The 37th General Assembly was chaired by the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Albert Murasira and attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Jean Bosco Kazura; as well as service chiefs and heads of security organs; and selected list of members.
According to the approved Business Plan for the year 2023, ZCSS targets to increase its Gross Income to 85 billion from 69 billion and its Net Profit to 25.9 billion from 20 billion.
Zigama CSS Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. James Ndahiro said that ZCSS is currently concluding 5 years strategic plan whereby they registered a number of achievements including providing shelter to a big number of members as well as providing services using digital platforms. The general assembly was also an opportunity to receive suggestions from members for the next 5 years strategic plan, he said.
“In the last 5 years we managed to provide products and services for our members, and those services have been largely provided using digital platforms. I think that is a remarkable achievement given that our membership now is able to utilise digital services and we package our products now digitally to all levels of our membership. As we continue into the future, most of our products and services will be digital and we are calling our members to keep in line,” he said.
ZIGAMA CSS is a financial cooperative with membership drawn mainly from Security Organs namely Rwanda Defence Force, Rwanda National police, Rwanda Correctional Services, National Intelligence and Security Service and Rwanda Investigation Bureau.
He made the revelation on Thursday 24th November 2022 during an interview with France24, one day following peace talks in Angola bringing together regional heads of state aimed at finding a solution for security crisis in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where a fight between Congolese Army (FARDC) and M23 is ongoing.
Some of the meeting’s resolutions include a request for M23 to withdraw from held positions or be quelled by the joint regional troops.
It was also resolved that all armed groups including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been working with FARDC in the fighting with M23, must lay down arms and return to countries of origin.
The resolutions have however triggered mixed reactions as to how the Congolese Government would be assured of their implementation yet M23 was not represented in the meeting.
Speaking to France24 on Thursday, the Congolese Minister of Communication and Government Spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya said: “You know that M23 is represented by Rwanda from the onset of attacks. Let’s talk about things as they are. We are optimistic that the resolutions taken this time around with their timeframes will be implemented to restore peace on the entire national territory.”
Mukuralinda has said that it would be far from the reality if DRC and its spokesperson believe that Rwanda was representing M23.
He explained that Rwanda attends the meeting as a country committed to upholding its security.
Mukuralinda further stated that the resolutions of Luanda make up a continual failure of Congo in restoring peace in eastern part of the country.
“Resolutions reached in Nairobi, Luanda and Burundi are the same. This resolution has demonstrated a great failure and total incapacity of Congolese Government in restoring security in eastern part of the country, and lack of political will to implement the aforementioned resolutions,” he said.
“Rwanda is neither a representative nor a spokesperson of M23. This kind of additions has always seen the implementation of resolutions failing because they are mixing up things,” added Mukuralinda.
He said that resolutions of the meeting have to be implemented by all concerned parties.
“M23 and other groups have to respect yesterday’s resolutions. A roadmap was given where the group will be subjected to further decisions for failure to do so. Rwanda is not the spokesperson of M23. It is concerned about its security,” stated Mukuralinda.
The Deputy Government Spokesperson has underlined that security problems in eastern DRC cannot be resolved in case some of armed groups present in the country are overlooked.
“Today, the problem is known. It is time to fight all armed groups at once not drawing attention on two or three groups only. When an individual or government focuses on the area and excludes others, it shows lack of willingness to solve an existing problem. This situation has lingered on for more than 20 years,” he said.
M23 announced that it won’t withdraw from captured areas because it was not considered during the meeting.
The banquet was hosted by the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum in the evening of Thursday 24th November 2022.
Apart from Kagame, the banquet was also attended by the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari; Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea Bissau; Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana and the Chairperson of African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
The summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification is taking place in Niamey, the capital of Niger.
It aims to highlight renewed commitment towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Economic Diversification.
President Kagame arrived in Niamey on Thursday 24th November 2022.
The Summit is convened as part of the Africa Industrialization Week annual commemorative activities.
Given the importance of industrialization and economic transformation in Africa, the 20th of every November is commemorated as the Africa Industrialization Day, adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity in July 1989, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Africa Industrialization Day provides an opportunity to key stakeholders to reflect on Africa’s industrialization by looking at how the continent can change its current status quo.
Since 2018, the Africa Industrialization Day has been commemorated with week-long events, marking a departure from the one-day tradition, and which affords more time to reflect and accelerate actions towards Africa’s structural transformation, as an enabler to meet the objectives of Agenda 2063, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030.
The Boeing 737-800 SF, which is painted in RwandAir’s first cargo livery, will be based at the carrier’s Kigali hub.
The new jet delivered on 24th November 2022, will allow the Rwandan carrier to further expand its cargo operation, which has been on the rise.
RwandAir will operate the new freighter to a number of key destinations in Africa and the Middle East, including Johannesburg, Nairobi, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Yvonne Makolo, CEO of RwandAir said: “The delivery of our dedicated cargo aircraft is a huge milestone in RwandAir’s fleet expansion plans.
Cargo is of ever-increasing importance for the aviation industry, and as a landlocked country, we recognize the importance and value of good cargo connections.
We want to ensure that Africa is seamlessly connected to the world, driving economic growth and valuable trade deals.”
From its hub at the heart of Africa at Kigali International Airport, RwandAir is renowned for its excellent customer service where recently RwandAir won the award for ‘Best Airline Staff in Africa’ at Skytrax’s 2022 World Airline Awards, for a second successive year.
RwandAir currently operates to a variety of destinations across East, Central, West, and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
The proposal to rise legal drinking age emerged among resolutions of the recent 15th forum of Unity Club Intwararumuri following discussions on the behaviours of youth, a segment of the population considered to hold the country’s future.
The Unity Club is an association that brings together members of cabinet – former and present, their spouses, and other top government officials, with a purpose of promoting unity and contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.
Speaking to IGIHE, Tito Rutaremara, a political expert and the Chairperson of Rwanda Elders’ Advisory Forum affirmed that drunkenness and drug abuse is among issues affecting the youth.
He however observed that rising legal drinking age is not the only solution.
“The solution should be about enforcing laws, to discourage people serving alcohol to minors and get them arrested because the situation might remain the same if the age is raised to 21 without close monitoring,” he said.
“Besides, bar owners need to be strict and refrain from serving alcohol to minors. On the other hand, they might order alcoholic drinks through other people. So, the most important thing is that parents have to own the problem, educate children on the negative effects of alcohol and prevent them from consuming alcohol.
The youth and schools should also play their part in this sensitization. In brief, the policy needs to be devised, have people serving them with alcohol punished and call for collective efforts to contain alcohol consumption among teenagers,” added Rutaremara.
Figures from Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) show that 744 teenagers aged below 18 represent 3% of people arrested over drunkenness and drug abuse between 2018 and 2022.
For people aged between 18 and 30, the number increased to 14,765 representing 58.7% while 9,658 are people above 30 representing 38.4%.
According to statistics from Ndera Neuro-Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, in 2021/2022, 96,357 mental health patients were received by the hospital, and of these, 70 per cent are youth with issues induced by alcohol and drugs.
According to the World Health Organisation, 5.3 per cent of all deaths are attributable to alcohol consumption.
Globally, around 61 per cent of countries have a drinking age of 18 or 19. India is the exception, where some states have a minimum drinking age as high as 25 and 30 years old.
In Africa, the highest legal drinking age is 21 in Egypt while the lowest is 15 years old in Ethiopia. In countries like Algeria and Benin, there is no legal drinking age.
Despite the fact that part of the youth fell for different vices including alcohol, Rutaremara explained that Rwandans should not feel like the country’s future is destroyed because there are others with good conduct.
“The youth have a lot of evil obsessions but it would be wrong to assume that they are all in the same case. There is a large number of youth with good manners but we have to work hard to bring others in the right direction,” he said.
Generally, over 84,000 people are detained in Rwanda’s prisons. Of these, 12,000 are remanded excluding suspects detained at Police stations as per findings by TIR released in May 2022.
The main objective was to assess the application of other alternative measures to imprisonment.
The probe followed another conducted by the Commission for Human Rights in 2019/2020 which indicated that overpopulation in Rwanda’s prisons stood at 136%.
Speaking to BBC towards the end of last week, the Executive Secretary of TIR, Apollinaire Mupiganyi said that overcrowding in prisons results from, among other reasons, the incarceration of individuals suspected of minor crimes yet there are other alternative punishments under Rwanda’s penal code that should be applied.
“The conducted survey indicated a sharp increase from the previous statistics released by Human Rights Commission. This stresses the need for quick action. It is apparent that challenges still exist. Security organs mandated to carry out investigations, even the judiciary rush to opt for imprisonment instead of other 12 alternatives that should be applied to make prison the last choice,” he said.
Mupiganyi explained that there are crimes requiring imprisonment but pointed out other available options like fines, house arrest, introducing electronic ankle monitors, mediation, and amnesty among others.
“The other 12 alternatives are applied at a very low percentage hence resulting into a sharp increase of detainees,” he said.
The Spokesperson of the National Public Prosecution (NPPA), Faustin Nkusi, explained that criminals increase overtime where there are emerging crimes including cybercrimes and human trafficking among others going hand in hand with fast development.
In the year 2021/2022, the Prosecution received 83,349 dossiers involving 106,554 suspects.
Of these, 43,645 dossiers were filed to courts while 39,211 suspects were released without undergoing trial.
The President of Rwanda Bar Association, Lawyer Moise Nkundabarashi said that overpopulation in Rwanda’s prisons can be reduced by 97,38% in case the other alternatives for imprisonment are applied.
He explained that some cases can last for three years due to a large number of people seeking justice. To this end, Nkundabarashi disclosed that an individual acquitted after spending three years in jail hardly copes with related effects.
“It is our option that suspects should be tried without detention but it requires much effort to educate people that trying a suspect being out of prison does not mean the case is ignored. We have different examples where the Prosecution did the same and filed lawsuits against individuals out of jail who faced justice and taken into prison after courts’ verdicts,” affirmed Nkundabarashi.
The Judicial Spokesperson, Harrison Mutabazi said that more than 40,000 criminal cases were taken to court during last year’s judicial year.
The number excludes civil, commercial, administrative and labour court cases.
“The number is an addition to the backlog of court cases accumulated in the previous years,” he noted.
Mutabazi explained that judges try to balance all punishments as provided by law but the situation is exacerbated by backlogs and the shortage of courts’ employees.
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As for civil and commercial cases, a mediation policy was introduced in Rwanda. Rwandans are encouraged to opt for this method as it is believed to be efficient and fast in conflicts’ resolution.
Besides, Rwanda introduced plea bargaining procedure, on 11th October 2022, to adjudicate on criminal cases.
A plea bargain is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and the defendant where the latter agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for a lenient sentence.
This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or one of the several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges. It may also mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.
Plea bargaining is provided by the Law regarding criminal cases. The Article 26 of the Law stipulates that; at the end of the suspect’s interrogation, the prosecutor may propose a plea bargaining agreement whereby the suspect helps the prosecutor to obtain all the necessary information in the prosecution of the offence and to know other persons involved in the commission of the offence and in return of some benefits but without hindering good administration of justice.
The prosecutor undertakes to make concessions to the suspect in relation to charges against him or her and the penalties that he or she may request.
During investigations, a suspect who enters into plea bargaining with the prosecution may be prosecuted while free.
Plea bargaining does not prevent the victim of the offence from getting information on the prosecution file and from contributing to the explanation on the commission of the offence.
The article 26 of the same Law stipulates that, in case of an agreement of plea bargaining, the public prosecution charges the suspect as agreed on by both parties.
The court may admit or reject an agreement of plea bargaining but cannot alter the agreement.
In case the agreement is admitted, the court, while taking a decision, considers the agreement on plea bargaining concluded between the public prosecution and the accused.
Nkusi explained that the process is more advantageous as it paves the way for lenient punishments, prosecuting suspects while free, suspending a punishment and slapping them with fines among others.
With the land area of 993 square kilometers, 13 sectors, 88 cells and 537 villages; Karongi District is situated in close to 130 kilometers from Kigali City.
Located in Western Province, the district has been taking advantage of its proximity to Lake Kivu separating Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to fast track development.
Like many other districts, Karongi is characterized by a hilly topography with attractive features as well as cultural and historical vestiges of great significance to the country.
These include the Congo Nile Divide, spectacular view of Lake Kivu shores, Nyungwe National Park, Gisovu Tea Plantation, Muciro natural forest and Ndaba rock among others.
Located in Nyarurembo Village, Kibuye Cell of Bwishyura Sector, Rwamatete Peninsula is among cornerstones for Karongi district’s attractiveness where a traveler standing there gets a clear view of eye-catching islands in Lake Kivu and beautiful hills in the area formerly known as Kibuye.
40 years ago, the peninsula’s attractive beauty lured the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda which detected investment opportunity in it and built accommodations to reduce dependence on foreign aids.
This investment paid off big time that it birthed Bethany Hotel, an icon of Rwanda’s hospitality sector on the shores of Lake Kivu.
It is among favourite hospitality establishments built in Karongi long ago.
It sits on the shores of Lake Kivu where guests are awakened, every morning, by singing birds from surrounding ornamental trees, waving water in Lake Kivu or folk songs by fishers returning home.
Speaking to IGIHE; Pastor Fidèle Sibomana, the Managing Director of Bethany Investment Group has revealed that the hotel was built in 1982 to reduce reliance on foreign aid.
“We foresaw that there would be a time when aid from donors might not be available. That is when the church started developing home grown solutions to achieve self-reliance in the future,” he said.
Today, Bethany Hotel has 55 cozy rooms with a target to increase them to 80 in the next few years.
Prices are relatively low as one night accommodation ranges from Rwf60,000 to Rwf30,000 per room depending of clients’ choices and available means.
The management says that the low price is meant to make the hotel affordable for Rwandans willing to enjoy the beauty of their country in a relaxed setting.
The General Manager of Bethany Hotel, Janvier Ntwali who has held the position for eight years, says that clients’ feedback on offered services is very positive, thanks to a dedicated team of professionals.
“We offer different services at this hotel to guests looking for a relaxed setting, you can have meal at our bar and restaurant or work with us to organize a meeting here,” he said.
As IGIHE journalist visited the hotel recently, he was taken to different islands in Lake Kivu aboard its boats. Visited natural features include the Island of Peace (Akarwa k’Amahoro), Chapeau de Napoléon and Monkeys Island (Akarwa k’Inkende) among others.
Apart from the view of Lake Kivu, the hotel is surrounded by ornamental trees and flourishing garden, adding up to other services fascinating guests to prolong their stay.
Besides, the hotel recently launched a modern Coffee Shop for interested guests to taste coffee grown in the vicinity of Lake Kivu.
Bethany Hotel has so far opened branches in Rubavu, Kigali and Nyagatare.
Eng Mulindahabi was released on 22nd November 2022 along with 11 staff members involved in the case of theft, use of forged documents and public resources misappropriation.
A total of 19 individuals have been arrested under this dossier since 23rd October 2022 to allow for investigations into alleged crimes.
Eng Mulindahabi and co-accused were arraigned before court early November for bail or remand hearing.
The court read related ruling on Tuesday 22nd November where it ordered the release of 12 individuals connected to the same case including En. Mulindahabi.
Meanwhile, six individuals including a storekeeper remained in custody.
During a previous hearing, the Prosecution said that the suspects are accused of stealing equipment worth Rwf113 million.
It is said that the case is connected to the theft of construction materials, plumbing supplies and steel used to make cooking vessels among others.
Ndayishimiye made the disclosure during a recent exclusive interview with RFI and France 24.
The President makes the statement at a time when EAC countries are sending troops to fight armed groups in DRC.
Ndayishimiye explained that efforts to restore peace in eastern DRC are underway as concerned countries agree to hold dialogues.
“Accepting to sit together is a good progress. I am convinced that there is a significant step forward,” he said.
Ndayishimiye also said that he has not yet identified the accuracy of DRC’s accusations against Rwanda.
“So far, we have not yet found any evidence, on behalf of the region and myself. However, we plan to have a consultation meeting with the mediator on this conflict [Angolan President Joao Lourenço]. We will have an opportunity to analyze the situation and establish the truth,” he said.
Ndayishimiye revealed that his country will send many battalions to DRC where some troops have been already deployed under the joint regional efforts.
Kenya and Uganda are among other countries that sent soldiers to DRC.
