{{Former Senator Nzirasanaho Anastase has told IGIHE that he is scheduled to appeal against a life sentence after court found him guilty of issuing a gun that was used by an Interahamwe during the 1994 genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s that claimed a million lives.}}
It’s stated that Nzarasanaho delivered a gun at Mataba (Gakenke district) that was used in the brutal murder of Tutsi’s in the area.
However, in a lengthy interview with IGIHE, Mr. Nzarasanaho said the accusations are a pack of lies hinting that the issue concerning the gun should be addressed to Neretse Fabien that was commanding Interahamwe at Mataba during the genocide.
The former senator says, several witnesses attested that the gun was supplied by Neretse at that time he brought the gun escorted by a soldier.
The politician also says survivors of the Mataba massacre provided evidence that they had witnessed Neretse using the gun to kill Tutsi’s in the area.
“I will immediately appeal against the life sentence after court allegedly found me guilty of supplying the gun and killing eight people,” Nzarasanaho said.
{{Rwanda’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Amb. Vincent Karega has said, he has remained calm amidst recurrent accusations by the South African government that Rwandan diplomats were behind attacks on Kayumba Nyamwasa’s house.}}
Ambassador Karega told {Radio France Internationale} that the cooperation between Rwanda and South Africa has not been disengaged despite the recent actions by either countries which asked diplomats to leave.
However, Amb. Karega noted that disagreements between Rwanda and South Africa can not be solved through media.
The Rwandan envoy told RFI , despite accusations against Rwandan diplomats, the south African government had not produced any incriminating evidence to support their accusations.
{{Over 250 members of Rwanda Youth Organization for Sustainable Development (RYOSD) met in Kicukiro district on March 20 to deliberate on how better the youngsters can own and promote Ndi Umunyarwanda.}}
Ndi Umunyarwanda loosely translated as ‘I am Rwandan’ is an initiative largely aimed at helping Rwandans, especially the youth, openly talk about their history, repent, forgive, and heal.
Richard Hategekimana, the President of the youth organization said they held the meeting to get more information on the concept as a way of promoting it in the country.
“If you don’t know where you came from, you probably don’t know where you are heading,” Hategekimana said.
“Members of RYOSD, therefore, understand the significance of Ndi Umunyarwanda programme and are determined to make it a success,” he added.
Hategekimana also said they are engaged in other activities like fighting drug abuse.
The organization has more than 6000 members countrywide.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Damas Gatare, the Commissioner for Public Relations and Community Policing challenged the youth spearhead government unity, reconciliation and development programmes.
He also told them to be proud and dignified Rwandans and not to fall prey of bad things.
He also asked them to learn from the country’s history, partner in fighting crimes development of the country.
The meeting was also attended by Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Bayingana, Vice Chairman of National Itorero Commission, who appealed to the youth to have clear plans and mission to make Ndi Umunyarwanda and other initiatives a success.
{{Researchers and academicians from the International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT) in Netherlands and the University of Rwanda College of Arts and Social Sciences visited the Rwanda National Police (RNP) headquarters in Kacyiru on March 20 to learn about force’s Post-Genocide policing.}}
The team of seventeen students was received and briefed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Operations, Dan Munyuza, who explained to them the evolution of the RNP and its achievements in the last 14 years of its existence.
DIGP Munyuza said it required a focused and committed leadership to unite a divided society and to build a credible Rwanda National Police force.
“All this was possible because of the visionary leadership, patriotism and community partnership,” DIGP Munyuza said.
He said the force also engaged in fighting poverty by supporting vulnerable groups and joining forces with locals in community development programmes such as Umuganda, Gir’Inka and paying medical insurance for the poor, which increased a sense of responsibility among the public to fight and prevent crimes.
Students also asked various question related to corruption and solving the public’s issues.
DIGP Munyuza said the force established an Anti-Corruption unit, ethics centre and Inspectorate of Services to keep the officers in the check against graft.
He also said that the force works with other judicial and anti-corruption private and public institutions like Transparency International-Rwanda and Ombudsman office to fight the vice.
Rwandans, he said, can now report their complaint, corrupt or indiscipline officers by calling various hotlines or by filling the online complaint or compliment form.
The online form can be obtained on the RNP web site by clicking on the E-Policing link.
The hotlines include 3512 for gender violence, 3511 to report abuse by police officer, 112 for emergence and 113 for traffic accident.
The students are in the country since March 12 on a study tour about Transitional Justice mechanisms and to clarify on the complex nature of re-building a post-Genocide society.
{{Africa is poised to benefit from a new strategy in which Sweden is proposing new development mechanism for Africa aimed at securing a win-win situation for developing economies.}}
“Direct aid, while not bad, should be supplemented with strong trade ties for sustainable development… I think we really need to change the system now and trade more,” says Swedish minister for Trade, Ms Ewa Björling.
Ms Björling told press in Dar es Salaam where she is visiting in company of Swedish Crown Princess Victoria.
The Swedish minister noted that the best way to build local economies in Africa and bring about prosperity is for the donor community to change from providing direct aid and opting for strengthened trade relations.
She added that changing from aid to trade would benefit both sides and help developing countries.
{{“As a deep expression of the human mind and as a universal art, poetry is a tool for dialogue and rapprochement. The dissemination of poetry helps to promote dialogue among cultures and understanding between peoples because it gives access to the authentic expression of a language.”}}
{In honour of the day, IGIHE presents to you a collection of poems by the late great Ghanaian Poet and Writer, Professor Kofi Awoonor in photo below}
{{OF HOME AND SEA I ALREADY SANG}}
A calm settles
at the beckon of sweet age…
Joy and hope soar
for the ultimate task
ahead written about, already
promised in the trajectories of jail,
in absence and exile…
That we will perform our duty by the people
depose the recalcitrant brutes
and march ahead of our beloved masses
to a coming kingdom…
Let the dream not die, master;
Let the dove coo at dawn again,
Let the masthead rear its head
out of the storm
and share the night with me on this sea.
Let me sing the song you gave me.
Before death comes, master,
Let me dance to the drums you gave me.
Let me sit in the warmth of the fire
Of the only native land you gave me.
{{A DEATH FORETOLD}}
Sometimes, the pain and the sorrow return
particularly at night.
I will grieve again and again tomorrow
for the memory of a death foretold….
I believe in hope and the future
of hope, in victory before death
collective, inexorable, obligatory;
in the enduring prospect of love
though the bed is empty,
in the child’s happiness
though the meal is meagre.
I believe in light and day
beyond the tomb far from the solitude
of the womb, and the mystical night,
in the coming of fruits
the striped salmon and the crooked crab;
I believe in men and the gods
in the spirit and the substance,
in death and the reawakening
in the promised festival and denial
in our heroes and the nation
in the wisdom of the people
the certainty of victory
the validity of struggle….
I will not grieve again tomorrow.
I will not grieve again.
{{GRAINS AND TEARS}}
…. Go and tell them I paid the price
I stood by the truth
I fought anger and hatred
on behalf of the people.
I ate their meagre meals in the barracks
shared their footsteps and tears
in freedom’s name
I promised once in a slave house in Ussher
to postpone dying until
the morning after freedom.
I promise.
{{SONGS OF SORROW}}
I.
Dzogbese Lisa has treated me thus
It has led me among the sharps of the forest
Returning is not possible
And going forward is a great difficulty
The affairs of this world are like the chameleon faeces
Into which I have stepped
When I clean it cannot go.
I am on the world’s extreme corner,
I am not sitting in the row with the eminent
But those who are lucky
Sit in the middle and forget
I am on the world’s extreme corner
I can only go beyond and forget.
My people, I have been somewhere
If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me
The firewood of this world
Is for only those who can take heart
That is why not all can gather it.
The world is not good for anybody
But you are so happy with your fate;
Alas! The travelers are back
All covered with debt.
II.
Something has happened to me
The things so great that I cannot weep;
I have no sons to fire the gun when I die
And no daughters to wail when I close my mouth
I have wandered on the wilderness
The great wilderness men call life
The rain has beaten me,
And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knives
I shall go beyond and rest.
I have no kin and no brother,
Death has made war upon our house;
And Kpeti’s great household is no more,
Only the broken fence stands;
And those who dared not look us in his face
Have come out as men.
How well their pride is with them.
Let those gone before take note
They have treated their offspring badly.
What is the wailing for?
Somebody is dead. Agosu himself
Alas! A snake has bitten me
My right arm is broken,
And the tree on which I lean is fallen.
Agosi if you go tell them,
Tell Nyidevu, Kpeti, and Kove
That they have done us evil;
Tell them their house is falling
And the trees in the fence
Have been eaten by termites;
That the martels curse them.
Ask them why they idle there
While we suffer, and eat sand.
And the crow and the vulture
Hover always above our broken fences
And strangers walk over our portion.
{{THE WEAVER BIRD}}
The weaver bird built in our house
And laid its eggs on our only tree.
We did not send it away.
We watched the building of the nest
And supervised the egg-laying.
And the weaver returned in the guise of the owner.
Preaching salvation to us that owned the house.
They say it came from the west
Where the storms at sea had felled the gulls
And the fishers dried their nets by lantern light.
Its sermon is the divination of ourselves
And our new horizon limits at its nest.
But we cannot join the prayers and answers of the
communicants.
We look for new homes every day.
For new altars we strive to re-build
The old shrines defiled by the weaver’s excrement.
{{REDISCOVERY}}
When our tears are dry on the shore
and the fishermen carry their nets home
and the seagulls return to bird island
and the laughter of the children recedes at night,
there shall still linger here the communion we forged,
{{Rwanda’s popular Hiphop star Jay Polly has announced his support for Andika Rwanda, a national competition for writing stories and poems for children. }}
“I’m a writer,” Jay Polly said. “I write because I want to change people’s lives through the messages in my songs. You have to write to express yourself, you have to let people know what you think.”
The rapper made the comments at Lycee de Kigali on Friday during a surprise appearance at the secondary school’s morning assembly.
The competition, which launched last month, is a joint initiative of the Rwanda Education Board, the USAID-funded Literacy, Language, and Learning (L3) Initiative, implemented by the Education Development Center, and Drakkar Ltd.
The visit was to urge students and youth in general to adopt the culture of writing and to submit a story or poem to the competition.
Primary and secondary students—at both public and private schools—as well as adults are eligible to participate.
Winners receive tablets, books, and a trip to Kigali for a writers symposium and awards ceremony, as well as professional publication of their stories and poems.
The published volumes of winning stories and poems will then be distributed to primary schools across the country, providing children access to interesting, locally-authored stories and poems.
“Anyone can be a writer,” said Jay Polly. “Why not enter the competition?”
Primary and secondary students can learn more from their teachers, and adults can visit their sector offices for more information.
Interested participants can also visit www.reb.rw. The deadline for submissions is Friday, May 9th.
{{The government of Rwanda has lost more than $ 4 million (Rwf 2.5 billion) due to some of the Infrastructure projects poorly studied by the contractors, said the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Emma Francoise Isumbingabo, addressing the Committee on Political Affairs and Gender promotion, March 20th 2014.}}
In 2006, HPI (International Hydropower) was offered the contract for the construction of seven small hydroelectric dams for a period of one year against a budget of U.S. $ 12,767,256.19.
Isumbingabo said that construction activities have not been completed up to date and those completed need to be rehabilitated, adding that the company was unable to complete its contract.
For the Minister, the deficit in the project was caused by poor evaluation studies of the scope of the work.
She warned all those who are responsible for the failure of the project noting that they will be punished for their weakness, irresponsibility and ignorance presented throughout the project implementation.
{{By 2017, Rwanda seeks to produce 563 Mega Watts of energy through tapping into hydro, peat, methane, solar and geothermal power resources, and is seeking investors for projects.}}
According to the Energy Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA), the expansion will require an investment of US$1bn to reduce the country’s energy deficits, with only 17% of the population having access to power.
EWSA said power generation will comprise 200MW from peat, 100MW from methane, 63MW from hydro, 90MW from geothermal and 18.5MW from solar.
Rwanda relies on thermal energy sources, especially diesel and heavy fuel, to provide 40% of the installed 110MW. Hydropower generates 59% of the country’s power, while 1% comes from methane gas. The country imports 14.5MW of power.
According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), 40% of Rwanda’s currency earnings go into petroleum products, highlighting the need for the country to seek better and cheaper ways of generating power.
The World Bank said that high costs of power in Rwanda, estimated at US$0.22/KWh compared to US$0.08-0.10/KWh in the rest of the region, is cause for concern among local investors.
Rwanda has an estimated 155mn cubic metres (cu m) of peat reserves and the country has increased the capacity of peat production to take advantage of these reserves.
Peat Energy Company said it plans to seek investors to raise capital needed for its growth. With an installed capacity of 20,000 tonnes, the company currently produces 13,000 tonnes even as demand for power rises.
Recently, the company also signed a US$13.3mn contract to supply solid fuel over a five-year period to Cimerwa Cement factory in the country.
Pierre Kalinganire, CEO of Peat Energy Company, said, “We are interested in getting new investors as the company expands. The value of the company should be in the market by April or May.”
EWSA has commissioned the construction of a US$36mn peat-powered plant, which is expected to add 15MW to the national grid by 2015.
Turkish company Hakam Mining and Generation Industry and Trade has also signed a deal with the government to develop a 120MW peat and electricity generating plant worth US$365mn at South Akanyaru in Gisagara district.
In hydropower generation, the government expects to add 87MW of power to the national grid by 2014, with 28MW set to come from Nyabarongo hydropower plant; 2.2MW from Rukarara II hydropower plant; 4MW from Giciye hydropower plant; and an additional four megawatts from six micro-hydropower plants.
Rwanda has also signed a US$340mn deal with the World Bank for the construction of the 80MW Rusumo hydropower project, which is also expected to serve Tanzania and Burundi.
Methane is another source of energy, with 25MW to be delivered from the Kivuwatt methane project and 8.5 MW from Gigawatt Global Solar Plant.
Officials have reportedly said the country has a geothermal potential of 320MW and plans are underway to add 60MW to the national grid by 2017.
The districts of Nyabihu, Gisenyi, Rubavu, Musanze, Bugarama and Rusizi show potential for geothermal power generation, industry sources said.
The Chinese government recently donated US$640,000 worth of solar equipment to Rwanda, which will be installed in 416 households in rural areas across the country.
Rwanda is also expected to invest in regional inter-connection projects such as the 220KV power lines with neighbours Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.
{{In a globalised France, where hamburgers are a culinary craze, people queue to see the latest US blockbuster and Levis are the brand of choice for jeans, is it possible to live a 100% French life?}}
That was the challenge tackled by Benjamin Carle, a 25-year-old journalist who decided to spend nine months eating, wearing, buying and using only French-made products.
A documentary chronicling his experience aired on French cable channel Canal+ on March 19, and has kick-started a conversation about French identity.
On a budget of only 1,800 euros (2,480 US dollars) per month, Carle travelled around the country, immersing himself in a culture with which he says it’s easy to lose touch – especially as a young person in France today.
By turning his camera on his experiment, Carle explores a range of social, cultural, political and economic questions: What are the strengths and weaknesses of French industries?
Can the French economy be saved if everyone makes an effort to buy French products? Can France progress scientifically, technologically and culturally without relying on foreign influences and collaboration?
Some of the conclusions he drew from his nine-month stint as an “economic patriot” were bleak.
“I feel like in France, we don’t really reinvent ourselves,” Carle told weekly magazine L’Express in an interview published on Wednesday.
“The only products we still manufacture here are those that most characterise us as French…in terms of clothing, for example, it’s sweaters and Breton sailor jerseys [navy and white striped knitted shirts]. The rest, T-shirts and pants, are all designed abroad.”
That said, Carle told L’Express, typical French clothing is hardly out of fashion. “Wearing only French-manufactured clothing could actually become a hipster thing,” he said.
{{No condoms, but lots of ‘Happy Meals’}}
Aside from his favourite pair of jeans, other things Carle had to forgo were his cell phone, laptop and condoms, none of which, apparently, are manufactured in France. “But we do make lubricant!” he added in an interview with culture site La Trempe.
Inspired by a call from Socialist politician Arnaud Montebourg, France’s minister for economic renewal, Carle quickly realized that helping renew the economy also meant renewing his ties to his own culture.
In interviews with the press, the young man described how buying only regional French food products (“produits du terroir”, as the French call them) forced him to cook, and in turn inspired him to take his time savouring the meal – a French tradition.
He has also said that he was surprised by the places he was able to find meals that were made exclusively from French products. In Paris’s ethnically diverse Belleville neighbourhood, Carle noted that two spots were reliable in offering 100% French meals: a “banh mi” shop, which prepared the famous Vietnamese sandwiches using baguettes from the bakery next door, French-raised beef, French-grown carrots, and a homemade mayonnaise made from French eggs; and McDonald’s, where the meat and potatoes are all from France.
“You have a better chance of eating local food in a McDonald’s than in a bad brasserie that serves reheated frozen meals,” he told L’Express.
Perhaps the most extreme part of Carle’s project was his mission to rid his daily speech of any “Anglicisms”. For example, he replaced the English word “cool”, now commonly used in French, with “chouette”, a quaint colloquialism that roughly translates as “neat”.
But most daunting of all, he has said, was altering his listening, reading and viewing habits. Deprived of David Bowie, Carle turned to French singers like Jacno and Johnny Hallyday.
He read a lot of Montaigne. And he watched lots of films directed by Jean-Luc Godard or starring French comic Pierre Richard.
Carle’s main regret, he told L’Express, was not being able to go see Hollywood thriller “Gravity” in 3D.
