African Development Bank Group to finance Rwanda’s Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved two loans amounting to US$ 171 million to finance Rwanda’s Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program.
The program is designed to improve the quality of life and socio-economic development of the country by ensuring equitable provision of adequate, reliable and sustainable water and sanitation services for targeted cities with a view to promote economic growth and transformation.
Under the program, water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services will be provided in Kigali and satellite towns of Rubavu, Rusizi, Nyagatare, Muhanga, Huye, Musanze and Karongi. An estimated 1.1 million people are expected to benefit from improved water supply services while 475,000 others will have access to better sanitation.
The program tallies with Rwanda’s Vision 2020 which envisions scaling up investments in reliable, affordable and environmentally sustainable infrastructure and water and sanitation services as key drivers and enablers of economic transformation and rural development. The country’s second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) planned to increase access to improved water supply and sanitation to 100% and 58.3%, respectively.
It also fits with the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2017–2021 for Rwanda with regards to investing in energy and water infrastructure to foster inclusive and green growth. By providing sustainable and affordable water and sanitation services, the program will help accelerate development and improve the quality of life of the people as espoused by the Bank’s High 5 priorities under the Ten Year Strategy, 2013-2022.
The programme will be implemented in 48 months
The appeal was raised yesterday, as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Political and Gender Affairs together with the state minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs in the Ministry of Justice, Evode Uwizeyimana started scrutinizing the draft law that seeks to amend the Penal Code.
However, The state minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs in the Ministry of Justice, Hon. Evode Uwizeyimana refuted this, saying that making the ‘genocide crime’ a specific law, would be globalizing it, while there are still some countries that don’t agree on the matter.
“What we can do is to put in place different penalties for genocide-related crimes because making ‘genocide crime’ as a specific law can be considered as globalizing it. We should remember that there are some countries that don’t agree on this matter” he explained.
MP Evaritse Kalisa highlighted the fact that Rwandans understand the crucial importance of tough penalties on genocide crime as they witnessed consequences of the genocide as a crime against humanity.
Kalisa added that on both Political and law grounds, genocidal acts should not be taken on with an easy leverage.
“We lived and saw what happened during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi; we saw the Trauma and destruction it left behind in our society. It is on these grounds that I stand on requesting that the Penalty for Genocidal crime be reviewed as a specific law with specific penalties different from genocide negation, divisionism and trivialization,” he said.
The President of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Political and Gender Affairs; MP Alfred Rwasa Kayiranga stressed too on the fact that a relevant scrutiny from the government was needed on the issue of penalties on genocide crime.
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