He has revealed this during a talk show to shed light on Coronavirus infections and preventive measures in prisons.
On 27th December 2020, the Ministry of Health reported 103 COVID-19 cases in Huye prison. In November, prisons became among the country’s major hotspot of Covid-19 positive cases, after claiming more than 12 lives and registering more than 200 cases in less than a month.
At the time, the majority of the cases were registered in Rwamagana Prison, Nyarugenge Prison and Muhanga Prison, and a few weeks later, cases were also reported in Rusizi and Musanze Prisons.
SSP Gakwaya has revealed that infected inmates from Rwamagana, Muhanga and Mageragere have recovered even though there are active cases in Huye, Ngoma and Musanze prisons. He however explained that no one is in critical condition.
“We have no cases of inmates in critical condition but rather continue to reinforce preventive measures. We have prepared a sickbay for inmates in quarantine where they are attended to like other Rwandans or transferred to other hospitals when necessary. We continue to adhere to health guidelines because we are aware of how severe the situation would be if we become complacent,” said SSP Gakwaya.
He suspected that the virus might be spread by food suppliers from outside because RCS has taken strict preventive measures like halting works out of prisons’ premises.
“All works out of prisons have been halted. New cases make us suspect food suppliers from outside because we respect preventive measures. Otherwise, we have to wait for Ministry of Health and Rwanda Biomedical Centre report to shed light on probable causes,” noted SSP Gakwaya.
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March 2020. So far, 8021 people have been tested positive out of 719 482 sample tests of whom 6339 have recovered, 1607 are active cases while 75 have succumbed to the virus.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
Farmers say, they have been furnished with good farming practices that saw them increase produce but currently sold at giveaway prices for lack of storage facilities, lest vegetables get wasted in gardens.
“We harvest big quantities of vegetables especially cabbages that we sell at low prices during harvesting season lest they are wasted in gardens. Getting a cooling facility would help us to store our produce for at least two weeks or more and sell at fair prices,” said Hategekimana Sylvestre, a member of KOAGMPA cooperative growing carrots, amaranth and cabbages in Mpaza marshland located in Mukura sector.
Other farmers told IGIHE that their produce is wasted during harvesting time often followed by vegetables shortage one month later.
Figures from Huye district show that vegetable farmers produce over 8,550 tons per annum on 474 hectares.
The mayor of Huye district, Sebutege Ange has explained that they are engaging with relevant stakeholders to find solution.
“We are aware that the facility helping farmers to reduce post-harvest losses is needed. We will continue to engage with relevant institutions particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources to seek how such infrastructure can be set up in Huye,” he said.
Sebutege revealed that the issue was mostly experienced during the lockdown when big markets for their produce were not operational.
“Over the next five years, the annual rate of GDP growth is set to rise to an average of 7.2%. However, between 2026 and 2035, the Centre for Economics and Business Research Ltd (Cebr) forecasts that the average rate of GDP growth will dip slightly to 6.1% per year. In the coming 15 years,” reads in part WELT report.
The report shows that world’s economy was largely hit by Coronavirus pandemic with estimated $6 trillion gap in 2020.
Rwanda was also hit by the pandemic where the economy expanded by an estimated 2% against the expected 8% which is below 9.4% GDP growth recorded the previous year.
The country is however making good strides considering the scale of disruption across neighboring countries affected by the pandemic.
Rwanda has had a lower incidence of COVID-19 than many other countries, with 56 deaths recorded during the first 11 and half months of 2020. This amounts to less than 1 death per 100,000 people.
Despite national efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, WELT reports that global economic disruptions will also affect Rwanda as a country relying to smooth international trade.
Deficit in minerals’ trade is among areas that destabilized the economy. Tin, tungsten and tantalum, also known as 3Ts, are Rwanda’s top mineral exports. For years, the country has been one of the world’s leading exporters of these minerals.
However, the Covid-19 outbreak has hit commodity prices globally, driving a tumble in Rwanda mineral exports particularly 3Ts.
Statistics show that revenue exports of 3Ts decreased by 30.9 per cent due to the drop in international commodity prices in January and February 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
Apart from 3Ts, the tourism sector (one of top contributors to the service sector which took 49% of the country’s GDP last year) was also affected due to COVID-19 preventive measures.
As of today, some mining activities, restaurants and bars have resumed in adherence with health guidelines but bars remain closed.
In 2014, Rwanda developed the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) strategy that seeks to make the country a top tourism and conference hub.
In the 2019/2020, Rwanda targeted $88 million in revenues from 147 conferences up from $65$ of last year.
COVID-19 restrictions has left of many hotels counting losses while some of new hotels have outstanding loans used to sustain operations. As of February 2020 before Coronavirus emerged in Rwanda, outstanding loans of the hotel sector stood at Rwf134 billion for 571 borrowers.
Domestic taxes were also affected by the lockdown and extended curfew hours that impacted businesses’ income.
For instance, Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) announced to have earned Rwf 1 516 billion against targeted Rwf 1 589 billion due to the pandemic.
The complexity of challenges emanating from the pandemic left the country seeking loans to mitigate COVID-19 effects and boost national development as well.
As per WELT report, Rwanda’s positive growth rate in 2020 highlights that the economic fallout from the pandemic has been far more limited than in most other countries.
Government debt as a share of GDP reached 61.6% in 2020, compared to 51.4% the previous year. This increase is attributable to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on government spending and tax receipts.
Despite the pandemic’s effects, Rwanda’s economy is forecasted to grow and surpass the previous rate.
WELT indicates that Rwanda’s economy will grow faster due to the country’s ambitions to build national economy on promoted investments.
Rwanda has expended a lot of efforts to make the country a favorable business environment for investors.
This saw Rwanda becoming 38th in the World Bank’s 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index, indicating that the country’s regulatory environment has made significant strides forward relative to other comparable countries.
This year, the country has registered investment worth $1.2 billion for 127 projects expected to provide 22,000 job opportunities.
Apart from attracting new investors, the Government of Rwanda continues to roll out initiatives aimed at supporting businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
These include efforts to diversify the country’s mineral exports where 17 firms have been recently granted exploration licenses, 13 received mining licenses while six companies were licensed to carry out quarrying activities.
Among others, the Government will roll out tax incentives, for two years, to help stimulate investments in the manufacturing and the construction sectors as well as speed up business recovery from the Covid-19 effects. The latter is to be effected from January 2021.
The manufacturing sector is expected to contribute 34% to DGP by 2024.
Rwanda is among countries with military and police forces in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). On Thursday last week, Rwanda deployed 300 peacekeepers to reinforce security during elections that took place on Sunday 27th December 2020.
They were additional to force protection troops that the Government of Rwanda deployed to CAR one week ahead of polls under an existing bilateral agreement on defense.
They were sent after President Faustin-Archange Touadéra accused former president of the country, François Bozize of planning a coup-plot to dethrone the Government in collaboration with armed rebels. Tensions rose after Mr Bozizé’s candidacy for this week’s national elections was rejected by the country’s highest court.
President Touadéra sought support from partner countries including Rwanda which deployed more troops with the mandate to reinforce electoral security and protect existing troops.
Speaking to the media after elections yesterday, Touadéra thanked Rwanda and President Paul Kagame for contribution to restore peace in the country.
“”I thank President Paul Kagame, Government of Rwanda, and Rwandans for their support to secure electoral process which allows nationals to freely choose their leaders. Many thanks for the great support,” he said.
On Election Day, Rwandan troops were deployed on different streets and polling stations in Bangui (capital city of CAR) standby to protect voters against security disruptions.
It has however been reported that said, rebels opened gunfire in some areas trying to scare away voters. There are concerns that a substantial number of the 1.8 million registered voters in the country were not be able to vote in remote towns, some controlled by armed rebels.
After a slow start and sporadic gunfire in some towns, the head of the U.N. mission in the country, Mankeur Ndiaye said in a statement that there was a huge turnout but did not provide details.
“This morning, they (rebels) started firing, hoping to scare people away from voting. Yes, in certain areas, it is difficult but in many other areas, you can see people going out massively to vote,” he said.
President Paul Kagame recently explained that RDF new forces deployed to the Central African Republic (CAR) assume different functions whereby they will safeguard existing troops in peace keeping mission and civilians. He however explained that the forces will defend themselves in case rebel armed groups in the country plot attacks against the new forces.
IGIHE has learnt that Muvunyi has been arrested along with Rtd Col Ruzibiza Eugène who once served as the RDF 307 Brigade commander in Western Province; Niyongamije Gérald, the executive secretary of Gasura cell in Karongi district and another resident, Kayigema Félicien.
Speaking to IGIHE, the Acting spokesperson of Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Dr Murangira B. Thierry has confirmed their arrest.
“They were arrested on 24th December 2020 for allegedly using forged documents,” he said.
Dr Murangira explained that investigation is underway for deeper insights into the case.
Paul Muvunyi is a businessman with ventures in hotels.The executive secretary of Gasura cell in Gishyita sector where the businessman owns Kivu Safari Lodge is one of suspects arrested with him. The facility was inaugurated in 2016 at a cost of Rwf 1.2 billion.
The Program Director at Spark MicroGrants Rwanda, Albert Uwayo explained that they first carried out research to identify citizens’ plans to mitigate COVID-19 effects and later provided funds to deal with most pressing issues.
First of all, the organization carried out research to identify if citizens have enough information about the pandemic and preventive measures and supported the Government to implement mobilization by sending short messages to all citizens in its database educating them about COVID-19 and preventive measures.
Thereafter, after learning how the pandemic has affected their source of income and employments amidst struggles to feed families, Spark MicroGrants negotiated donors to help them get rid of these challenges.
As Uwayo explained, the funds helped Spark MicroGrants to support 135 villages covered by the organization countrywide.
“We initially provided Rwf 27,000 to each village to distribute COVID-19 preventive kits to beneficiaries including face masks and hand sanitizers,” noted Uwayo.
The organization also provided Rwf 900,000 funding to each beneficiary village to mitigate the pandemic’s effects that was utilized based on most pressing issues.
“They decided how to utilize the money because beneficiaries had cited different issues related to inadequate foods, lack of Mutuelle de Santé, lack of seeds,” said Uwayo.
He appealed on beneficiaries and Rwandans in general to continue adhering to instituted health guidelines and embrace saving culture to be able to deal with any emergencies.
Usually, Spark MicroGrants provides a platform whereby citizens form groups discuss profitable projects and later provides funding for implementation.
This project initiative works in partnership with the Social Economic Development Officer (SEDO), these are the ones that follow up people called ‘Inyenyeri’ meaning ‘stars’ elected by the village members to support them to run village meetings.
When the village has set up and become organized, those Inyenyeri help the village members through various brainstorming sessions project ideas that can help them to reach their goal; they spend six-month meeting and perfecting their project. After that Spark MicroGrants provides grants to the village to implement their projects and keeps working with that village for a period of three years.
Spark MicroGrants has been operating in Rwanda since 2010 with interventions covering Musanze, Burera, Gakenka, Rulindo and Gisagara districts.
As of last year’s figures, it had helped about 69.973 Rwandans.
Spark MicroGrants’ vision is to see a world where everybody lives with dignity and shape their own positive future.
Being a time to indulge, nothing spells decadence like a scrumptious Christmas brunch and the Kigali Marriott Hotel was surely able to deliver this to the best of everyone’s expectations.
Kigali Marriott Hotel went all out for the festive holidays with gourmet food, refreshing beverage stations, and fantastic live entertainment – as well as a giant, colorful sugar castle embellishing their lobby.
Descending to Soko Restaurant – where the Christmas Brunch was taking place, was a lavish experience on its own where thousands of twinkling lights and glitz were adorning the hotel’s magnificent lobby staircase.
An impressive buffet was set up to delight one’s culinary senses for the memorable occasion that was Christmas. After receiving your drink, you were welcomed to the buffet where expertly prepared meals from roasted lamb or turkey, stuffing, and much more awaited. On the dessert side, a variety of delicacies from pies, succulent pastries to Christmas pudding were some of the best highlights.
Kigali Marriott Hotel’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Mohamed Merouiche, expressed his excitement at welcoming guests for the hotel’s Christmas brunch and noted that all the necessary health measures were undertaken to ensure that everyone experienced a fantastic, but safe Christmas brunch.
“A collection of distinctive dining and festive specials have been specially crafted by our culinary team in celebration of the festivities. This year’s celebration might be a little different than what we’re used to, but Christmas remains a time to celebrate together and we’re set to offer the best experience. We have taken all the necessary measures to ensure that everyone is practicing social distancing, and wearing their masks so as to ensure everyone’s safety.” He says.
The kids were not forgotten! Lively with Christmas cheer, Santa Claus was wishing the young a merry Christmas, as well as offering them wonderful gifts – a true testament to the hotel’s love for the festive season.
Kigali Marriott Hotel is part of the Marriott chain of hotels and is comprised of 256 elegant rooms and suites; three distinctive restaurants including Soko Restaurant, the hotel’s signature fine-dining restaurant; Saray Spa which offers a collection of sophisticated therapies integrated with the healing practices of the region; a swimming pools; meeting spaces with unmatched options and flexibility; as well as stylish lounging spaces designed for guests of all ages.
[Click here for more pictures of Kigali Marriott Hotel’s Christmas Brunch Festivities->https://flic.kr/s/aHsmTuAjqv]
The United Nations has revealed that these soldiers arrived in CAR on Christmas Eve on board two aircrafts from South Sudan where they had been deployed for United Nations Mission in South Sudan (MINUSS).
This reinforcement is part of the implementation of the integrated plan to secure the presidential and legislative elections due to take place on Sunday. It aims to reinforce MINUSCA to respond to security challenges currently facing the Central African Republic.
“These additional peacekeepers will strengthen MINUSCA Force’s to reinforce security systems during elections, which consists, in part, of deploying troops in the electoral districts in support of the Central African defense and security forces,” said the UN mission in a statement released on Friday.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in CAR, Mankeur Ndiaye, welcomed these additional peacekeepers and expressed optimism for their contribution highlighting that ‘the professionalism of Rwandan peacekeepers is known to all’.
Mr. Ndiaye, who is also the head of MINUSCA, thanked the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, for having requested and obtained the authorization of the United Nations Security Council to urgently strengthen the current system of the United Nations’ peace operation in CAR as armed groups try to disrupt Sunday’s elections.
He explained that it is further proof of the full commitment of the international community alongside the CAR people for elections scheduled on 27th December 2020.
The 300 peacekeepers deployed are additional to force protection troops that the Government of Rwanda deployed to CAR last week under an existing bilateral agreement on defense.
The Ministry of Defense revealed that the previous deployment was in response to the targeting of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) contingent under the UN Peacekeeping force by rebels supported by François Bozize who was president between 2003 and 2013.
During an interactive session with members of the press at the occasion of delivering ‘State of the Nation Address,’ Kagame said, the country already has forces in CAR for peace keeping mission but the situation is changing due to upcoming elections.
“We have forces serving under UN peacekeeping effort in CAR. The country is in the process of carrying out elections, scheduled on 27th December. This is a good thing since it legitimizes leaders. There have been many armed groups that recently came together and made pacts, some under the former president Bozize leadership, where they invaded the country from the outside. Their aim was to disrupt elections, but we also learned that some of those rebels wanted to attack our forces. All because we have been uncompromised and forceful in ensuring that citizens were well-protected,” he said.
On Saturday 19th December 2020, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra accused former president of the country, François Bozize of planning a coup-plot to dethrone the Government in collaboration with armed rebels. However, the ex-president of the Central African Republic has denied the allegation.
Tensions rose after Mr Bozizé’s candidacy for this week’s national elections was rejected by the country’s highest court. The UN said on Friday it had deployed peacekeeping forces to the country. President Faustin Archange Touadéra has insisted the poll will go ahead, saying the presence of the army and UN peacekeepers means people have nothing to fear.
But opposition parties, including that of Mr Bozizé, have called for the vote to be postponed “until the re-establishment of peace and security”.
President Kagame said, there had been no confrontations to Rwanda’s forces in CAR peacekeeping mission amidst their mandate to protect civilians.
As he explained, the rules of engagement for recently sent forces are forcibly different from other forces’ rules due to being sent under a different mandate.
“In this particular case, we’ve had an agreement with the CAR government, in which the rules of engagement are different. Our additional forces will be able to protect citizens and our existing force already there, without being limited by other rules of engagement [UN],” said Kagame.
The President also underscored that there are police troops protecting civilians camps in CAR that are attacked sometimes. He said that forces sent under different mandate will reinforce security to ensure smooth elections and protect Rwanda’s forces against any attacks.
Rwanda has been a main contributor to United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) since it first deployed in 2014. MINUSCA’s Rwandan contingent is notably in charge of the security of Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera and the presidential palace.
The new facility employs RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), an advanced laboratory technique for testing for diseases by detecting the presence of their genetic material in the body.
Such testing methods are considered as the ‘gold standard’ for the detection of some viruses and is characterised by high sensitivity and specificity.
Rwanda is among few countries to set up such a COVID19 PCR lab within an international airport.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije has said that the development aligns with measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Setting up a laboratory at the airport is meant to help us continue delivering better services to incoming passengers. We have observed that incoming passengers have increased nowadays yet quite a number of them are COVID-19 positive. Doing tests from hotels and taking them to national laboratory would take time. With the facility, we wanted to take tests here making it easier for us to follow up everyone’s results,” he said.
Dr Ngamije explained that the laboratory is equipped with technology helping to identify who have not yet got results and update them on reasons for the delay.
“We sometimes use ‘pooling system’ making it necessary to attend to every sample test. The result for such person might be delayed,” he noted.
Rwanda already had National Referral Laboratory used for different tests including COVID-19.
Uwinkindi was a pastor at a Pentecostal church in the former Rural Kigali Prefecture (now Bugesera District) during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
He had appealed against the verdict of the High Court claiming that he was not given enough resources to hire private investigators for his defence, and that he was not given the defence lawyers he wanted.
The Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict after finding no reasonable evidences for his appeal.
Uwinkindi was convicted of murder as crime of genocide and extermination as crime against humanity.
The court said he committed the crimes between April and May in 1994.
According to the prosecution, between 100 and 150 Tutsi had sought refuge at Kayenzi Pentecostal church where Uwinkindi was a pastor.
Uwinkindi was arrested on June 30, 2010, in Kampala, Uganda. On July 2, 2010, he was transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha.
In November 2010, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda requested his referral to Rwanda. On June 29, 2011, ICTR Referral Chamber ruled in favour of extradition, marking the first time in the Tribunal’s history to do so.
Uwinkindi was born in former commune Rwamatamu in Kibuye Prefecture currently in Rutsiro district.
