{{Mr. Beyon Luc Adolphe Tiao Prime Minister of Bourkina Faso has commended Rwanda’s progress in the past 18 years after the 1994 Genocide.}}
“No one can believe that in 18 years, Rwanda progressed like this” He said.
He was on a study tour in Northern Province of Rwanda.
Together with Rwandan officials, the visit was held in both Mutobo reintegration Centre and Butaro Hospital locating in Musanze.
He was impressed with how government puts emphasis on improving living conditions among citizens by starting from local population.
He said that establishment of Butaro Hospital in a remote area is the sign that Rwanda values lives of citizens irrespective the boundaries.
Prime Minister Luc A. Tiao also said that he was interested in Rwanda’s Health Insurance system and Girinka program aiming at eradicating poverty among poor families.
While paying visit to Mutobo reintegration Centre, he was briefed on how former soldiers are being reintegrated in Rwandan society.
The former FDLR Combatant has testified to PM of Bourkina Faso that during his time in bush he was not good.
The Premier calls upon former fighters to be committed to the development of Rwanda by focusing on one goal.
{{In a recent article published in The New Times, it was reported that a study commissioned by the Ministry of Youth and ICT and carried out by a team of researchers from Kigali Health Institute found out that “52.5% of youth in Rwanda have at least once taken drugs, and 92.7% of that population group kept on consuming them”}}.
This would imply that 48.66% of all Rwandan youth consume drugs. Another misleading element in the article is the reference to trafficking, which was not covered by the said report.
Considered out of their proper context, these numbers would undoubtedly be alarming.
To put things in perspective, the public needs to know that the research considered as “drug” both legal and illegal substances.
Out of the 52.5% reported as consuming drugs, the same research further states that about only 5 % have ever tried an illegal substance mainly cannabis whose lifetime prevalence stood at 4.4% and 2.54% reported problems of dependence on it.
The other most prevalent illegal drugs are illicit brews such as Kanyanga, solvents (glue) and local brews prepared from sorghum, sugar, etc. collectively responsible for about 1% of reported cases of drug use.
These findings point out to the relatively high level use of alcohol (34%) and tobacco (8.5%) among the youth (14 – 35 years of age).
What is most important, is to note that the commissioning of the report was by itself an acknowledgment that drug abuse among the youth was indeed a serious problem that deserves policy attention and action which wouldn’t be based on mere anecdotic evidence.
The study informed and strengthened a number of on-going programmes by the Ministry and its public and non-profit stakeholders to tackle the issue of drug abuse and its consequences on the youth.
Most importantly, it justified on-going policy and regulatory reviews, geared towards making Rwanda a drug-free country.
The campaign for drug eradication was launched by Her Excellency the First Lady Jeanette Kagame in December 2011.
In response to her call, the Ministry of Youth and ICT initiated the “Neighbour’s eye” (Ijisho ry’umuturanyi) which aims at pushing the campaign to the village level (umudugudu).
The programme is a partnership between MYICT (Ministry of Youth and ICT), Imbuto Foundation, the National Police, the Ministry of Local Government, Faith-based organisations and a number of other public and non-for-profit stakeholders.
To-date, the campaign has established anti-drugs committees in all the14, 813 villages of Rwanda.
Iwawa Rehabilitation and Skills Training Centre is another home-grown solution to assist those who have fallen victims of drug addiction leading to petty crime.
So far the programme rehabilitated and graduated 2,056 young men in a range of vocational skills that include carpentry, construction, commercial farming and tailoring. Today, the centre hosts 1,936 youth.
The programme has achieved remarkable success whereby more than 90 per cent of graduates were successfully reintegrated back into their communities as responsible and productive citizens.
However, to win the battle against alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use among young Rwandans, it will take much more than policy, government backed programmes and law enforcement.
There has to be a mind-set change towards the traditional and cultural value of these substances.
Parents, educators and communities need to play a leading role by protecting children against exposure to these substances at a tender age.
The writer is the Minister of Youth and ICT of the Republic of Rwanda.
Speaking to Uganda’s Monitor, Mr Betrano Bisimwa in photo above explored several issues concerning the Eastern Congo crisis. below is a full interview…
{{What does the name M23 Movement mean?}}
M23 is a platform for the different armed groups and political movements that signed a peace accord with the government of DR Congo on March 23, 2009.
These movements requested the government to fully implement the accord but also bring good governance to our country.
Therefore, our name is from March 23, the date when we signed this accord. This was CNDP, on the one hand with other armed groups, and on the other hand, it was DR Congo.
Therefore, the M23 is composed of all these groups. We want the government to implement fully the peace accord it signed with these groups.
{{Why are you fighting}}?
We are not fighting the government. We are reacting to the attacks by Kinshasa. When we told Kinshasa that we wanted the peace process to be implemented fully, they reacted by attacking us.
We found ourselves in a situation to have to defend ourselves. We acted in self-defence.
What do you make of the allegations by the government and the international community that you are committing atrocities against the people in eastern Congo?
I would like to emphasise one thing. This is propaganda by the Kinshasa government. They are accusing us of things that have never happened.
The crimes in DR Congo are committed by the government. DR Congo is in a chaotic phase. There is nobody in control of this country. Some of these reports are drafted by people in their offices in Paris and Washington.
Those who dare to come to Congo, stop in Kinshasa where they get fabricated intelligence. We have asked so many times that an independent inquiry be put in place by any international mechanism to verify those allegations. These allegations are baseless.
{{Hasn’t the UN written reports talking about areas where you have recruited children?}}
We recently captured Goma, and journalists, NGOs were there. No one saw a single child soldier among our soldiers. We operate in daylight. These allegations, accusations and counter-accusations are just fabricated for purposes of propaganda.
We wrote a letter to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, requesting the leaders to put in place a commission of inquiry because we do not participate in the ICGLR meetings but the government does.
This correspondence was sent but there was no follow up. If the DR Congolese government was sure about the allegations, they would have seized this opportunity and follow up with the ICGLR.
But they didn’t because they know these are fabricated allegations.
These allegations cannot be proved. If a commission of inquiry was sent there and they found that there was no single case of murder, or any other atrocity in the areas controlled by the M23, then the whole case would fail.
The current secretary General of ICGLR is Congolese, appointed by the government but we don’t understand why he didn’t seize this opportunity to put in place that commission of inquiry to bring evidence.
{{What about allegations that you are a proxy group for Uganda and Rwanda formed to fight Kinshasa and that you have no cause to fight for?}}
When we signed the peace agreement with the government and they failed to implement it, is this not a cause? When we say that Congo is not governed or that public service is non-existent is this not a cause?
When we say that Congo is populated by foreign armed groups operating with the help of the government and are raping and killing Congolese women, are these not causes? When a national group is systematically marginalised and relegated because of their ethnic origin, isn’t this not a cause to fight for?
When the whole country goes into elections, rigs and declares somebody who got minority votes as president, isn’t it a cause that people can fight for?
After all, these causes that I have enumerated, we are also trying to ask those making the allegations whether these are Ugandan and Rwandan causes. What is the immediate interest that Uganda and Rwanda may have as a result of all these factors I have talked about?
They are not the ones that created these problems in Congo. When they allege that Rwanda and Uganda are helping M23, it’s a way of trying to divert attention from the real issues and find scapegoat.
{{Why would the international community be against you if you have problems with Kinshasa?}}
The answer is simple: The international community, represented by the UN, is not with us because they are partners with the government. In fact, the UN has ceased to be a force that is neutral. If they had come to us in order to understand our concerns, they would have listened to our side.
They are held prisoners of their principle of neutrality. It’s only recently that the people of Palestine were admitted and given a position at the UN. The UN considers governments as its partners and the UN Secretary General works for the union of the governments.
However, the UN was one of the signatories of the March 23 agreement. But they have kept quiet.
They are actually part of the problem. They cannot go public and say that they have failed in Congo. They have failed and they continue to fail because they don’t put in efforts to understand the needs of the people of Congo. Recently, when we were fighting in Goma, the government troops were backed by the UN.
They used UN helicopters and bombed our troops and we lost a number of fighters. When the UN workers are coming to work in Congo, they get their accreditation from Kinshasa. That’s why they do not understand us.
{{You continuously say that the Congolese government has failed to implement the March 23 agreement. What are those issues Kinshasa has refused or failed to implement?}}
First, it was the repatriation of refugees who have been living in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi for 18 years. These refugees were supposed to be repatriated when we signed the agreement in 2009. But no one was repatriated until the election of 2011 when few of them were brought back.
The refugees are seen as foreigners. They are not considered Congolese.
Secondly, we had agreed with the government that permanent reconciliation committees be created at the grassroots level so that we tackle all the problems that may arise as a result of tribal and ethnic conflict.
Apart from that, the government made a formal commitment to put in place a ministerial structure that would be in charge of national reconciliation since 2009.
This ministerial structure was not put in place and nothing was done with regard to national reconciliation.
We see danger, when people were chased away from their land in 1996, their properties, including their ancestral land were seized by those who remained.
We told the government that before these people are repatriated, we need systems in place to sort out all these challenges. Let the government show the world these structures exist and that we have no point to make.
The third and the most important is that our accord also had incorporated the Great Lakes region security agreement on all negative forces operating in Congo, have to be neutralised and eradicated.
But as you may be aware, the FDLR that’s well known operates jointly and manages Ishasha, a very important border point with Uganda with Kinshasa government.
They are the ones controlling this border point. Why would a serious government give part of its territory to a foreign rebel group to manage it? That country has an obligation to disarm this negative force.
{{What about those who say that you want to secede from DR Congo and form a new state called Kivu?}}
As M23, we believe that we are not even competent to talk about creation of a new state of Kivu as they allege. We believe that this is the choice of the people that can decide how they want to be governed.
When you try to talk about their weaknesses, they use propaganda to cause confusion.
If we were to create a state, we would not create a small state. Our interest is clear. We want to have a government in Kinshasa that protects its people.
Our concerns are national. We are condemning poor leadership.
We are condemning poor service delivery. In fact, to be realistic, DR Congo is like a country that does not exist. We have resources that no other country has, but we are the poorest, ever suffering.
We want this to end. Therefore, to hide its weaknesses, the government wants to portray us as people who want to secede.
{{Do you see these peace talks succeeding?}}
Our position is that these negotiations must succeed and whoever will be responsible for failure of the talks, will be answerable to the people of Congo.
The Congolese will decide on that person’s fate. We have the obligation to succeed. We have made sacrifices for peace. When we captured Goma, the whole world said it wanted to listen to grievances on the condition that we withdraw.
We had gone beyond Goma. But because of peace, we withdrew 60km and went to our old positions. We have made so many sacrifices. Whoever participates in the failure of these negotiations, will have to pay a price.
Will you resume fighting and recapture Goma if the negotiations fail?
Our aim is not to take new areas.
We are aware, cautious and very sorry about this war and the suffering it has caused to our people who are now tired of fighting.
We are optimistic that these talks will continue and end well. If our aim was to capture ground, we would have captured many more towns because we have the capacity.
We are not the ones who started this war. But if the talks fail, the people of Congo will decide the next move.
We have seen your forces dressed in new uniforms, new boots and carrying strong weapons. Where do you get these from?
Everybody knows that the M23 soldiers came from the government side. They came with their guns. All the commanders we have were big commanders in the government units.
They came with soldiers and their logistics. It’s also well known that when we are fighting government forces, they abandon everything on the battlefield.
They abandon weapons and ammunitions in the quantities that we cannot even manage.
Recently, in Goma, we captured thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition, including BMs and we are saying, if unfortunately, we were attacked today and we used these weapons that we got from Goma, the whole world would say these arms were supplied by Rwanda.
We got 33 containers full of weapons and ammunition. We have more than enough weapons.
We don’t need to ask from the neighbours. Why should we ask for weapons from Rwanda, or Uganda or Burundi, when we can get them easily from the government soldiers who abandon them on the battlefield?
{{Rwandan children have been advised to not only have dreams but to also work towards achieving them.}}
The Parental advice was given by the First Lady Mrs. Jeanette Kagame during the Children’s End of Year Party hosted by the First Lady’s Office, which attracted over 100 children between the ages of 7 and 12.
“If it was possible we would be inviting all the children in Rwanda but we just invite a few. We expect you to be our representatives. Share what you have learnt here with other children,” she told the children.
She also advised them to be mindful of the friends they hang around, adding that bad friends ruin good character.
{{United Nations police adviser, Ann-Marie Orler, has welcomed a contingent of 15 female police officers from Rwanda.}}
The Contingent is the first police unit to serve with the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) since it was established in 2004 by the Security Council to facilitate the peace process in the country.
“The Police Division welcomes this contingent of highly qualified female officers. The goal of the United Nations, since 2009, is to have at least 20 per cent of our police service comprising female officers by the end of 2014,” Orler, told the UN News Centre on Friday.
“We are only half-way there globally and in Côte d’Ivoire, but more deployments like this will make it possible,” she added.
The addition of the formed police unit brings the total number of police officers serving with UNOCI to 484, including 45 women with the arrival of the 15 Rwandan officers.
“I very much hope that other member states will continue to increase the number of female officers that they deploy,” Ms. Orler added.
{{The Congolese army has presented 38 men suspected of being M23 rebels or Rwandan soldiers arrested in the territory of the DRC before taking Goma, on November 20.}}
Kinshasa has accused 20 men among the 38 arrested to be Rwandan soldiers.
No documents proving the origin of these prisoners was shown to the press.
This was revealed during on Wednesday 12 December press conference in DRC.
In Kigali, the Rwandan army spokesperson General Joseph Nzabamwita on Wednesday has strongly denied that Rwanda’s troops are not involved in DRC crisis noting that those are false accusation that Kinshasa is putting on Rwanda.
“Our soldiers are registered in a computer, I challenge the leaders of the DRC or any other person who may have seen these men, or any person who claims to be a soldier to submit the names to our computer system” commented Nzabamwita.
Nzabamwita said if Rwandan troops had been arrested, they would have been presented to regional officials in Goma who help control the Rwanda-DRC border.
{{Rwandans living in Malawi have contributed over Frw 40 million to Agaciro Development Fund}}.
This was revealed by Ndamage Vincent during the 10th National Dialogue in Kigali last week.
Rwf 20 Million was paid immediately.
Ndamage hoped that Government of Rwanda will open an Embassy in Malawi pointing out that Rwandan embassies located in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and Maputo in Mozambique are far away from Malawi.
Also according to the representative of the Diaspora in Malawi, Rwanda would benefit from cooperation with Malawi, a country that shows a lot of potential for trade with Rwanda.
{{The UN Security Council has extended the term of office of five judges serving with the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to facilitate the completion of the court’s work. }}
In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body extended the terms of the following permanent judges until 31 December 2014 or until the completion of the cases to which they are assigned: Mehmet G. of Turkey, Khalida Rachid Khan of Pakistan, Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar, Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov of Russia, and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
Based in Arusha, Tanzania, the ICTR was set up after the Rwandan 1994 genocide against Tutsi.
The Council has urged both the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to conclude their work by the end of 2014.
It set up the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) in December 2010 and mandated it to take over and finish the remaining tasks of the two tribunals when they are closed after their mandates expire.
The ICTR branch of the Residual Mechanism began its functions on 1 July, while the branch for ICTY will start on 1 July 2013.
In today’s resolution, the Council requested updates on the transition of functions of the ICTR to the Residual Mechanism, and also urged all States to provide all needed assistance to the tribunal, particularly in relation to the arrest of remaining fugitives.
{{RPF-Inkotanyi, organized an international football tournament in Kigali to mark its 25th anniversary.}}
Two teams from Burundi and Uganda will participate in this tournament.
The teams include Villa Sport of Uganda and Vital’O FC from Burundi who will compete with both Rayon Sports and APR FC from Rwanda.
The winners of the first round matches will play the final on 18th December 2012, and the losers will compete for third place on the same day. Entry into these games is free of Charge.
Official ceremonies that will mark the anniversary are planned December 20, 2012.
{{Police in Gikondo sector, Kicukiro District are holding one Ruzigamanzi Jean Baptist a driver of Toyota Hiace RAA 298Q for allegedly bribing a Traffic Police Officer giving him Frw2000.}}
While the above said police Officer was on duty trying to sort out the dispute between two drivers over a mere collision Ruzigamanzi opted to give out that amount of money hidden in his vehicle documents.
The very Police discovered that amount of money and got surprised; and went back to ask the motive of that money hidden.
The suspect responded saying that the reason was to thank the police officer for the good service rendered to him.
The police officer qualified that act as a criminal act (bribery) and immediately arrested him and took him to Gikondo Police Station for statement.
This case of bribery is a bad habit and drivers should avoid such malpractice as it tarnishes the image of the Institution and belittles the integrity of those who try to bribe Police officers.
No one should pay for a service he is entitled to nor should he/she give a bribe for a fault he has committed. Paying a fine is an obligation while one is faulty and a good citizen ought to abide by that rule.
Police Spokesperson Superintendent Theos Badege condemned the act saying that, corruption is a criminal act that is punishable by the law and it undermines the national economy.
“Such tendencies need to be fought”, he further said, while calling on residents to join hands with security organs through shared information to ensure that whoever is planning to commit such crime is apprehended and faces justice.
If convicted, the suspect is likely to be sentenced between two to five years according to article 14 Law N⁰ 23/2003 of 07/08/2003 related to the punishment of corruption and related offences.
