Experts say skin products containing hydroquinone and a mixture of lotions known as “Mukorogo” increase the risk of getting skin cancer once applied.
The Southern Region Police Commander (RPC), ACP Jean Claude Kajeguhakwa thanked residents for cooperating with them. “When we started confiscating skin bleaching products, sellers adopted new ways of selling them at home but we thank those who helped us, giving us reports on such people.”
ACP Kajeguhakwa added that the change in looks also jeopardizes security as the identity of individuals tends to change from the original physical appearance.
In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, Bishop Rucyahana said that those who had a role in the Genocide and those who were not targets know a lot more on the preparation and the execution of the genocide than the survivors.
The statement raised controversy among people as some said that testimonies on what happened during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi given by other people that survivors can bring about trauma to survivors instead of healing them.
“It was understood by some people as if I said that those who had a role in genocide should give testimonies which is not the case. There are those who saw Tutsi being killed and where their bodies were buried. Those should give testimonies so that the victims’ bodies are exhumed and given decent burial, accelerating the healing process,” Bishop Rucyahana said.
“It hurts survivors more when they do not know where the bodies of their family members were buried. But if the one who knows where it was buried disclosed the information, survivors would hurt and cry, bury their people in respect and then time would come where they would heal,” Rucyahana explained.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana said Rucyahana’s opinion is valid and understandable.
However, he said that if people who are not survivors told testimonies in genocide commemoration days, it could cause trauma among many survivors.
“We agree that those who had a role in genocide and those who saw it happen, including those that were not targeted, have complete information on the genocide because survivors were hiding and they (survivors) could see less,” Bizimana said.
“The one who attended the killing meetings, the one who was where weapons were distributed and that one that was present where the militia trainings were held have more complete information,” he added.
Bizimana admitted that those who had a role in the genocide should be given time to share what they know about it but not in days set for commemorating the genocide.
“We think that they [perpetrators] should give testimonies but it would not be good to bring someone who committed the genocide and cut people’s throats and stabbed mothers to death and ask him to share that cruel story on the day of commemoration,” Bizimana said.
“Bringing people like those [convicts] can cause trauma among survivors,” he explained.
“The activity to remember is done to pay respect to innocent people who were killed for merely how they were born and acknowledge those who saved the targets and also those who fought and stopped the killings,” he added.
The activity was done at Muhoza Police Station in Musanze District in the incinerator at the Station where the narcotics as members of the public looked on.
The drugs that were destroyed include illicit brews namely: Kanyanga, Sky, and marijuana among other drugs.
Some of the residents who witnessed the destruction of the drugs said they know the dangers of drugs and asked for more cooperation in the fight against narcotics.
“The money that was wasted on those drugs should have been invested in other income generating projects that are legal. Drugs have no benefit for they just destroy the lives of our young people. Some have been arrested and are in prison while others have become poor due to the use and sale of drugs,” said Jean Pierre Niyitegeka, a resident of Muhoza Sector in Musanze District.
Innocent Habimana, another youth who had come to witness the activity said, “Young people should work hard with their hands and brain and never engage in the sale of drugs because drugs destroy their future.”
The Northern Regional Police Commander, ACP Jean Baptiste Ntaganira said, “Drugs destroy lives of those who abuse them and they cause losses to the nation as its citizens’ property is lost in this illegal business.”
“We urge all the people mostly the youth to collaborate in the fight against the drug sale and abuse by reporting to officials on time whenever they know somebody selling or consuming drugs,” ACP Ntaganira said.
The Urban CPI increased by 1.0 percent in January 2019 compared to the same month of 2018.
The Urban Consumer Price Index is calculated based on approximately 1622 products in 12 urban centers of Rwanda.
The increase in prices of consumer goods in January 2019 is attributed to the increase in prices of housing, electricity, gas and other fuels which went up by 2.6 percent and transport prices that increased by 8.2 percent.
The monthly CPI was stable in January 2019 compared to December 2018.
The victims identified as Gorette Musabyimana, 42, and her son, Augustin Shumbusho, 15, died on the spot while Richard Uwiringyimana, 10, was injured as the lightning hit the house they slept in around 10 pm on Saturday night.
A neighbor told IGIHE that the lightning hit the house amid rain during the night in the area and the victims had already gone to sleep.
“Local leaders and security officials have arrived at the family’s house for burial procedures,” said Eliezel Nyandwi, the Executive Secretary of Kitabi Sector.
In October 2017, lightning killed one person and injured seven while working in tea plantation in Nyamagabe District.
In the neighboring Nyaruguru District, in March last year, 16 people died and 140 hospitalized as lightning struck the church they were praying from.
In two months, February and March in 2018, weather vagaries killed 21 people in the mountainous regions of Nyamagabe and Nyaruguru Districts.
The Ministry of Local Governance in March last year said it planned to install lightning rods in places where crowds of people meet in regions where lightning strikes had hit hard.
Kagame made the remarks on Sunday as he chaired the Official Opening of the 32nd AU Summit where he also handed the AU Chairmanship to new AU Chairman, President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt.
Opening the Summit, Kagame said he was grateful to his fellow African Heads of States for entrusting him with “the privilege of leading our organization during this eventful year in service to you and the people of Africa.”
“Our objective was to continue building a stronger and more capable African Union that is able to deliver on the pillars of Agenda 2063, and better represent Africa’s interests on the global stage,” Kagame said adding that the steps forward achieved reflect the long-standing commitment and aspirations of Africa’s leaders and citizens.
Achievements realized during Kagame’s one year spell as Chairman of the African Union include ,among others, the signing of the Continental Free Trade Area Agreement which was done in Kigali on March 21, 2018.
“The CFTA was signed, and now, less one year later, it stands only weeks away from entry into force,” Kagame said as he commended Guinea-Bissau, Botswana and Zambia for “signing the instrument during this [32nd AU] Summit and encouraged those signatories who have not yet ratified to do so at the earliest opportunity.”
“Last year, we strengthened our partnerships with other regions both in substance and tone, and that trend will continue,” Kagame said, revealing that the relaunched Peace Fund now stands at 89 million dollars with 50 Member States contributing.”
“This demonstrates the force of our collective resolve and ability. We will continue to work with the United Nations towards a sustainable mechanism for funding African-led peace support operations,” he noted.
Kagame also commended the recent peace agreement reached among the parties in the Central African Republic, and thank the Commission and the Member States involved in supporting this process adding that “this accord must be implemented and respected.”
On President Fattah Al-Sisi whom he handed the AU Chairmanship baton, Kagame said; “With our full and unqualified support, there is no doubt that he will take our Union forward decisively, to new and greater heights.”
“In Africa, we have high-quality people for any service you want, from any part of our continent. All we need to do is tap into that talent and move forward with Africa’s agenda,” Kagame told the AU reform committee members.
Kagame also thanked the African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahammat and and the Commissioners.
“I would be remiss if I did not particularly single out the comfort, joy, & support that I got from the AUC Chairperson and the Commissioners working together as a team. They are world-class & did everything we needed of them,” Kagame said.
The 32nd AU Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU to be held this Sunday is the last meeting for President Kagame as Chairman of the African Union.
Kagame will be replaced on the Chairmanship of the AU by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Kagame served as AU Chairman since January 28, 2018.
Before heading to the gala dinner, President Kagame met with António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
This was after he chaired the African Leadership Meeting on Investing in Health.
“Investing in the health of our citizens has already had transformative effects on the people of our continent. But there is much more to do. We will get better results if we work together as a continent,” Kagame said
The Mitsubishi branded vehicle was handed to INTERPOL NCB – Nairobi represented by Sgt. Elvis Kiplimo Rutto, on Saturday, 09 February 2019.
The vehicle belonging to Mr. Robert Stephen Jones was declared stolen in June 2014 and it had been bought by two Congolese namely Mupero and Jean Claude from a Kenyan broker James Mweya on February 28, 2014 under the sale contract made in Bukavu, DRC.
Thereafter Balaluka Masonga Benjamin bought it from the duo on March 4, 2014.
“Those who buy vehicles should first know their origins,” said Modeste Mbabazi, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) Spokesperson, adding that “the Rwanda Investigation Bureau authorities are working with DRC to finally arrest the suspect who stole the vehicle from Kenya.”
RIB said that vehicle theft is a highly organized criminal activity affecting all corners of the globe including the EAPCCO (Eastern Africa Police Chief Cooperation Organisation) region within which Rwanda belongs.
“These operations [to hand intercepted vehicles to countries where they were stolen from] are in line of the mandate of Interpol member countries to combat transnational crimes,” RIB said in a statement.
Of the Rwf1.3 billion stolen from private cooperatives, only Rwf214.000 was recovered while 174 people are under investigation suspected of having a hand in the embezzlement.
The numbers were released by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Soraya Hakuziyaremye as she appeared before Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Livestock Development and Environment on Friday.
The Minister was asked by Honorable Jeanne d’Arc Uwamariya, the strategies the Ministry and organs they partner in cooperatives management has taken to curtail rampant embezzlement witnessed in private cooperatives and government managed Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCos) which result in the loss of public funds.
“All those 174 people were taken to courts of law and are still under investigation. Until today, Rwf240 million were recovered since December last year when the ongoing funds recovery process in SACCOs started. The objective is to have recovered 60% of funds stolen from SACCOs by the end of February this year,” Hakuziyaremye added.
Cyaruhogo Wetland occupies 170 ha of land area where three rice farmers’ cooperatives composed of 600 members grow rice.
During the project implementation, two dams and a 23.5-kilometer water pipe will be built to water rice fields in the wetland.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Jean Claude Musabyimana urged the residents to preserve the irrigation facilities and take advantage of the jobs to be created during the construction of the facilities.
“This irrigation project is expected to create many jobs for the population living near the wetland. You should take advantage of this opportunity and develop yourselves economically. We urge you to preserve the dams to be built for the future benefit for all of us,” Musabyimana said.
Musabyimana further explained that the Rwandan Government plans, as reflected in the 7-year Government Program, to boost agriculture production by increasing the land area irrigated, done in partnership with different partners including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which sponsored the project.
The Japan Ambassador to Rwanda, Takayuki Miyashita said Japan is ready to continue working with Rwanda in different projects aimed at improving Rwandans social welfare, agriculture and boosting agribusiness.
Under the 7-year Government Program, it is projected that the irrigated land for agriculture will increase from 48.508 ha in 2016/17 to 102.284 ha in 2024.
