The deceased include two women and nine men from Kigali city, Huye, Nyanza, Bugesera, Rusizi, Muhanga and Gicumbi districts.
The statement released last night shows that 906 people have caught the virus out of 10863 sample tests while 905 recovered.
Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus case on 14th March 2020. Since then, 59 141 people have been tested positive of whom 41 951 recovered, 16 513 are active cases, 69 are critically ill while 677 have succumbed to the virus.
The majority of new cases were found in Kigali: 182, Musanze: 84, Kamonyi: 78 and Burera: 71.
A total of 406,004 have been vaccinated since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation programme on 5th March 2021.
Sindayigaya, who was arrested on Tuesday, July 20, was at the time going to supply one of his clients in Rugarama village, Police said.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Theobald Kanamugire, the Police spokesperson for the Southern region said that Sindayigaya’s criminal activities were reported by members of the public.
“Residents had informed the Police that Sindayigaya is a drug dealer supplying retailers in Runda Sector. On Tuesday, they also called the Police after suspecting him to be having a new consignment of cannabis, and officers arrested him red-handed with 282 pellets of cannabis,” SP Kanamugire said.
The suspect told the Police that he got the narcotics from unnamed man at Giti k’inyoni in Nyarugenge District.
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Sindayigaya is a recidivist, who has been convicted twice for the same crime. He was first given a two-year sentence, which he served before he was also arrested again in 2016 and handed another three-year sentence, which he completed in 2019.
He has now been handed over to RIB at Runda station for further investigation as the search for his alleged supplier and other members of the ring, continues.
Cannabis is classified among the “very severe narcotic drugs” in Rwanda.
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 for “very severe narcotics,” the offender faces between 20 years and life imprisonment, and a fine of up to Rwf30 million.
Article 52 of the same law states that for felonies, recidivism occurs at any time when a person reoffends after conviction in a final judgment.
Every recidivist receives the maximum penalty provided by law and such penalty may be doubled.
The report on countries using Spyware was first published by The Washington Post and 16 other news organizations early this week indicating that 50,000 phone numbers are vulnerable to Spyware attacks.
Pegasus is a spyware developed by the Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile phones (and other devices) running most versions of iOS and Android.
Rwanda is among countries accused of using the spyware along with Mexico, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Togo, Morocco, India, United States of America (USA), Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
It is said that Rwanda might hack 3500 phone numbers using the technology.
Following the revelations, Ugandan media houses run articles that Rwanda uses Spyware to hack the former Chief of Staff of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), Gen David Muhoozi; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kuteesa; former Prime Minister, Rugunda Ruhakana and the Joseph Ochwet, Uganda’s Director General of External Intelligence.
The statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government’s Spokesperson, Dr. Vincent Biruta sent to IGIHE reacting to these allegations reads that they are rumours meant to misinform Rwandans and tarnish the country’s image.
“Rwanda does not use this software as confirmed in 2019. The country does neither possess such capabilities nor that technology. These are false allegations intended to tarnish Rwanda’s reputation internationally and mislead Rwandan residents,” reads the statement.
Rwanda refuted similar allegations in 2019 after Facebook Inc accused NSO Group from Israel of using Pegasus spyware to hack people’s phones.
At the time, it was said that the country targets opposition figures and human rights activists.
Speaking to the media in 2019, President Paul Kagame explained that Rwanda does intelligence on enemies highlighting that the country can’t spend money to use that technology deemed costly.
The day is observed at a time when different parts of Rwanda namely; Kigali city and seven districts including Burera, Gicumbi, Kamonyi, Musanze, Nyagatare, Rubavu, Rwamagana and Rutsiro are under lockdown effective from Saturday, 17th till 26th July 2021 to contain the spread of COVID-19.
In a message sent via Twitter handle, Kagame reminded Muslims to adhere to containment measures as they celebrate.
“Wishing a joyous Eid Mubarak to all Muslims celebrating Eid Al-Adha in Rwanda and across the world. Let’s continue to stay safe throughout celebrations with family and loved ones as we fight this pandemic together,” he tweeted.
Ahead of the celebration, Rwanda Muslim Community (RMC) urged Muslims to pray from homes while those from districts not put under lockdown were advised to participate in prayers respecting 30% of occupancy.
Eid al-Adha, which in Arabic literally means the “festival of the sacrifice”, commemorates the Koran tale of Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael but God offered him a lamb to sacrifice, ruling that no human life should be sacrificed in the name of God.
The day is marked with the sacrifice of an animal; usually a goat, sheep, or cow, and the distribution of the meat among neighbours, family members and the poor.
Flying to the destination was very much awaited by Rwandan community abroad who express sentiments of gratitude as they narrate seamless experience enjoyed while traveling to their mother land in the comfort of RwandAir’s aircrafts.
IGIHE recently visited Zaventem Airport in Brussels on Saturday 17th July 2021 where Rwandans and foreigners converged awaiting flight with RwandAir.
These include passengers heading to Rwanda, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Bangui in Central African Republic (CAR) and Accra in Ghana.
With nostalgia for their homeland, many Rwandans met at the airport wore branded T-shirts bearing seemingly slogans evoking memory of their native land.
These slogans written in Kinyarwanda include ‘Inkotanyi ni ubuzima’ translated as Inkotanyi is life and ‘Rwanda Nziza’ translated as Beautiful Rwanda among others carrying significant message for Rwandans.
With great joy, simply because they are flying home with RwandAir, they revealed that RwandAir is an icon, flag and symbol of dignity which induces pride to them wherever they are.
Christine Uzamukunda is one of Rwandans living in Europe whom IGIHE met at Zaventem Airport.
The mother, who frequently visits Rwanda every year, has been travelling with RwandAir since the carrier launched flights along the route Kigali-London-Brussels.
Like other Rwandans, Uzamukunda expressed delight as she narrated how comfortable it is to fly onboard RwandAir.
“I am glad to see RwandAir continuing to operate smoothly, Rwandans standing up to show love for Rwanda and support their brand amidst the difficult situation of COVID-19,” she said.
“It induces pride to Rwandans and the country. We are experiencing difficult times where it is uneasy to make flights but you can see how passengers are crowded to fly with RwandAir. This evidences how the flight carrier enriches their experience,” said another passenger, Erneste Musengimana.
Excellent services, warm hospitality among other support received at the airport won his heart to travel always with RwandAir.
Maxime Prevot, a parliamentarian and the Mayor of Namur City in Belgium is among passengers met at the airport awaiting flight to Rwanda to attend the 41st General Assembly of mayors of Francophone cities (AIMF).
Apart from attending the meeting, the mayor visiting Rwanda for the first time observed that it is also an opportunity to learn from the country’s tragic history that led to the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
He plans to visit Kigali Genocide Memorial and the memorial site of 10 Belgian soldiers killed by troops of the then President Juvénal Habyarimana on 7th April 1994.
RwandAir’s Bruxelles-Londres-Kigali route is among destinations with a large number of passengers mainly Africans from the diaspora visiting their home land.
RwandAir is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines and operates one of the youngest state-of-the-art fleets on the African continent.
With a reputation for delivering a premium service to all its customers, RwandAir operates 12 aircraft with an average age of just under six years.
The airline currently offers services to 25 destinations across 21 countries throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Over 195,000 students are sitting for this year’s ordinary level and senior six national exams that kicked off countrywide on Tuesday 20th July 2021.
These include 122,000 from ordinary level, over 50,000 are completing senior six excluding 22,000 finalists from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
The National Examinations and Schools Inspection Authority (NESA) has revealed that 20 of 106 students who tested positive for COVID-19 are from the City of Kigali.
The Director General of NESA, Dr. Bahati Bernard has said that these students are receiving special assistance to sit for exams in designated isolation rooms.
He further stated that transport arrangement for these students from home to examination centers and vice versa has been put in place to ensure they don’t miss exams.
“We made possible efforts to ensure no student misses exams because he/she is COVID-19 positive. We issued guidelines to be respected as we did previously,” said Dr. Bahati.
Apart from COVID-19 positive students, NESA has explained that other candidates are also facilitated to adhere to instituted measures to prevent spread of the virus.
Herbert Diess, the Board Chairman of Volkswagen Group who also enjoyed a test-drive has revealed that the e-tractor being tested is ‘working very well’.
“We have launched the conservation agriculture project Gen.Farm: a sustainable CO2-free hub where farmers can book an e-tractor including a trained driver,” said Diess.
The tractors have batteries powered by solar energy.
With a team of Rwandans, South Africans and Germans, the pilot phase in Rwanda is being implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the University of Rwanda (UR) through its College of Science and Technology.
The tractor can be used for different purposes from soil preparation to harvesting.
Headquartered in Germany, Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of automobiles and commercial vehicles and the largest car maker in Europe.
The latter launched car assembling plant in Rwanda in 2018.
News about death of the girl who recently finished primary leaving exams circulated on Monday 19th July 2021
The Executive Secretary of Kimonyi sector, Epimaque Nteziryayo has explained that her body is to be taken for postmortem.
“It is true that we found the girl hang from a tree with a pullover around the neck and alerted Rwanda Investigation Bureau. The body was taken to Ruhengeri Hospital. I have learnt this morning that the body is expected to be transferred to Kacyiru Hospital for postmortem,” he revealed.
Nteziryayo said that the girl had no clashes with her family and colleagues.
“I have sought information from her family and learnt that she had no disputes with parents and siblings. The school where she has been studying has also told me that the girl had no apparent problems. It is said that she had climbed onto the tree to harvest avocadoes in the morning and was later found hanging. The girl is suspected to have committed suicide using her pullover,” he noted.
Nteziryayo appealed on parents to interact with their children and identify their problems early for counseling.
It is said that the journalist was beaten in Rubona village as he went to cover news in the area.
According to sources, there were different roads clocks in the village controlled by young men with sticks to restrict movements.
Residents who could not reach markets or nearby public water tap invited the journalist to cover the situation for top officials’ attention where it he was assaulted upon arrival on Sunday 18th July 2021.
It is said that the journalist went to a health facility for medical attention where he received medications and returned home but officials from Nyagatare district defended the village leader saying that the journalist was not beaten.
The situation attracted RIB’s intervention which has revealed that Sam Kalisa, the leader of Rubona village and Steven Mutsinzi,25, have been arrested over allegedly assaulting or injuring a journalist working with Flash Radio, Charles Ntirenganya,34, intentionally.
The suspects are detained at Karangazi RIB Post awaiting further investigation before their files are transferred to the Prosecution.
Assaulting or causing injuries intentionally attracts an imprisonment between three to five years and a fine not less than Rwf500,000 but no more than Rwf1 million as per article 121 of the Law No 68/2018 of 30/08/2018.
The deceased include 11 women and 6 men from Kigali city, Rusizi, Gicumbi, Nyanza, Musanze, Bugesera, Karongi and Huye districts.
The statement released last night shows that 913 people have caught the virus out of 8664 sample tests while 1005 recovered.
The majority of new cases were found in Musanze: 152, Kigali: 140 and Kayonza: 91.
Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus case on 14th March 2020. Since then, 58 235 people have been tested positive of whom 41 046 recovered, 16 523 are active cases, 89 are critically ill while 666 have succumbed to the virus.
A total of 406, 004 people have been vaccinated since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation programme on 5th March 2021.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
