In a message he wrote in the guestbook after visiting Kigali Genocide memorial in Gisozi, Lavrov urged the International community to ensure that the events that took place during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis never happen again.
“I deeply empathize with the national tragedy of the people of Rwanda. The terrible tragedy, which afflicted it 24 years ago, remains an unhealed wound in the hearts of millions of people. We must do everything to ensure that such crimes never happen again. We must vigorously oppose xenophobia, racial and religious intolerance. This is invaluable what President Paul Kagame is doing to strengthen inter-ethnic peace and harmony in the country,” Lavrov wrote in the memorial’s guestbook.
The District Chairperson, Dr. Chrisostome Ngabitsinze told IGIHE that Uwamariya was elected on Monday by council members.
Uwamariya has been a staff at University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences in Huye.
The former district executive committee made up of former ayor Muzuka and Vice-mayor in charge of Economic Development, Cyprien Mutwarasibo and Vice-mayor in charge of Social Affairs, Christine Niwemugeni was dissolved on Thursday last week.
Upon the trio’s dismissal, Ngabitsinze told IGIHE that the culprits had failed to explain why there are many non-performing projects in the district.
“We asked them to defend themselves about the implementation of council decisions, the Office of the Auditor General’s report and other projects implemented in Huye District. Sometime you think that they are forced to resign, but, we dismissed them,” he explained.
The message was delivered yesterday in Kigali when the ministry staff joined city dwellers in mass sport known as ‘Car Free Day’.
The sports was attended by different senior government officials including Prime Minister, Dr. Edouard Ngirente; the Minister of Environment, Dr. Vincent Biruta; the Minister of Health, Dr. Diane Gashumba ; the Minister of Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu and new City of Kigali Mayor, Marie Chantal Rwakazina.
During the sport event, Minister Biruta requested city dwellers and Rwandans in general to fight against disposable plastic materials for preventing their effects to the environment.
“This year’s theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ is in line with fighting against plastic waste, as you all know; we successfully banned plastic bags in 2008 which contributed to the positioning of City of Kigali to become one of the cleanest cities on the continent. This year we want to go a step further in fighting disposable bottles because they are also not degradable,” he explained.
He said that when a plastic bottle is dumped anywhere, the floods take them in rivers, which also transfer them in lakes and finally harm lives of animals living in waters.
Uwizeyimana won the 13th edition of the competition alongside his team made up of Janvier Hadi, Rene Jean Paul Ukiniwabo, Patrick Byukusenge, Didier Munyaneza and Jean Bosco Nsengimana, Tour du Cameroun.
The player of Rubavu District based team; Benediction secured the yellow jersey on fifth round of the competition on May 31st and retained it until the end.
Uwizeyimana retained the yellow jersey with three minutes and 30 seconds ahead of the second player. The record facilitated him in the three last rounds of the competition which was wound up on Sunday.
At the last round yesterday, from Bafia to Yaoundé on a distance of 122.8 kilometers, Uwizeyimana finished at 7th but on the general list he was three minutes and thirty eight seconds ahead of the second.
His colleagues, Patrick Byukusenge came fourth on the general list, Jean Paul Rene Ukiniwabo sixth, Didier Munyaneza 12th, Janvier Hadi 17th and Jean Bosco Nsengimana 19th.
In the competition, Rwandan Ukiniwabo was awarded the young best player and Rwandan team was awarded the best team.
The additional $6.5 million will go to the UN World Food Programme for general food distributions, supplementary feeding for pregnant and lactating women and children under 2 years-old, and the treatment of malnourished children under five years-old.
Currently in Rwanda, roughly 75,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 90,000 refugees from Burundi are living in six camps and urban areas. The political and security situations in both the DRC and Burundi continue to result in refugee flows.
Both Congolese and Burundian refugees remain highly dependent on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs as access to land and income-generating opportunities remains limited. Absent ongoing emergency food assistance, refugees’ food security would decline precipitously.
The Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs and UN agencies are currently scaling up implementation of a Joint Strategy on Economic Inclusion of Refugees to enable more of them to become self-reliant and contribute to the economic development of their host communities.
Speaking with IGIHE, DND Developers Managing Director, Eng. Daniel Mehari, said that the company was trying to respond to the needs of the time, as currently, small and less expensive houses were very sought-after.
“We are currently going through plans for the third phase of our project which is a set of cheaper, and more affordable units than the ones that we are currently selling to the public,” says Eng. Mehari.
The recently completed -and currently on sale- batch of multi-stored 12 Luxury apartments located in Nyarutarama, Gasabo District, constitute the second phase of the project. The 10 houses in the first phase were all sold out, according to Eng. Daniel Mehari.
Each of the 12 multi-stored Luxury apartments on prime area are at affordable price; between Rwf60 and 70 million.
The less expensive houses that will comprise the third phase of the project, will be affordable to everyone, as they will be standing between Rwf25 and Rwf40 million.
Eng. Mehari says that DND Developers came up with a resolution that will facilitate its clients, in means of payment.
“Usually, our clients are allowed to pay in installments within six months. The new spark is that for those who need further time to pay, we are now linking them to our banks, which in turn, allows them loans.”
In a housing market study done by the Rwanda Housing Authority, 560 000 affordable housing units were urgently needed by 2020, so as to have 35% of Rwandans well settled in cities.
According to RHA, these housing units would be affordable for people who earn between Rwf50 000 and Rwf900 000 on a monthly basis. Each unit also must be having two or three spacious rooms that should not be above Rwf30 million.
Established in Rwanda in 2015, DND Developers Ltd seeks to contribute to the country’s development through changing habitation.
Set to open in December 2018, Magashi Camp peers out over Lake Rwanyakazinga in a private concession of Akagera National Park. It is an intimate encampment that will allow guests to view up close the park’s 500 species of birds, as well as buffalo, lions, hippos, elephants, and giraffes in their natural habitats.
Funded in part by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation with the aim of contributing to the overall protection and development of the area, Magashi marks the latest addition to a park in the midst of revival.
The camp is being developed in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and African Parks, and will comprise six tents.
“As we celebrate our 35th year of changing lives in 2018, we are proud to announce this exciting partnership with the Rwanda Development Board and African Parks, further demonstrating our commitment to pioneering sustainable and authentic ecotourism in Rwanda,” comments Grant Woodrow, Wilderness Safaris Chief Operations Officer.
As gorilla tourism continues to grow in Rwanda, Woodrow comments that Magashi Camp could now complete the safari experience for visitors to the country. Tourists can see gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, savannah wildlife at Akagera and chimps and other primates on the western side of the country.
“This new classic camp will not only offer our guests an extraordinary savannah experience, but one that is strongly rooted in a core purpose – to help conserve Rwanda’s last protected savannah ecosystem and species like shoebill and black rhino,” Woodrow says
““There is no doubt that to date the overwhelming focus on gorillas has caused many travellers to miss beautifully scenic and productive savannahs of Rwanda. Now, with the launch of Magashi, our guests will have the ideal opportunity to combine an extraordinary gorilla experience at Volcanoes National Park whilst staying at Bisate Lodge, with a spectacular savannah safari at Akagera,” Woodrow noted
Having all but eliminated poaching, the 100,000-hectare park now boasts a thriving ecosystem, which saw the reintroduction of lions in 2015 after a 20-year absence, as well as endangered black rhinoceros in the same year.
The call was made by the District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO) of Bugesera Inspector of Police, Jeannine Nyiramugisha during a meeting held on Friday, 01st June.
She noted that by fighting drug abuse, GBV will be tackled from its core source.
“If we are to address the problem of GBV and child abuse, we need to get to the source of its causes to address it more effectively,” IP Nyiramugisha remarked.
She noted that the effects of GBV could go as far as to affect the development and wellbeing of communities.
“A victim of psychological or physical violence may not be in position to perform effectively or even contribute to the development of the household and community. This may be the same case for a child who has suffered abuse or mistreatment,” she said.
“GBV can be effectively addressed if every citizen breaks the silence and report such cases that happen in their homes and communities. Whenever you hear of any family misunderstanding, you should find a way to address it if it’s in your jurisdiction, or report to other authorities before it erupts into something violent,” she said.
She went on to say that; “You cannot work in isolation and expect remarkable results, and that’s why as police, we work with everyone but also count on you to work with the people to feel that gap where police can’t be at all time.”
At the end of the meeting, members of CPCs recommitted to embark on intense sensitization campaigns within their communities and identify families that are embroiled in wrongs so as they could get help.
The event yesterday was marked with walk to remember procession from the university headquarters in Kacyiru to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Gisozi.
The Education and Genocide Prevention Programs Officer at National Commission for the Fight Against the Genocide (CNLG), Benoitte Ayinkamiye requested the university to conduct research on the genocide and write about the genocide history as ways of preserving it.
“We encourage the youth to play a role in writing about the history of genocide and conduct thorough research. We also encourage youth to continue telling the truth about genocide by fighting the history trivializers,” she said.
The University of Kigali Chairman of Board of Promoters, Prof. Manasseh Nshuti reminded mourners that the genocide was ferociously implemented and perpetrators had no human being emotions. He requested the students to fight it from re-occurring.
“We are here to explain to the youth about what happened as well as reminding them that they are the future of the country and should prevent such atrocities from reoccurring. As literate people who know the value of human being , it is shame to hear one of them involving in such activities,” he said.
The University performs different activities to facilitate the genocide survivor students.
The event that took place on Monday, 25th May 2018, started with the staff from iCPAR and CMA visiting the Parliament Museum.
Thereafter, they visited a group of genocide survivors in Uruyange Village, Gasabo District, to whom they provided donations including; mattresses for fifty two families; Mutuelle de santé (health insurance) for sixty three persons, cows for seven selected families and a sponsorship on two small scale projects.
The Chief Executive Officer for iCPAR Mr. Amin Miramago reiterated the institute’s commitment to supporting government efforts in fighting the genocide ideology as a way of rebuilding Rwanda.
“The initiative of visiting the survivors is a way to remember those who were killed in the Genocide, and also to reflect together with the survivors on what happened in 1994, and what we should do to ensure that the incident does not happen again,” he said
For the Director of Finance and Administration at CMA, Mrs. Clarisse Umutoni, the gesture intends to remind the survivors of the 1994 Genocide that people care and are concerned for their well-being.
“This is part of our responsibilities as one of our core values in helping the society is mainly to support survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and we visit them regularly across the country and our activities will not stop here,” she said.
Mr. Bernard Banzige who is one of survivors of the Genocide living in Uruyange Village, expressed his appreciation to the management and staff of iCPAR and CMA
“We are really grateful for the support we received, that people outside there still think about us. Since we have many challenges, this support gives us hope for a brighter future,” he said
