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  • Kenya disagrees with EAC axle road limits

    {{Kenya has broken ranks with its East Africa Community counterparts over plans to adopt harmonised gross vehicle weight limits by August.
    Officials at the EAC Secretariat said Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi have agreed on 56 tonnes axle load (weight per tyre).}}

    In October 2008, President Mwai Kibaki issued a directive reducing the number of axles allowed on Kenyan roads from four to three, lowering the limit of the gross weight of a truck to 48 tonnes. Now Kenya says it can only go up to 52.

    Burundi and Rwanda both have an axle load limits of 53 tonnes while Uganda and Tanzania have theirs at 56 tonnes. The variance could frustrate efforts towards integration.

    Article 90 of the EAC Treaty provides for the adoption of common axle-load to facilitate transit transport in the region, which is a key pillar of integration.

    Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have harmonised their axle-load limits in line with those of Comesa, while Tanzania has harmonised its axle-load limits in line with the Southern Africa Development Community countries.

    According to PADECO, an international development consulting company that recently conducted a study on transport infrastructure in the region, the EAC will save about $7 million per year if axle load is controlled. Also, that transit time for vehicles carrying goods from one partner state to the other will reduce by an hour.

    EAC’s director of productive Services and Infrastructure Alfred Kisoro, said consultations on the implementation of a harmonised weight and axle limit are in top gear. “The lack of a harmonised axle load is among major factors impeding efficient transport in the region as vehicles on transit are delayed for several hours at weighbridges,” said Mr Kisoro.

    In most East and Southern Africa countries, enforcement is hampered by the lack of harmonised rules on axle load limits and vehicle specifications. Also to blame for poor enforcement of the rules and regulations is the fact that most implementing authorities are ill-equipped for their work. On the other hand, corruption among public officials manning weighbridges has led to a lack of faith in the systems used in different countries.

    Reports indicate that cross-border transport is three to five times more expensive in Africa than it is in Asia and Latin America. For example, truck transport from Mombasa to Kampala over a distance of about 1,100 km takes five days, of which 19 hours are spent crossing borders and at weighbridges.

    EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera described the efforts to harmonise vehicle weight limits as critical if EAC partner states are to improve transport infrastructure in the region. This, he said would spur efficiency and lower the cost of doing business.

    “If we can ensure efficiency in the transport sector, we shall be able to reduce the cost of doing business by over 50 per cent which will boost the competitiveness of the East African Common Market,” said Dr Sezibera.

  • Perezida Kagame yagarutse birambuye ku kwihesha no kwiha agaciro ubwo yakirwaga n’Abanyarwanda i Chicago

  • Perezida Kagame yahuye n’abagize ihuriro ry’abashoramari b’i Chicago

  • Rwanda Day 2011 – 2nd Day

  • Abashyigikiye leta y’u Rwanda n’abatavuga rumwe nayo bigaragambije mu mujyi wa Chicago

  • Ubu ndi umuntu wavuye ku buhutu n’ubututsi, ndi umunyarwanda wuzuye – Bamporiki

  • Nairobi bomb blast mastermind is dead

    {{The mastermind of the 1998 twin bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam Fazul Abdullah has been killed by Somalia government forces in Mogadishu}}.

    Mr Abdullah, who holds a Kenyan passport, was wanted for the fatal bombing of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that left at least 250 people dead and many injured.

    He was reportedly killed by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces on Wednesday at a roadblock.

    The run-away terrorist, who was on the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) watchlist of most wanted terrorists, is believed to have taken over the leadership of al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, al-Shabaab from where he directed world attacks and African terror operations.

    Confirming the reports, Kenya’s Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said he was working with security officers in Somalia to get a comprehensive report.

    “TFG forces have confirmed they gunned him down at a roadblock on Wednesday,” Mr Iteere remarked.

    Somalia militant group al Shaabab told the AFP news agency that Mr Abdullah was one of those killed.

    “One of the men that was killed near Mogadishu was Fazul Abdullah, may Allah bless his soul. He is not dead as thousands like him are still in the fight against the enemy of Allah,” a senior Al Shaabab commander had earlier told AFP on condition of anonymity.

    In 2007, there were reports that he had been killed in a US airstrike on the remote Coastal village of Hayo, near the Southern Somali town of ras Kamboni but a senior official later denied that the al Qaeda terrorist was dead.

    Mr Abdullahis purported to be the leader of the al Qaeda East African presence. He was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and holds Kenyan and Comorian citizenship. He speaks French, Swahili, Arabic English and Comorian.

    He was also wanted for the car bombing of Paradise Beach Hotel at Kikambala at the Coast in 2002. Thirteen people were killed and more than 80 people injured.

    The FBI had offered a Sh400 million for information leading to his arrest.

    “The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed,” a posting on the FBI website reads.

    According to the FBI, Mr Abdullah used 18 aliases. this story was first published by the Nation newspaper

  • Basketball tournament to assist genocide survivors

    {{Hull native Kate Kelley, a former basketball standout at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham and Bentley University, is organizing a benefit basketball tournament at Kenberma Park in Hull on July 16.
    }}

    Kelley, a two-time Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic, has earmarked 85 percent of the proceeds for the Ubumwe Basketball Program that uses sports to promote togetherness and reconciliation among youth while supporting basketball development in Rwanda. The remaining 15 percent of money raised will benefit local sports programs.

    Last summer, Kelley had a basketball clinic for girls that raised money for Hull High School girls basketball and a youth camp she organized in Kigali, Rwanda. The aim is to help families affected in the genocide.

    “Rwanda is still healing from the devastation of genocide,” Kelley said. “The country has made tremendous progress in the last 17 years in terms of economic development and stability.”

    She further pointed.“Sports in and of itself is a community building project,” adding that, “engaging local people and empowering them to serve the children in their communities gives them a sense of independence. Having parents standing around a basketball court cheering for their neighbors and their own children develops a sense of community.”

    Kelley said teams participating in the tournament can have squads of up to four players for the three-on-three games. There will be male and female divisions for ages 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-29 and 30 and older. Co-ed teams for ages 19-29 and 30 and older will also be able to compete.

    Individuals signing up will be assigned to a team. The cost is $30 a person or $100 for a team.
    There will be a maximum eight teams for each age group and games will last 10 minutes since each team will play at least two games. Prizes will include a free workout session with a college basketball player, Nike sneakers and gift certificates.

  • Ensuring better child welfare should be a concern to all

    {{Celebrations for this year’s international child day should serve as a wakeup call in ensuring better welfare to children, yet more needs to be done especially in civilizing street kids.
    }}

    In line with raising the awareness, the event scheduled to take place in Huye district will also observe two more relevant global celebrations including child labor day and African family.

    The minister of labor and public service, Anastase Murekezi noted that some children were exposed to harassment due to poverty. He proceeded by warning those who take advantage of the poor kids’ situation by employing them to hard tasks and end up paying them pea-nuts.

    Murekezi also encouraged the public to play a role in ensuring children rights were adhered and that they should report cases of child labor or harassment. In addition vulnerable parents were informed to group themselves into cooperatives in order to access credit which would facilitate them in forming a descent income generating activity.

    The minister also discouraged financial contribution to physically fit beggars especially adults who use their children to beg money in the street. “It would be better if you advised them on useful activities or give them jobs instead of providing them with coins since it makes them reluctant,” he remarked.

    Moreover, constructions of two more rehabilitation centers are underway, the target is to eliminate all street kids and train them on vocational skills while those who perform well will be given scholarship to pursue their career in academic institutions.

    The event will also pay tribute to those who took part in South Africa’s Soweto Uprising back in 1976 meant to change the quality of education given to locals during the Apartheid war.

  • Minisitiri Mushikiwabo asanga agaciro k’umuntu ari intango y’ubumuntu n’ibyiza yifitemo