The laptops were handed over on Tuesday 4th January 2022 to all cells executive secretaries of Bugesera district during an event graced by the Governor of Eastern Province, Emmanuel Gasana.
After receiving laptops, the grass root leaders revealed that the lack of laptops would delay or hamper services like civil registration, classification of residents in Ubudehe social class categories among others.
“Received laptop will help me place residents in social classes and provide work report on time,” said Leatitie Murebwanayo, the executive secretary of Kabeza cell in Rilima sector.
The executive secretary of Cyintambwe cell located in Rweru sector, Jean Marie Vianney Hategekimana said that received laptop will help improve service delivery and commended President of the Republic for his visionary leadership.
The Governor of Eastern Province, Emmanuel Gasana has underscored that these laptops will help beneficiaries to save documents electronically.
“The world is going digital that we need to adapt to emerging technologies to improve services. These laptops will be helpful to efficiently keep identification related data electronically and enhance services in daily assignments,” he said.
These laptops will be mainly used in civil registration and finalization of court cases electronically among others.
Sinamenye was stabbed to death on Saturday 1st January 2022 in Taba village, Bubangu cell of Murambi sector in Rulindo district.
Preliminary investigation identified Dusanganywinema as the prime suspect who has been at large since the crime was committed.
Two days after a manhunt was launched against him, Dusanganywinema who worked as a griller was arrested in Kamatamu cell of Jabana sector in Gasabo district.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Alex Ndayisenga, the Political and Civic Education Officer in Northern Province has thanked relevant authorities involved in the process and members of the general public who provided information that led the arrest.
“It is true that the man has been arrested in collaboration with relevant security organs including Police, Rwanda Investigation Bureau [RIB] and citizens who provided tip off leading to his arrest. He has been handed over to RIB for further legal process,” he said.
CIP Ndayisenga has urged residents to abide by laws and stand against criminal acts that could result into similar incidents.
The Law Nº68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offences and penalties in its article 107 stipulates that anyone killing a person intentionally commits a crime. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to life imprisonment.
The article 111 of the same Law stipulates that killing a person unintentionally attracts between six months and two-year jail term and a fine between Rwf500,000 and Rwf2 million.
They include drivers and motorcyclists, who were driving or riding under the influence of alcohol.
Bizumuremyi Pierre Celestin, one of the drivers paraded, admitted that he had taken alcohol before driving and advised other drivers to respect traffic regulations.
“I was arrested on Friday, at about 9:30 pm, I was driving from work going back home before the curfew starts, but I had taken alcohol,” said Bizumuremyi.
To Vianney Magorane, who tested 0.91 millilitres of blood alcohol content, he said that he had taken a bottle of beer before he was arrested driving at about 9pm.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rene Irere, the spokesperson for Traffic and Road Safety (TRS) Department, said that Police has heightened operations targeting drunk driving.
“Driving under influence of alcohol is among the major causes of accidents which cannot be tolerated. Drivers and motorcyclists were sensitized many times to avoid driving when they drink. Consequently, Police scaled-up operations against those who keep deaf ear,” said SSP Irere.
SSP Irere called upon motorists to put their lives first to avoid driving when they drink.
They were seized in separate Rwanda National Police (RNP) operations in partnership with local leaders and residents, conducted in the last four months.
The psychotropic drinks valued at over Frw2 million include Gubwa neza, Bonne chance, Ubuzima ntabwo, Imanzi, Gikundiro Tangawizi and Isano Ginger Drink.
The drinks were produced without approval from Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) and used prohibited and harmful ingredients.
Article 5 of the Ministerial order Nº 001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorisation classifies alcoholic drinks produced without complying with standards and other laws; on the list of simple narcotic drugs.
Article 263 of law No. 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offenses 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.
Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years and not more than ten years and a fine of not less than Rwf5 million and less than Rwf10 million in regard to “simple narcotics.”
The public destruction exercise was held in BwizaVillage, Nyabikokora Cell of Kirehe Sector after a communal work commonly known as ‘Umuganda’ conducted in partnership with members of Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Community Policing (RYVCP) from Kirehe and Kigina sectors.
Over 7,000 trees were planted around Kirehe District headquarters as part of the national environmental protection programme.
Bruno Rangira, the Mayor for Kirehe District embarked on the ill-effects of outlawed and substandard drinks to health and security.
He urged the residents to support security efforts against illegal production sites and bars selling illicit drinks.
“You have heard of the ill-effects of drinking illicit brew, including loss of lives. Everyone has the responsibility to fight these drinks by reporting producers and bars selling them,” said Mayor Rangira.
The District Police Commander (DPC) for Kirehe, Superintendent of Police (SP) Jean Berchmas Dusengimana, urged the public to refrain from drinking such harmful drinks and report.
“The illicit drinks destroyed today were seized in separate operations conducted within four months from 15 dealers,” the DPC said.
The DPC thanked members of youth volunteers for their participation in security and development activities, including raising awareness and fighting the spread of Covid-19.
Following the mining accident, the owner of the mining site was immediately arrested over running operations without licensing.
Kamonyi district vice mayor for economic affairs, Uzziel Niyongira has told IGIHE that the three people injured are receiving medical treatment at Remera Rukoma Hospital.
“The three people injured in the accident are receiving treatment at Remera Rukoma Hospital while the deceased has been taken to district hospital,” he said.
Niyongira further explained that the district has launched crackdown on mining sites operating without license to prevent similar health risks.
The men were convicted of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi and had completed their sentences or were acquitted.
The ex-convicts are Protais Zigiranyirazo, Francois Nzuwonemeye, Innocent Sagahutu, Alphonse Nteziryayo, Tharcisse Muvunyi, André Ntagerura, Anatole Nsengiyumva and Prosper Mugiraneza.
Niger’s government had announced the expulsions towards the end of December 2021, one month after the Rwandans were welcomed in Niamey, the capital of Niger citing “diplomatic reasons”.
Following the decision, a judge with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Friday ordered Niger “stay” the removals as they may be in violation of earlier UN agreements.
Speaking to AFP on Monday, a UN spokesperson in New York confirmed the official publication of the court order.
Of the eight people in the group, four were convicted of crimes during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and have served their sentences.
The other four were acquitted by the ICTR.
Zigiranyirazo is the brother-in-law of former President Juvenal Habyarimana and was a very influential member of ‘Akazu’ group. He was acquitted in 2009.
Nzuwonemeye and Sagahutu were the commander and second-In-command of Reconnaissance Battalion respectively, were both accused of genocide charges and crime against humanity including the murder of the then Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. Nzuwonemeye was acquitted while Sagahutu’s sentence was downgraded from 20 to 15 years.
Nteziryayo, the former Prefect of Butare was accused of training, and arming the militia, and mobilizing the population in his prefecture to murder the Tutsi. His sentence was as well reduced to 25 years in prison after an appeal.
Muvunyi, in 2010, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide and other inhumane acts.
Ntagerura, the former transport minister, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity was also acquitted in 2004.
Nsengiyumva, the former army commander in Gisenyi in April 1994, whose sentence was downgraded to 15 years in 2011 when he was 61 years old, walked out freely as deemed to have already served the necessary time in prison.
Prosper Mugiraneza, ex-public service minister, was initially convicted for conspiracy to commit genocide and given a 30-year sentence until he was acquitted in 2013.
Towards the end of December 2021, Rwanda announced that it had vaccinated 41% of its population against COVID-19 surpassing the 40% target set by WHO.
Rwanda also surpassed the target set by WHO to fully vaccinate the 10% of all countries’ population by September last year. At the time, Rwanda had reached 13% of vaccination coverage.
Figures from WHO show that 8 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since inoculation programs began globally. Of these vaccine doses, only 3% were delivered to Africa which slowed down the vaccination pace on the continent.
So far, over 102 million Africans corresponding to 8% have been fully vaccinated while 70% of developed countries have vaccinated 60% of their population.
As of today, Rwanda has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 7,707,304 people. Among others, a total of 5,504,040 have been fully vaccinated while 196,636 received the third dose (booster dose) since the countrywide inoculation program began on 5th March 2021.
The Ministry of Health says that Rwanda has enough supply that will be used to administer the second and booster dose of COVID-19 while more doses are expected to be delivered gradually in the near future.
{{Secret behind speedy vaccination drive}}
In consideration of the aforementioned statistics, it is evident that Rwanda is among countries on the right track to meet global vaccination targets despite the fact that wealthy countries have been hoarding vaccines.
Rwanda’s commendable pace in rolling out vaccines is among topics discussed during a televised talk show aired on Sunday which revolved around the status of the pandemic.
As he appeared in the RTV talk show, Dr. Hassan Sibomana, the Head of Vaccination Program unit at Rwanda Biomedical center (RBC) said that Rwanda was initially among other countries worried over insufficiency of vaccines that would stall inoculation efforts.
He stressed that having the country securing enough vaccines resulted from different factors including political will.
“It is a very important aspect because there are requirements that should be met to roll out the inoculation program. These include the availability of vaccine doses. We are lucky enough to have visionary leadership very much concerned about the situation starting with President of the Republic who owned the issue. Considering the severity of the pandemic, it was apparent that the vaccine was the only solution to lean on,” he said.
Apart from vaccine doses received through bilateral agreements, Dr. Sibomana revealed that Rwanda also bought four million doses.
“A lot has been done. The vaccines were secured through discussions with different partners, commendable relations with wealthy nations and direct purchase. The country had purchased at least four million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of year. This has enabled us to secure a large number of vaccine doses,’’ he said.
{{70 percent target to be hit before June}}
Apart from the country’s political will; Dr. Rosette Nahimana in charge of Expanded Program on Immunization at WHO in Rwanda revealed that the country’s speedy vaccination efforts were driven by unique approach to roll out mass vaccination program countrywide.
As she explained, efficient management of vaccine doses also won donors’ trust and motivated them to continue supporting Rwanda’s vaccination drive.
“This also positioned Rwanda among first countries receiving a large number of vaccine doses because the country was committed to have them administered efficiently in the right time. So, Rwanda proved its prowess to administer vaccine doses to a large number of its population in a short time span,” she said.
“This motivated COVAX facility to distribute as many as possible vaccine doses to Rwanda. We are hopeful that all vaccines will be utilized efficiently in due course,” Dr. Nahimana added.
In May 2021, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, set the global target of 10% of the populations of all countries to be inoculated by the end of September; 40% by the end of December; and 70% by mid-2022.
Dr. Sibomana has said that the current situation is promising that Rwanda will have vaccinated 70% of its population before June 2022.
The incident took place on Monday 3rd January 2022 around 13:30.
Destroyed houses are from Rebero village, Rusura cell of Busasamana sector in Rubavu district, Western Province.
The Executive Secretary of Busasamana sector, Etienne Mvano told IGIHE by press time, that the value of damages was still being assessed as it was still raining.
“The hailstorm occasioned disasters and blew off the roofing of four classes at Rebero Primary School leaving six residents who sought shelter at the school injured as the roof fell on them,” he said.
Injured residents have been taken to Busasamana Health Center for medical attention.
Located in the neighborhood of DRC plain, Nyirangongo and Karisimbi volcanoes; Bugeshi, Busasamana and Cyanzarwe sectors in Rubavu district often experience strong wind known as ‘Isata’.
The incident took place in the night of Sunday 2nd January 2022 in Miyange village, Kayonza cell of Mukarange sector.
The executive secretary of Mukarange sector, Longin Gatanazi has told IGIHE that the woman lived separately with her husband for one week and stabbed him as she returned home.
“The spouses have been experiencing strained relationship that the woman had abandoned the husband a week ago. She returned home yesterday and stabbed her husband leaving serious injuries below the ear. Following the incident, residents rushed to take the husband to nearby Mukarange Health Center which also transferred him to Gahini Hospital because he was in critical condition,” he said.
Gatanazi revealed that the spouses were among households mired in disputes that local leaders visited them last week and advised them to live separately.
However, Gatanazi explained, the woman did not respect the advice that she returned home and stabbed the husband with a machete.
He appealed on residents to avoid disputes, self-administered justice and seek assistance from local leaders to avoid similar incidents.
The spouses were not legally married but had sired two children together. The woman has been handed over to Mukarange RIB Post for further legal process.
They are Valens Nduwayezu, 35, and Jean Bosco Urimubenshi, 33, who were arrested red-handed in a cassiterite concession located in Ntarama, Cyugaro Cell, Rugunga Village.
At the time, they were found in possession of 1kg of cassiterite, according to the Eastern region Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamduni Twizeyimana.
“The two illegal miners were reported by security guards at the concession at about 11am,” said CIP Twizeyimana.
The spokesperson thanked the guards for reporting the illegal mining acts and urged the public to continue sharing information on anyone involved in unlawful mineral related practices which sometimes result into loss of lives.
The suspects were handed over to RIB at Ntarama station for further legal process.
Article 54 of the law N° 58/2018 of 13/08/2018 on mining and quarry operations, states that; any person, who undertakes mineral or quarry exploration, exploitation, processing or trading without a licence, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of between two and six months and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million and not more than Rwf5 million or only one of these penalties.
The court also orders confiscation of any seized minerals or quarry in storage, trading or processing without a license.
