The accident occurred in a business center in Rwinanka Village, Ntwari Cell of Munini Sector on Monday 18th July 2022.
One of witnesses has told IGIHE that the accident happened around 3 p.m. as a Fuso truck which carried sand from River Giswi in Muganza Sector moved along a steep part of the road with high speed and hit two houses.
The Executive Secretary of Munini Sector, Raphal Uwimana has confirmed to IGIHE that the accident has killed two people and injured ten of whom three survived with serious injuries.
The deceased have been identified as Innocent Uwiragiye, 23, who was inside the house and Jean Damascène Habimana, 29, who was onboard the truck.
The local leader has also disclosed that seven survivors were taken to Munini Hospital while those who were critically injured were sent to the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB).
The centre of excellence will enable establishment of a modern and highly efficient dual training program which will be a model for industrial-academia linkages that allows exchange of training facilities such as workshops and equipment for mutual benefits.
It will also allow students to learn and acquire modern and high-tech skills being applied in industry and aligned to the current and future technologies and innovations; exchange of academic staff and industrial sector experts between the school and companies to enhance the skills needed for the modern labour markets.
Speaking after the signing ceremony on Monday 18th July 2022, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana noted that establishment of the TVET centre of excellence will boost the Government of Rwanda’s existing initiatives towards developing applicable skills that meet labour market demands through TVET.
“This financing comes to support human capital development priorities under our National Strategy for Transformation especially by enrolling at least 60% of students into TVET schools and scaling-up the number of TVET graduates with skills relevant to the labor market,” Minister Ndagijimana said.
Former Austrian Chancellor Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer noted that the financing agreement presented a starting point for a deeper cooperation between Austria and Rwanda.
“Sustainable cooperation between the new countries would lead to import of the technology, knowledge transfers and employment opportunities to Rwandans. We look forward to exploring other areas of cooperation,” he said.
According to the financing modalities, 15% of the US$ 7.5 million (or EUR 1.125,000) will be a grant. The financing facility will be guaranteed by Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB) on behalf of the Republic of Austria at 0% interest rate, with a payment period of 18.5 years after a grace period of 8.5 years.
This service is launching soon after MTN Rwanda’s announcement that it would be launching a device financing initiative in partnership with Bank of Kigali, offering customers the opportunity to buy brand new smartphones on credit.
MTN Rwanda’s extended warranty offers customers additional protection for any smartphone purchased at any MTN Service Centre or Connect Shop and also for any smartphone a customer has owned for less than three (3) years, upon the purchase of a screen protector and/or phone case for that existing phone. The warranty is for a period of twelve (12) months.
MTN Rwanda is also offering customers one free repair of their smartphones if any fault develops during the warranty period. For any additional repairs, customers will receive an eighty per cent (80%) discount on the repair costs.
“Smartphones are the gateway to unlimited information and an array of digital services, and we want to ease the process of owning and maintaining one. For a lot of our customers, smartphones are the first big-expense item they purchase for themselves, meaning screen protectors and phone cases are a must-have given the durability of smartphones.
The idea of introducing an MTN extended warranty and repair service went without saying. This is part of our commitment to ensure that as we connect everyone to the digital world, we think of the entire customer journey and offer our customers peace of mind,” said Yaw Ankoma Agyapong, MTN Rwanda Chief Consumer and Digital Officer.
The extended warranty (beyond what is covered in the manufacturer warranty) insures against accidental damage, cracked screens, cracked casing, water and liquid damage as well as malfunction after the manufacturer’s warranty has expired.
MTN Rwanda’s repair service offers top-notch diagnoses at designated MTN Service Centres. Customers located in Kigali will have their phones repaired within 3 days and those located upcountry will have their phones repaired within 5 days.
“We look forward to our customers enjoying this service as we continue to pursue the delivery of digital solutions for Rwanda’s progress,” concluded Agyapong.
{{About MTN Rwandacell }}
MTN Rwandacell Plc (MTN Rwanda) is the market leader in mobile telecommunications in Rwanda. Since 1998, it has continuously invested in expanding and modernising its network and leading digital solutions for Rwanda’s progress.
The telecom offers various services to subscribers, including innovative propositions such as personalised voice and data offers for individuals and corporates with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold and new digital world to customers.
During the event held on Monday 18th July 2022, Premier Ngirente was joined by officials including Hailemariam Desalegn, the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent Biruta and the Minister of Environment, Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya.
The inauguration took place at a time when Rwanda is hosting Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC).
The congress running between 18th and 23rd July 2022 is organized by African Wildlife Foundation, an international conservation organization focused exclusively on Africa’s wildlife and wild lands.
The first Africa Protected Area Congress underway in Kigali is intended to further enhance the status of conservation in Africa by engaging governments, the private sector, civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities, academia to shape Africa’s Protected and Conserved Areas Agenda to better deliver benefits for people and nature.
The Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Juliet Kabera has explained that Nyandungu Eco-Park is located in a wetland that was seriously degraded.
She revealed that the project is the beginning for the restoration of five more wetlands in Kigali City.
Martine Urujeni, Kigali City Vice Mayor in charge of Socio-Economic Affairs has revealed that protecting the environment will help Rwanda to keep moving forward with its vision of green economy.
She requested Rwandans to protect wetlands and thanked partners helping the city to remain clean and promote green economy.
Urujeni also assured the city’s support to activities mean to enhance conservation of the Nyandungu Eco-Park.
During the event, Premier Ngirente and accompanying officials planted trees for environmental conservation.
Nyandungu Eco-Park was open to public on 8th July 2022. QA Venue Solutions, which also operates BK Arena, will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the park and offer guided tours to visitors and its attractions.
The opening of Nyandungu Eco-Park represents the single largest addition to public green space in Kigali in the city’s history.
The park provides a space for residents and visitors to the city to explore and learn from nature, and is part of Rwanda’s efforts to harness eco-tourism to restore biodiversity and conserve urban wetland ecosystems.
The restoration of the wetland and creation of an eco-tourism park was funded by the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA) with support from the UK Government, the Italian Government through the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the UN Environment Programme.
The six-year initiative has restored the Nyandungu wetland ecosystem and promoted the sustainable management of natural resources. The initiative has also created approximately 4,000 green jobs.
The rapid growth of Kigali and the associated human activities have put significant pressure on the wetlands. Wetlands, including Nyandungu, have been degraded and this led to biodiversity loss. Encroachment has also resulted in downstream flooding as well as increased pollution due sewage outflows.
In 2016, the Government of Rwanda through REMA developed the Nyandungu restoration project to respond to these challenges and demonstrate the potential of wetlands to abate pollution and reduce the risk of flooding in urban areas.
Since then, the Rwf 4.5 billion project has restored critical habitats, including a native fig forest and the wetland itself, and rehabilitated streams and ponds to alleviate floods and reed-beds to reduce pollution.
Stretched on 121.7 hectares in size, including 70 hectares of wetland and 50 hectares of forest; the wetland also features a medicinal garden, a Pope’s Garden, five catchment ponds, three recreation ponds, a 10km network of walking and cycling paths, viewing areas, picnic areas, an information centre, and a restaurant among other facilities.
It is home to more than 62 local plant species and over 100 bird species.
Trainees include Police officers, investigators from RIB as well as those from Rwanda Food and Drug Authority (RFDA) and the Ministry of Health.
The course is facilitated by experts from the Health Protection Department of the Italian Carabinieri, as part of the existing cooperation with Rwanda National Police.
While opening the course, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Administration and Personnel, Jeanne Chantal Ujeneza, observed that foodstuff, drugs and medicines traded illegally are a serious threat to public health.
She added that foodstuff, drugs and medicines or other products, if produced, traded illegally or poorly stored, present a serious threat to public health since they are dangerous for human consumption.
The training, she said, comes to support the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority to achieve its mandate to protect the public health through regulation of human and veterinary medicines, vaccines and other biological products, processed foods, medicated cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and tobacco products.
“To effectively achieve its mission, Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority requires working hand-in-hand with other government institutions including law enforcement agencies such as RIB and Police among others, for regular monitoring and inspection of all these products circulating in the country to protect the citizens,” DIGP Ujeneza added.
The Deputy Police Chief thanked the Carabinieri for its continuous support in various areas of capacity development.
She urged participants to take advantage of the training to acquire more knowledge in food and drug quality inspection.
On his part, Col. Francesco Sessa, the Carabinieri Liaison Officer observed that the training was implemented in the framework of Cooperation between the RNP and the Italian Carabinieri.
“Here, we come from different backgrounds, with different legal systems, from different institutions, carrying out different functions. However, I believe that we share something in common, a desire to learn from one another and stay up-to-date on how we can accomplish our mandate for a safer society,” Col. Francesco said.
RNP and Carabinieri signed a cooperation agreement in 2017 to partner in capacity development, including peace support operations, counter-terrorism, aviation security, public order management, VIP protection, cybercrime, traffic and road safety, environmental protection as well as acquisition of modern police equipment, among others.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Valentine Uwamariya has officiated the start of exams at Groupe Scolaire Nyagasambu in Fumbwe Sector of Rwamagana District which serves as an examination center for 633 learners (including 301 boys and 332 girls) from four schools including Rwamashyongoshyo Parents School, GS Runyinya, Nyagasambu Vision and GS Nyagasambu.
Minister Uwamariya told the candidates to consider the exam as an opportunity giving them chance to be promoted to the next level.
“You have spent six years preparing for this exam allowing you to be promoted to the next level. In fact, it is about preparations to join the category of mature people. This is a good move for you but it is not extraordinary because you have done exams at different times,” she said.
Minister Uwamariya has revealed that learners have had smooth preparations unlike the past two years where studies were affected by COVID-19.
Even though the pandemic has not yet been defeated, Minister Uwamariya observed that this school year went well and ended on time without COVID-19 restrictions suspending studies and expressed optimism for good performance.
She also urged parents and head teachers to make sure that all children participate lest they are deprived of a brighter future.
At least 429,151 finalists from primary, ordinary level and upper secondary school are expected to sit for national exams this year.
Ordinary level exams are scheduled between 26thy July and 2nd August 2022 while students completing the upper secondary school will sit for national exams from 26th July to 5th August 2022.
Besides, candidates from Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) will sit for exams between 26th July and 3rd August 2022 while written exams for students from Vocational Training Schools are scheduled to run from 26th July to 5th August 2022.
At last 254,000 primary school finalists sat for national exams last year.
Dr. Kayihura replaced Prof. Nosa Egiebor who has been serving as the Acting Vice Chancellor for 72 days following the resignation of Prof. Alexandre Lyambabaje to begin his retirement life.
Meanwhile; Dr. Ndikumana replaced Dr. Musafiri Papias Malimba who had held the position for four years.
The new reforms are aimed at strengthening the university’s management to continue offering quality education and provide solutions to problems facing the society through research development among others.
The newly appointed leaders, Dr. Muganga and Dr. Raymond Ndikumana are familiar with the functioning of UR.
Dr. Muganga once served as the Acting Principal of University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) between 2016 and 2017. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Law at The National University of Rwanda (UNR), from 2007 to 2009.
Dr. Ndikumana has been also working at the University of Rwanda. He once served as a coordinator of Swedish project which provides funding to UR among others.
Speaking to IGIHE, Dr. Muganga has outlined priorities during his leadership.
His projections fall under broad plans including workforce integration, promoting technology and the reputation of UR on the global scene.
“Today, the university’s workforce seem to be disjointed and don’t work together. It is as if everyone is working independently. Members of the management need to work as a team and have common understanding to facilitate projects’ implementation. This issue needs a lot of attention,” he said.
“Secondly, we need to see how to widen planning to address existing challenges in the society,” added Dr. Muganga.
He explained that it requires the collaboration with all partners to achieve envisaged goals.
“The university cannot address these problems on its own. There is need for collaboration with different partners and citizens to remove these barriers,” Dr. Muganga added.
The University of Rwanda was created in 2014 out of the merger of public higher learning institutes. It had six colleges prior to the merger.
Eight years after its creation, the university is ranked 3024th among 31,000 universities globally as per list released by Webometrics, an international platform ranking higher education institutions based on web-accessible data.
It also ranks UR at 55th place out of 2049 universities.
The university had emerged the 10,028th among nearly 25,000 universities globally before the merger.
In 2018, UR was the 83rd out of 1687 in Africa and 3146th out of 28.074 universities globally.
Dr. Muganga has said that there is optimism to build on achieved progress to take the university to greater heights.
He highlighted that engaging with his colleagues to have a new direction will be a priority right after assuming duties.
Dr. Muganga has revealed that international universities in Rwanda like the African Leadership University (ALU) and Carnegie Mellon are not perceived as competitors but rather as partners.
“We don’t have any issues with them even if the number might increase to ten. Their lecturers will help us and work on different projects,” he said.
Dr. Muganga also stressed the need to implement several projects and research for the university to remain positioned among leading ones.
Regarding technology; Dr. Muganga has said that he will first assess the situation regarding the university’s efforts to advance technology before deciding on the next course of action.
UR was seen as the hub for sports with leading teams in different games. As years went by, sporting activities seemed to have received little attention where its teams became less popular.
However, efforts have been in place for the past two years where the university’s teams are active in different competitions.
Dr. Muganga said that the university had different teams in Volleyball, Football, Basketball, Karate and traditional dance troops by the time he was part of its management.
He disclosed that there are efforts underway to promote sporting activities.
Dr. Muganga observed that merging operations of all colleges of UR will help to enhance communication, concert researchers’ efforts, which should be also applied to sporting activities.
Dr. Muganga has been serving as the Rector of the Institute of Legal Practice and Development in Rwanda.
He holds a PhD degree from Utrecht University in 2015. Dr. Muganga also has Master’s Degree in International Business Law from the same university in 2006 and Bachelor’s Degree from the former National University of Rwanda.
Some people actually start regretting why they ever got married even though they love their partners. Some people I have talked to said routine is one of the things that make marriage boring.
“You wake up to the same day over and over again. Sometimes, it just doesn’t stop and you forget to live and make yourself happy,” one of them said.
“And because of other responsibilities like taking care of your children by providing for them, sometimes you just continue to get carried away and you do not remember to do things that can actually bring back the spark,” the person added.
It is not even one experience but many of the married people that I know continued to talk about this thing of ‘bringing up the spark’ in other words reverting back to the honeymoon stage where things are still interesting.
I started to think that this is what probably happens when you get married. I thought it is an unfortunate fate that all married couples face.
But I was wrong, I spoke to one older couple that has been married for 17 years and had known each other for another 4 years prior to their marriage. Today, they still act like they got married yesterday, they have let me in unto the secret of keeping the spark alive.
{{Putting in the work}}
They told me that one mistake couples usually make is that they both know what it requires but they do not want to put in the work.
“If you know what your partner wants and you don’t want to put in the work to make it happen and make each other happy, then it is never going to work,” the husband said.
“If you know what your partner needs and enjoys, then you will know what to do and it has to always go both ways,” the wife told me.
{{It takes two }}
Too often, you find that the reason why one person in the relationship or marriage is bored by the relationship is because they find themselves giving and never receiving.
For instance, you may find the wife to always be the one compromising things for the sake of the husband or vice versa.
This older couple strongly believes that it takes two to actually make the marriage work and keep things interesting.
“Your partner should not always be the one sacrificing or be the one to put in all the effort to make the other one happy. I think it is crucial to always do things for each other.”
{{Surprise each other}}
Surprising someone you have known for a long time might be tricky, they know most of what there is to know about you. There is nothing new in the relationship, but surprises do not have to be about gifts. It can range from planning a spontaneous date to doing something for them that they do not expect.
“Small surprises sometimes touch a person’s heart more than you think, they come from the heart and that is what matters,” the husband told me.
{{Make new memories }}
One mistake that people often make is to live in the past, always remembering how things were, how life was rather than making new memories.
“I used to do that thinking about the past and how things were and the things that we had done, rather than focusing on the present and how we can make it better,” she said.
“Living in the moment also counts, you have to understand the times change and things cannot always be the same but you can make your present enjoyable,” she added.
{{Remembering not to forget }}
As every couple, their relationship was not always roses. It had its thorns. I asked them what mistake they think they have made in their relationship that may have caused them to lose the spark for a while.
“I think one mistake is that we each got so carried away with our own person that we forgot each other,” the husband said
“We became so selfish and self centered that we could never take each other’s feelings into consideration.”
Relationships and marriage take a lot of work, but according to this couple, it is all worth it if you are with the right person.
The Western region Police spokesperson, Superintendent of Police (SP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, identified the suspect as Innocent Hakizimana, 37, who was arrested due to a tip-off by residents.
“Residents in Ubucuruzi Village reported Hakizimana, who was being transported on a motorcycle with a bundle of cannabis. Police conducted an operation and apprehended him with the narcotics few minutes after being dropped by the taxi-moto operator, who fled,” said SP Karekezi.
SP Karekezi commended the impact of the public in identifying and reporting suspected drug dealers.
He warned commercial motorcyclists against facilitating and transporting drug dealers, and narcotics.
Hakizimana and the exhibits were handed over to RIB at Gisenyi station for further investigations.
Article 3 of the Ministerial order nº 001/moh/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorisation classifies cannabis in the category of very severe narcotics.
Article 263 of the law No. 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offences 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.
In case of “very severe narcotic drugs” the offender is liable to between 20 years and life imprisonment and a fine of between Rwf20 million and Rwf30 million.
The appointments have been announced through a statement released by Prime Minister, Dr. Edouard Ngirente.
Dr. Didas Kayihura has been serving as the Rector of the Institute of Legal Practice and Development in Rwanda.
He once served as the Acting Principal of University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), (2016-2017). He was the Dean of the Faculty of Law at The National University of Rwanda (UNR), (2007-2009).
Dr. Kayihura holds a PhD from Utrecht University in 2015. He also has a Master’s Degree in International Business Law from Utrecht University (2006) and Bachelor’s Degree from the National University of Rwanda.
Among others, he is a member of the Rwandan Kigali Bar Association (KBA), the East African Law Society (EALS), and the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC).
Dr. Kayihura has been also serving as the Chairperson of Kigali City Council since 2021. He had been the Vice Chairperson since 2019.
Meanwhile, Dr. Raymond Ndikumana has been also working at the university of Rwanda (UR).
He once served as a coordinator of Swedish project which provides funding to the UR among others.
