Rwanda’s Presidency has revealed via Twitter handle that Kagame met with Graça Machel on Monday 24th October 2022.
She has come to Rwanda to attend a two-day African Philanthropy Forum (APF) Conference taking place in Kigali.
Graça Machel,77, is the Founder of Graça Machel Trust and the Foundation for Community Development.
She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries; South Africa and Mozambique.
Graça Machel is one of the world’s leading advocates for women’s and children’s rights and has been a social justice and political activist for many decades.
She established the Graça Machel Trust in 2010 as a Pan-African advocacy organisation focused on child health and nutrition, education, women’s economic and financial empowerment, leadership and good governance.
Over the past years, the Trust has worked to “Multiply the Faces and Amplify the Voices” of African women and children.
Through collaboration with partners, at all levels, the organization has helped promote and strengthen women and children’s networks to drive social and economic change.
The Graça Machel Trust acts as a catalyst, working across the continent to advocate for the protection of children’s rights and dignity, and amplify women’s movements by harnessing and promoting their contributions to the economic, social and political development of Africa.
It works with global, regional and local partners who are passionate about creating profound change in the issues of focus.
Rwanda has highlighted its position through a statement released on Monday 24th October 2022.
“Contrary to the assertions of the President of DRC that his country is focused on a diplomatic solution to the insecurity in eastern DRC, recent statements and actions show that the DRC Government is decided on a course of continued military escalation. Furthermore, FARDC continues to operate alongside irregular armed militias, including FDLR,” reads the statement in part.
The statement further reads that the Congolese Army (FARDC)’s buildup ‘to renew attacks on M23, a Congolese armed group, is in violation of the agreed regional security mechanisms, including the Nairobi and Luanda processes’.
“Continued public incitement on the basis of ethnicity, use of heavy weaponry, targeting of Rwanda’s border zone, and baseless accusations against Rwanda are unacceptable,” adds the statement.
Despite continued provocations by DRC authorities and armed forces, the statement reads, Rwanda reiterates its firm commitment to contributing to a sustainable, peaceful regional security solution within the agreed regional frameworks.
Rwanda has however indicated that ‘the continual, unjustified attempts to make Rwanda a scapegoat for the internal political problems of DRC will continue to be categorically rejected’.
The statement is released, few days after Congolese Army resumed fighting with M23 amidst the country’s continual allegations accusing Rwanda of supporting the rebel group.
As Tshisekedi met with Congolese diaspora in the United Kingdom on Wednesday last week, he dragged Rwanda into his country’s mess saying that war will be the ultimate option in case diplomatic negotiations fail.
At the time, Tshisekedi also met with King Charles III where he highlighted that discussion on Rwanda was on the agenda of his visit.
Tshisekedi requested King Charles III to use his power in Commonwealth and demand Rwanda to stop destabilizing eastern DRC so that security can be restored in the Great Lakes Region.
However, Rwanda maintains that FDLR is the major cause of insecurity in the region.
“Let me take this moment to say thank you very much to all that sent in the hearty Wishes for my BD,” he posted on Twitter.
“My life thus far been full to the brim!! I have succeeded because of/with you. Where I failed it has been bcz of me alone. I can’t complain!!! Many Blessings to you All !!! added the Head of State.
As Kagame turned 65, different people took to social media their best wishes expressing delight for another year granted to the Head of State.
These include First Lady Jeannette Kagame and their first born Ange Kagame.
“It is always a blessing to celebrate you @PaulKagame! Happiest birthday to a wonderful leader, father, grandfather and husband. 65 is a beautiful milestone indeed. I am ever thankful for the family we have been given. You are a gift to us all!” First Lady Jeannette Kagame tweeted.
Using her Twitter account, Ange Kagame also sent best birthday wishes to President Kagame and described him as an exceptional grandfather.
Paul Kagame became the interim president of Rwanda on 24th March 2000 replacing Pasteur Bizimungu who had resigned. He was elected in 2003 to carry on the duties.
Kagame was born on 23rd October 1957 on Tambwe Hill, currently in Ruhango District, Southern Province.
He is the last born in the family of six children born to Deogratias Rutagambwa and Asteria Rutagambwa.
As Kagame turned two in 1959, his family fled to the north-east part of Rwanda where they spent two years before moving to Uganda.
Like many other Rwandans, Kagame spent his childhood in refuge in Uganda where he studied primary and secondary school.
Kagame led the Liberation Struggle and triumphed after stopping the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The development was announced on 26th October 2021 under a broad plan to facilitate access to vaccines in Africa.
The project is expected to reduce Africa’s dependence on foreign countries where the continent has the capacity to produce only 1% of needed vaccines.
The African Union (AU) seeks to capacitate the continent to produce at least 60% of needed vaccines by 2040.
The facility to sit on 30,000 square meters, will be based on BioNTainer modular system. It will have two BioNTainers used for manufacturing of vaccines and drugs.
The project’s managers indicate that preparations to begin operations are underway where the Human Resource Manager has been already recruited.
It will be closely monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO), African Medicines Agency (AMA), African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda-FDA) among others.
As the project was announced, it was revealed that BioNTech facility in Rwanda will provide job opportunities to 100 until 2024.
The local plant will be collaborating with employees from Germany to train new workers recruited to manufacture vaccines or oversee their standards in Rwanda.
IGIHE has learnt that the recruitment of local employees will be done in three phases.
The first comprises 24 managerial positions to recruit people who will oversee the plant’s activities.
The first phase took heed of human resources management, technology, security and construction.
The next phase is expected to draw emphasis on the recruitment of workers in the laboratory and others to facilitate the plant’s daily operations.
Sources reveal that BioNTech has so far received over 2000 applications from individuals interested to work at the facility based in Kigali in the first phase.
It is said that 90% of these applications are from Rwandans. Six staff members have been hired out of the 24 positions while interview tests are being conducted for more 30 positions.
All basic equipment will be shipped to Rwanda from BioNTech.
BioNTech says that the two BioNTainers to be set up in Rwanda will be comprised of 12 containers 12, each with the size of (2.6m x 2.4m x 12m).
It is expected that 50 million COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines will be manufactured in Kigali every year, once the new facility is successfully set up.
The production capacity might increase proportionally to the number of new containers installed.
The first BioNTainer module is expected to arrive in Africa towards the end of 2022 while the production of vaccines is set to begin in 12 months after their shipment to countries that will host such facilities.
Vaccines manufactured under this program will only be reserved for locals and other African countries.
The Spokesperson of RIB, Dr. Murangira B. Thierry has told IGIHE that Mulindahabi has been arrested along with other employees.
They are arrested under an ongoing investigation on cases of theft and misappropriation of public resources at IPRC-Kigali.
Their arrest follows a decision by the Government of Rwanda to temporary close the school for two weeks to allow for ongoing investigations into the aforementioned cases.
The statement released on Sunday by the Ministry of Education took immediate effect.
It indicated that no one is allowed to enter the campus premises during this period while students on campus were to be facilitated to return home.
The statement further reads that students will be informed on the reopening date and encouraged individuals with useful information that could benefit the investigation to contact the nearest RIB office.
Eng Mulindahabi has been serving as the Principal of IPRC Kigali since July 2011.
The development has been disclosed to the public by Burundi’s Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security via Twitter.
“All borders between Burundi and neighbouring countries are open,” reads part of the statement posted on Twitter.
The move was welcomed by Rwandans and Burundians who have been eagerly awaiting for the reopening of borders to ease free movement following tensions that escalated in2015.
Burundi accused Rwanda of supporting coup plot suspects who attempted to overthrow the then President Pierre Nkurunziza. Rwanda repeatedly rejected the allegations but accused Burundi of supporting security threat architects and armed groups intending to destabilize Rwanda.
Bilateral relations took a new shape through discussions to de-escalate tensions since 2020 when President Evariste Ndayishimiye took power.
The closure of borders halted free movement between both countries’ people and incurred losses for traders running businesses in Burundi and Rwanda.
Trade between Rwanda and Burundi has dropped from US$20 million per year in 2014 to US$0.01 in the third quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, Rwanda closed the border with Burundi as COVID-19 emerged in March 2020.
On 7th March 2022, Rwanda reopened all land borders but Burundi did not do the same.
According to The New Times, Musoni arrived in Rwanda on Friday 21st October 2022.
He was handed the sentence in 2015 by Stuttgart Court in Germany on counts of leading a terrorist organization. He was accused of with the then President of FDLR, Ignace Murwanashyaka handed 13-year sentence after he was found guilty of war crimes in relation to five FDLR attacks in eastern Congo and of leading a terrorist organization.
At the time, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice rejected an appeal by Musoni, who was given an eight-year sentence, but overturned Murwanashyaka’s conviction and sent his case back for a retrial.
The court cited legal errors in the reasoning of the original verdict that could have counted both for and against Murwanashyaka, including doubts about the war crimes conviction and whether he encouraged or facilitated attacks on villages.
It also said that section of the Stuttgart court’s verdict was contradictory in parts.
Murwanashyaka and Musoni lived in Germany where they had been granted asylum and coordinated FDLR.
They were charged with 26 crimes against humanity and 39 war crimes.
The duo was arrested in 2009 in Germany while their trial began in 2011.
Musoni was born in 1961 and settled in Germany in 1986 where he worked as a computer specialist.
He returns to Rwanda after serving his sentence while his boss Murwanashyaka died in prison in 2019 before completing his sentence.
The meeting comes at a time when many African countries and environmental activists lament of emissions from developed countries which continue relenting on compensation of occasioned damages.
They highlight that some families lost relatives due to floods, landslides, erosion, drought and other effects of climate change associated with the increase of greenhouse gas emissions released by countries; mainly from Europe and the United States of America.
The United Nations (UN) report dubbed International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) indicate that greenhouse gas emissions will exacerbate global warming by 2030.
The report shows that the global warming will increase from the current 1.2 to 1.5 degree celsius or 2 by 2040.
Like other African countries, Rwanda is among countries with least emissions but the continent is more affected than developed countries.
{{Rwanda’s stance at COP27 }}
Rwanda has an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 38% by 2030 compared to business as usual, equivalent to an estimated mitigation of up to 4.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Rwanda is among countries expected to attend the upcoming COP27 which draws near and will be an opportunity to call other participants for action to concert efforts aimed at dealing with climate change.
Herman Hakuzimana, the Environment and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Specialist at Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), has said that Rwanda will put forward its broad agenda aligning with designed national policy.
“Rwanda as a country affected by climate change, wants to see resolutions of the meeting highlighting how funds earmarked to mitigate climate change will be increased and raised,” he said.
The previous meeting ‘COP26’ resolved that funds allocated for climate change action plan should be doubled to reach at US$40 billion by 2025.
The funds are expected to bridge existing gaps related to financial constraints.
As for Rwanda, the country needs US$11 billion to implement the climate action plan.
The funds are made up of 5.7 billion dollars for mitigation and 5.3 billion dollars for adaptation.
Rwanda also wants to highlight its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 38% to 16%.
Hakuzimana said that Rwanda is not among major polluters but wants them to reduce emissions.
“We also want the meeting to come up with a resolution demanding major polluters to reduce emissions lest the issue continues to exacerbate,” he revealed.
Experts indicate that issues related to climate change increase proportionally to global warming.
Paris Agreement targets to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degree Celsius.
Hakuzimana explained that Rwanda wants delegates to take a resolution requesting countries to take bold actions to meet the target.
Rwanda will also advocate for special attention to implement National Determined Contributions.
The country will also mobilize developed countries to contribute US$100 billion to run different projects to help poor countries overcome effects of climate change.
The pledge was made at COP held for the 21st time in 2015. The funds were to be provided between 2020 and 2025 but not a single coin has been donated.
Faustin Mvuniyingoma, the coordinator of Rwanda Climate Change Development Network (RCCDN) has also said that Civil Society Organizations need increased funding to implement projects aimed at dealing with climate change.
“Damages and losses should be compensated. There are people dying, washed away crops, landslides and destroyed infrastructures. There is a need for compensation because there are people releasing emissions that occasion such devastating effects. Their contribution is needed to compensate damages,” he said.
During a pass out ceremony held on Friday 21st October 2022, the newly trained soldiers demonstrated to the RDF leadership the skills at arms and tactical drills acquired during the year-long military training.
The enrolment ceremony was presided over by the RDF Army Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Mubarakh Muganga on behalf the Chief Defence Staff Gen Jean Bosco Kazura.
In his remarks, the Army Chief of Staff thanked the young soldiers for the good choice made to join the RDF family to protect the country and its people.
He welcomed the graduates and urged them to observe RDF values including patriotism, discipline and commitment. “I urge you to always be the best in all tasks given to you and to learn from your predecessors,” he said.
He reminded them that the success of RDF has and will always be built on exceptional discipline.
During the ceremony, different awards were presented to recognise the best performers during one-year training.
Pte Byiringiro Egide received the overall best student award followed by Pte Gisingizo Aime Bruno and Pte Habumugisha Benon.
The educators who arrived in Kigali in the evening of Wednesday 19th October 2022 include 135 to be deployed in Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs). Others will be deployed to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), three Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centres (IPRCs) while some will teach in the University of Rwanda – College of Medicine and Health Sciences (UR-CMHS).
They were recruited after passing job entry exams and accepting to work in Rwanda.
Those Zimbabweans are allowed to stay in Rwanda with their families. They will spend three days for induction during which they will be taught about Rwanda’s history, visit Kigali Genocide Memorial and other places.
The new educators are expected to start their jobs on Monday next week.
Speaking at the ceremony to officially welcome the foreign teachers; the Minister of State in charge of ICT and TVET, Claudette Irere said that they will first be taken through Rwanda’s history values, home-grown solutions and get more information about their new job.
She reminded them that the country expects a lot from them to promote quality education.
Irere explained that they were recruited as experienced teachers who will also assist or train Rwandan counterparts.
The Ambassador of Zimbawe to Rwanda, Prof. Charity Manyeruke said that the successful recruitment of teachers from Zimbabwe is a fruit of vibrant relations between both countries.
Zimbabwe opened an embassy in Rwanda in 2019 and Rwanda opened embassy in the country in the same year.
Prof. Manyeruke thanked both countries’ heads of state for being far sighted. He explained that Zimbawe has undergone several reforms to promote the education sector for far too long noting that fruits of these efforts are self-evident.
He highlighted that Rwanda and Zimbabwe have so far signed 22 agreements in different areas including energy, exchange of knowledge and employees from different sectors, an addition to existing trade cooperation.
Prof. Manyeruke underscored that the collaboration between Rwanda and Zimbawe aligns with provisions of the African Continental Free Trade Area, to remove employment barriers among African countries.
The Ministry of Education has revealed that the government will pay the teachers’ salaries and provide accommodation nearby their workplace in the first three months.
It is expected that they will have been familiar with the country during this time, whereafter they can rent selected accommodations or build own houses depending on available means.
Family members who came to Rwanda with the teachers can also apply for jobs matching with their qualifications in Rwanda.
Their employment contract will last for two years but can be renewed in consideration of different aspects including their performance.
Some of these teachers have told IGIHE that they are excited to work in Rwanda as a country of their dreams with an inspiring development journey and visionary leadership.
“On my side, I have to say that my dreams have come true. I come here as an experienced English teacher where I will be mentoring fellow teachers,” said Zendile Ndlovu.
Of these teachers comprising 96 men and 58 women; six will be assigned to TVET schools, 11 will be deployed to IPRC as three serve as lecturers at the University of Rwanda.
