandan leaders (in majority Tutsi at the time when the Rwandan identity cards still indicated the ethnic mention). An accusation identical to the one that would have consisted in affirming that the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gourion, would have planned and implemented the Shoah in order to become president of a State to be born from the ashes of this genocide ! How to dare such an accusation ! Moreover, when Ms. Polony tells us she had only talked about the leaders, not the population, is she forgetting that Judi Rever is writing that thousands of Tutsi genocidaires would have been directly involved in the genocide of Tutsi ? They are not leaders. Then I wondered what to think of what says Mrs. Polony when she affirms not denying the existence of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi of Rwanda, and when at the same time she denies so crudely its mechanism. That is why I started suspecting it could be a strategy.
A strategy that is far from new. Since it was no longer possible to deny the existence of this crime against humanity (once it has been recognized by the ICTR [International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda] and before its denial was punished by the french law of 2017), deniers would not deny explicitly its existence anymore, but would still follow the idea of the former genocide communication plan consisting in preventing us from seeing it clearly. It is the case of Védrine’s attempts to explain that this genocide was not planned but was only the result of the gradual transformation of spontaneous popular anger. It is the case of Villepin’s attempts to explain that the genocide against the Tutsi would have come with another genocide against the Hutu, thus recycling the old thesis of inter-ethnic conflict. This is the case of the attempts of the magazine Marianne, then directed by Ms. Polony when this media tries, through the article of Judi Rever, to explain that this genocide would have been partly executed by the current leaders of Rwanda.
The fact that Ms Polony chose to publish such an article clarifies, at least in my eyes, the words she pronounced a bit earlier on France Inter radio. Because publishing this article makes her pursuing the strategy of Marianne which will have, for fifteen years, vainly tried to falsify the History of this genocide. I insist on this « vainly » and will explain it because this is the heart of my point. I take this opportunity to say I do not understand why we are still listening, on this subject, to the theories of the journalists of this media after their intention to distort history has been publicly proved, what I am about to remind us. And if I consider of course that Mrs Polony is not responsible for Marianne’s communication on this subject before she became her director, her decisions, now that she is at the head of this media, make her, in my eyes, endorse this past. Consequently, her words pronounced on France Inter cannot be considered as having for a moment exceeded her thought, but as totally assumed in that they are perfectly coherent with a constant communication strategy for fifteen years.
Yes, fifteen years is the time separating Judi Rever’s article from another one also published by Marianne, both following exactly the same line of communication according to which the Genocide against the Tutsi would have been planned and executed by the RPF [Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebellion movement mostly composed of Tutsi who returned to Rwanda through a guerrilla war launched on October 1, 1990]. On April 12, 2004, Marianne prepared us to read the testimony of a man named Ruzibiza by writing that « Paul Kagame believed that only an apocalyptic solution could lead him to take power. » By evoking « damning documents », Marianne therefore prepared the public to adopt the thesis of the one who would soon become french Judge Bruguière’s « key witness » in the investigation relating to the attack against Rwandan President Habyarimana plane, attack which was part of the genocidal plan in that it was the first event of a sequence of events triggered one after the other : according to this thesis, Kagame would have been the organizer of this plane attack. In the testimony that Marianne made available as an exclusive on her website, Ruzibiza claimed that « the bodies buried in the mass graves were not only those of Tutsi », made us appear the genocidal Interahamwe militias as militias of self-defense, mentioned « an authorization (to massacre) coming from a single man: Kagame » that he compared to Hitler. Among others.
Four years later, in November 2008, Ruzibiza withdrawn from his testimony by publicly admitting that everything he had written and said so far about the plane attack was false. Therefore the whole structure of Judge Bruguière’s investigation collapsed, making collapse all those who had participated in promoting this thesis : Marianne, Pierre Péan, Claudine Vidal and André Guichaoua, who respectively signed the preface and the postscript of Ruzibiza’s book in which he wrote the lies he had already written in his first report published by Marianne, a book which they presented to Science-po thank’s with the help of Philip Reynjtens and Rony Brauman.
Two years later, Ruzibiza died and, the day after his death, on September 23, 2010, Marianne published a new document : the minutes of a hearing held three months earlier by Ruzibiza, and in which he was suddenly returned to his first accusations against the RPF. But in this document, he denied that he had eyewitnessed the plane attack, what he had affirmed both in his report and in his book : this time, he said to have been some one hundred kilometers from the place of the attack ! The title of Marianne’s article in which the content of this document was published stated that « before dying, he explained that he had been threatened by Kagame’s men. » Why the magazine Marianne waited three months until he died to publish this document ? And why Marianne published it the day after his death ?
Reminding this affair allows us to make appear the intentions of those who spread these lies. Because if this kind of accusations can create some illusion when they are launched, which is the case during each commemoration of this genocide when these accusations aimed at diverting us from the accusations against French leaders, they can not resist at the patina of time. And I do not see how Mrs. Polony, at the time when she expressed herself on France Inter radio, could ignore that the intention of Marianne to lie on this subject had been publicly proved. And let’s not forget she was working for Marianne from 2002 to 2009. So we have to consider her words pronounced on France Inter in the light of her determination to keep on promoting a thesis that I consider to be the worst way to deny this genocide.
As a conclusion, I would like to say that accusing the victims of a genocide to have somehow participated in their own extermination is inflicting them much worse than the denial of the genocide they have been the target of. Considering that the french law against genocide denial would be a « yes or no game » is not only playing with this law but is also insulting the intelligence of the judges. Making the victims of a genocide guilty of the genocide they suffered from is the worst way to deny a genocide. Because what is a crime but suicide when the killer is the victim ?And don’t tell it’s not the same. According to the Polony/Rever tandem, a Tutsi from the RPF would have killed his Tutsi blood brother who remained in the country? A nephew killed his uncle? But from what sick mind have such a theory come from ? And how can we spread it?
What I fear above all is that, without any sanction, other media will be offered a precedent enabling them to establish a bit more, in public opinion, these thesis of inversion of victims and killers. That would even reinforce the slogan which was the leitmotif of the Genocide against the Tutsi of Rwanda in 1994. We remember that RTLM called on the Hutu population to kill the Tutsi before they kill them themselves, according to an alleged plan of Tutsi to do so. Have we already forgotten the Protocols of the Elders of Zion ? And what about remembering of its use within the exhibition « The Jew and France » in 1941 which aimed at making Parisians believe that the Jews had a plan to dominate the world ? This exhibition lasted until January 1942, only a few months before the Veld’Hiv roundup, in a Paris whose inhabitants had been previously brainwashed in order to facilitate it. What we are judging today is the use of this type of inversion for deadly purposes. I dream that this trial will help put a stop to these mirror accusations which, one day or another, will lead us to new exterminations.
{{Serge Farnel
Web site of Serge Farnel’s inquiry : [www.bisesero.net/en->https://www.bisesero.net/en/]
Serge Farnel is an aeronautical engineer, professor, journalist and writer. His writings explore novel, poetry, theater, investigative journalism as well as scientific pedagogy.}}
In the latest operations conducted on Monday, March 7, Police apprehended two major drug dealers in Rulindo and Nyabihu districts with combined 12kgs and 115 pellets of cannabis.
Vestine Iradukunda, 27, was apprehended at about 1pm, in Buramba Village, Cyohoha Cell, Base Sector, Rulindo District with a bundle containing 12kgs of cannabis
Jean Pierre Hakizimana alias Kazungu, 28, on the other hand, was arrested at about 7pm, in Bugarama Village, Bukinanyana Cell, Jenda Sector of Nyabihu District with 115 pellets of cannabis.
The Northern region Political and Civic Education Officer (RPCEO), Superintendent of Police (SP) Alex Ndayisenga, said that Iradukunda was arrested due to information provided by local residents.
“Police received credible information that Iradukunda and her husband are major drug dealers, who sneak cannabis into Rwanda from Uganda through porous borders. An operation was conducted at their home where officers searched and found a sack containing 12kgs of cannabis. Iradukunda was arrested but his husband managed to flee,” said SP Ndayisenga.
Meanwhile, Jean Pierre Hakizimana was arrested red-handed in Bukinanyana with 115 pellets of cannabis.
According to SP Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, Hakizimana was at the time found in possession of 100 pellets, which he was going to supply a client in Bukinanyana Cell.
“Police also searched his house, where other 15 pellets were recovered. We commend the role of the public in identifying and arresting drug dealers,” said SP Karekezi.
The suspect and exhibits were handed over to RIB at Bushoki and Jenda stations, respectively, for further investigation while the search for members of the rings is still underway.
Article 3 of the Ministerial order nº 001/moh/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorisation classifies cannabis in the category of “very severe narcotics.”
Article 263 of the law No. 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offences and penalties in general states that any person who, unlawfully produces, transforms, transports, stores, gives to another or who sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, commits an offence.
In case of “very severe narcotic drugs” the offender is liable to between 20 years and life imprisonment and a fine of between Rwf20 million and Rwf30 million.
President Kagame has via his Twitter handle sent best wishes to women in Rwanda and beyond as they celebrated the IWD 2022 on 8th March.
“Today, we celebrate the resilience of Rwandan women who have been at the center of Rwanda’s transformation journey,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
From the beginning, the Head of State said, RPF has walked the talk by creating an environment that enabled women to take their rightful place.
“Gender equality has always been central to the politics of RPF. The progress we see in Rwanda today is the result of this commitment to inclusivity,” he noted.
Equality is a right not a favour. We must challenge ourselves to do even more and better to ensure that the next generations of our daughters and granddaughters inherit a nation where their aspirations have no limits,” Kagame added.
Rwanda has earned international reputation for its efforts to empower women and promote gender equality.
The success was a result of the country’s commitment to inclusivity, which among other things, saw the country giving women the floor in decision making positions.
For instance, women have 61 % and 50% representation respectively in Rwanda’s parliament and cabinet.
MTN Rwanda delivered a solid financial performance with overall service revenue growing by 24.1% to Rwf184.9 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of Rwf89.7 billion; a 20.4% increase. The company’s key revenue stream, voice services, grew by 12.1%, while data and enterprise revenues registered growth of 18.9% and 13.1% respectively.
Mark Nkurunziza, MTN Rwanda Chief Finance Officer, commented on the results saying: “The financial performance for the year 2021 was quite strong. The year-on-year growth can be attributed to an increase in customer base, ongoing network improvement efforts and our acceleration of strategic business streams such as Mobile Money. Moreover, profit after tax increased by 10.9% and we delivered a healthy free cash flow of Rwf57.0 billion (up 7.9%) with increased capital expenditure as we continued to invest in the network to expand our coverage and capacity. Overall, MTN Rwanda’s financial performance was pleasing.”
This audited financial performance represents a consolidated view of MTN Rwanda and its subsidiary company, Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd (MMRL). Following the incorporation and licensing of the wholly owned subsidiary, MMRL, the structural and operational separation of the fintech business is progressing well. The wholly owned subsidiary delivered solid year on year revenue growth of 65.2% from their leading service, Mobile Money.
Looking ahead to 2022, the focus will remain on continued investment in the network to push toward our objective of reaching population coverage of 100%, provide digital and fintech services to our customers and achieve target of low-to-mid teen percentage service revenue growth in the mid-term.
Commenting on the annual results Mitwa Ng’ambi, MTN Rwanda Chief Executive Officer said: “We are encouraged by these results, driven by the resilience of the business, the hard work of our people across the country as well as the continued support from our board of directors and stakeholders. We thank our customers for their support and trust in us and remain committed to living up to our belief that everybody deserves the benefits of a modern connected life”.
In creating shared value, on 7th March 2022 MTN Rwanda’s Board of Directors approved, for recommendation to the Shareholders at this year’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, a total dividend at Rwf4.98/share, totalling approximately Rwf 6.7 billion, which represents 30% of the Profit After Tax (PAT) for 2021. This was done in line with the Dividend policy disclosure provided last year, where shareholders were informed that the Company would consider a dividend payout of 30% of PAT in 2022, due to the license fee payments that the company would need to conclude this year. The Company continues to target minimum of 50.0% of PAT in subsequent years, over the medium term.
Subject to the approval of Shareholders, the dividend payment will be made by 30 June 2022 to all shareholders on the share register by 9 June 2022.
In terms of ESG, MTN Rwanda kicked off its first ever initiative focusing on people with disabilities. The Company committed to actively participate in building sustainable and inclusive societies with the launch of “Twese” (“All of us”) initiative in which a series of interventions were made to make its products and services more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. Furthermore, MTN Rwanda launched MTN Project Zero, a commitment to achieve zero carbon emissions by end of 2040, with the exchange of 15% of its fleet with hybrid electric cars, as a start.
Ng’ambi concluded by saying: “We have taken a step-change in our approach to ESG, which is a strategic priority highlighting our commitment to being a key partner to the communities we serve. In 2021 we were able to lay the foundational work for two of our proudest initiatives. Through these interventions, we are determined to ensure that no-one is left behind with our Twese initiative.
We are also committed to playing our part towards a more sustainable earth through MTN Project Zero. We have witnessed the impact that climate change is having here in Rwanda and by mitigating our carbon emissions, among other initiatives to come, not only are we contributing to the country’s agenda to ease these effects, but we are also joining the rest of the world in creating a more sustainable future.”
{{About MTN Rwandacell Plc}}
MTN Rwandacell Plc (MTN Rwanda) is the market leader in mobile telecommunications in Rwanda. Since 1998, we have continuously invested in expanding and modernising our network and are the country’s No 1 network. MTN Rwanda offers various services to subscribers, including innovative propositions such as personalised voice and data offers with MTN Irekure. The company is also the front runner in mobile financial services in Rwanda with Mobile Money, MoMoPay and MoKash Loans and Savings.
This year’s Women Day is celebrated under the theme centered around ‘breaking the bias’ calling upon the general public to be consciously aware of gender inequality and concert efforts to call it out.
It is against this background that a Strategic Leadership and Business Consulting Firm operating in Rwanda, Gate Consultancy Group, has organized a training session for female university students to address different biases centered on gender stereotypes.
Recently, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) revealed that the the private sector has not been playing active role in women empowerment conveniently.
It is therefore of crucial significance to see the commitment of a private company such as Gate Consultancy Group whose vision is to equip people with leadership skills and practical tools to help them grow and impact their workspaces and communities.
Salma-Habib Nkusi, the Chief Executive Officer of Gate Consultancy has said that the main objective of the training is to remind these young university women that they are capable, need confidence to benefit from available opportunities and receive support from different initiatives.
“These young students should know that they are not alone, that they have chance to learn from successful women who went through similar living conditions,” she said.
Nkusi revealed that university is among advanced stages of education where students need to be familiar with different realities and learn from others’ experiences, complementing what they acquired in class.
“There are things that are not acquired from school like personal development. We targeted university students so as to connect them to successful people who can assist them.”
The event also featured panel discussions with different speakers including Denise Munyana, the co-founder of Right Seat, a Human resource consulting firm. She urged them to break the bias and change their mindsets.
“Girls are capable. That is why you must seek and fight for what you want to achieve. Challenges will always be there, but it is up to you to confront them from a different perspective to achieve envisaged goals,” she said.
The Country Head of the Mastercard Foundation in Rwanda, Rica Rwigamba who was also among panelists, took the opportunity to tell the girls that the journey had many challenges and advised them to shun fear and learn from experience.
“People always make mistakes, you cannot be 100% perfect. What is most important is to learn from them and remain committed to reach your destination,” she said.
Some of the students attending the training thanked the organizers of the event noting that they learnt a lot from the speakers.
Ange Umuhire, a student in Accounting at the University of Rwanda-College of Business and Economics (CBE), said that the training is greatly important for university students to learn new realities.
“As people who are still pursuing University studies, we learn a lot but there are still things out there we need to learn . This kind of training encourages us to be fearless and learn,” she said
Umuhire continued to say that the greatest lesson from the training is about how to develop self-confidence to meet one’s goals.
Ntua Endia, a Cameroonian student in International Business and Trade at the African Leadership University who attended the training session disclosed that gender equality is apparent in both Rwanda and her country.
“Many women have stepped up and gone out there to make an impact in our society, some are even in decision making seats. The training reminded me that as women, there are many things we can achieve and we can go to even greater heights than we think,” she said.
She went on to say there are still some things the government of Rwanda must do but that women themselves have to play a greater role.
Endia also advised women in Rwanda to take advantage of opportunities made available for them.
“The Government is playing a big role in women empowerment but all these efforts would be in vain if women do not seize the opportunity,” she noted.
Umaro arrived in Rwanda in the morning of Monday 7th March for three-day working visit. Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, he was welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent Biruta before his reception at Urugwiro Village.
After hosting Umaru, the two Heads of State sat down for a tête-â-tête before holding bilateral talks with officials from both delegations. They also witnessed the signing of agreements focused on strengthening key areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The memoranda of understanding were signed in the fields of economic and trade cooperation, education, tourism, business events and conservation.
As he toured the Kigali Special Economic Zone on Tuesday 8th March 2022, Umaro visited Carnegie Mellon University, African Improved Foods and Volkswagen, a Germany firm assembling cars in Rwanda.
Stephanie Nyombayire, the Press Secretary at the Office of the President has said that the zone was set up to facilitate commerce and trading between Rwanda and other countries where Guinea Bissau ‘could be one of them’.
“All of these are companies that were able to set up in Rwanda are looking to have partnerships with (Guinea) whether it is in exporting the cars that are locally manufactured, whether it is in bringing students from Guinea Bissau to study on the campus here, or in exporting some of the foods that Africa Improved Foods produces here,” Nyombayire told the media.
She explained that there are ongoing talks that might lead to the signing of a Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Rwanda and Guinea Bissau.
The child is none else than Sandra Umuhoza Isimbi. Unlike other passengers, the 15-year old primary school pupil was recently going to school when she saw a baby abandoned in a bush. With her deep affection for humans, Umuhoza did not wait for others’ intervention but made possible efforts on her own to save the baby. She picked the baby, wrapped him in her pullover and took him to school. Unfortunately, the baby died few days later.
Umuhoza studies at Groupe Scolaire Karembure in Gahanga sector of Kicukiro district. She was raised by one biological parent (her mother) but did not discourage her from virtues of generosity.
As Umuhoza headed to school, three days before the celebration of International women’s Day, she met with a colleague who informed her that ‘there is a small animal that might be alive or dead in the surroundings’.
Umuhoza rushed to the place and saw what seemed to be baby’s legs. She removed the sack covering the upper part of the body and found an abandoned baby who weeped soon as Umuhoza touched him.
She wrapped him in her pullover and took the baby to school where he alerted the management.
That is when her picture was taken and attracted public attention particularly among social media users. Umuhoza was deservingly commended for her bravery to save the baby’s life.
Following the revelations, Claudette Irere, the Minister of State in charge of ICT and Technical Vocational Education and Training used her Twitter handle to praise Umuhoza as ‘a hero’.
The picture also touched many more social media users who described Umuhoza as a human with ‘fresh soul’, wished her blessing from God and blamed women that abandon babies.
IGIHE has visited Isimbi at her school. As a first year pupil, Umuhoza has a great zeal for outstanding performance.
She explained that taking the baby to school was her first option for emergency assistance.
As Umuhoza narrates, she was disappointed to see a woman passing by the abandoned baby without halting.
“Before locating the baby, a woman passed by saying that a child was dumped nearby. She however, continued her journey,” she said.
Arriving at school, she provided information to the school’s management which also alerted Police.
“The Sister who also serves as the head teacher gave me a seat awaiting Police and emergency assistance. The baby was taken to Masaka Hospital but I kept following up on his situation. I was initially told that the baby is healthy except shortness of breath. Unfortunately, I later heard that the baby was no longer alive,” she revealed.
Umuhoza says that she was shocked by the demise of the baby she had tried to save.
Umuhoza’s parents are alive but live separately. The young daughter is not fully aware of reasons for estranged relations but suspects that the father might have given up on parenting duties.
She lives with her cousin to reduce long walks it would take her to reach the school. Umuhoza requested support from kind people to help her mother (who is in the first Ubudehe social-economic category) find a shelter.
She also demanded support to pursue education up to the university because her family is hard up.
Umuhoza has urged mothers against abandoning babies reminding them to always think of the value of human being before committing such a crime.
She advised age mates to uphold the virtue of kindness and stay strong as they confront challenging situations.
Hassine Ingabire, the foster mother has said that Umuhoza is a courageous child with great ambitions who never gives up without making possible efforts.
Sister Edith Uwimbabazi, the head teacher of Groupe Scolaire Karembure has told IGIHE that the baby was male and thanked Umuhoza for daring to pick a bleeding baby.
