Law on mining and quarry operations published last month institutes penalties including revoking the license from any employer who defaults on measures for safety of miners.
Francis Gatare, the CEO for Rwanda Mines, Petrol and Gas (RMB), told the media last week that mining operations take place in hazardous conditions which call for special measures to protect workers.
He said that accidents do happen but the law seeks to hold accountable anyone who causes an accident.
Gatare, who is also a member of the cabinet, said the government is seriously concerned with the mining incidents and wants to mitigate the risks.
The law stipulates that anyone who defaults mineral operations to the extent of causing human death will face, upon conviction, imprisonment of between seven and 10 years and a fine of between Rwf5 million and Rwf10 million.
If the incident causes human injury and disease or environmental destruction, the responsible will face between six months and one year imprisonment and a fine between Rwf1 million and Rwf3 million.
Article 55 reads that in case the accident causes human disability or incurable disease, the standards’ defaulter will face one to three years in jail and a fine between Rwf3 million and Rwf5 million.
RMB reports over 80 mining accidents between November 2017 and June 2018
The new law states that, despite the mining privatisation for the last 10 years, government can play role in mining sector in accordance with the law governing the government and private partnership.
Mining sector earned $373 million last year and target is at $600 million this year.
RMB projects the revenues to stand at $800 million annually by 2020 and $1.5 billion by 2024.
Kagame was campaigning for 80 candidates of RPF and its allied parties in the coalition.
The Southern Province Governor Marie Rose Mureshyankwano said the district bordering with Burundi was lagging behind in terms of development but a lot is changing.
“This district was left behind and residents ran to neighboring countries for most of the things they needed but it is no longer the case. They are stable and on the course for development,” she said.
President Kagame said it is important to work hard for development but more important to protect what one has done to avoid slipping back.
Citing a lion as the RPF emblem, Kagame said the beast is a good example of self-esteem and protection.
“Our party emblem is a lion. Lions do not provoke, they lay low because they know that when they decide to strike, nothing can stand in their way,” he told the rally in Gisagara, Thursday.
“We do not provoke but we do not want others to provoke us. We put all our efforts to build ourselves and protect what we have built.”
He said there is no advantage to neighbours not getting along.
“We gain more when we can work together and trade with each other. But we have to be prepared to defend what our country has achieved. If they are good with us, we can trade with each other, we have no problem. When you collaborate with a neighbour, there is profit,” he said.
The Head of State was apparently referring to Burundi which has halted some collaboration especially in trade with Rwanda.
Tensions between the two countries started in 2015 when Burundi accused Rwanda of supporting the failed coup against President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Rwanda has always denied the accusations, with President Kagame once saying that Burundi is trying to deflect attention from its own problems.
Kagame told Gisagara residents that though they are on the country’s boundaries, they can never be forgotten in the government’s activities, adding that they will be acquiring what they haven’t got yet.
RPF has 70 candidates while other six parties in its led-coalition have 10. The six are PDI, PSR, PDC, PPC, UDPR and PSP.
The coalition is vying for 53 seats in the 80-seat parliament. Other four parties, PSD, PL, DGPR and PS-Imberakuri, and four independent candidates are in the run.
RPF had 41 seats in the Lower House dissolved a fortnight ago while PSD and PL had seven and five respectively.
The Parliamentary general elections are slated for September 2-3 to decide on 53 seats while 27 seats—24 for women, two and one for youth and people with disabilities respectively— will be voted for on September 4.
Kagame who doubles as the Chairman of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) is campaigning for the RPF-led coalition for the first time on Thursday.
The campaigns are in their 11th day. The coalition has put forward 80 candidates from seven parties with RPF at the front. Other six are PDI, PSR, PDC, PPC, UDPR and PSR.
Kagame was last in Gisagara in July 2017 campaigning for the presidency, a vote that he won in August.
RPF and allied parties are vying for 53 seats in the 80-seat Lower House. The seats are also sought by other four parties and four independent candidates.
The elections are slated for September 2 and 3 in Diaspora and Rwanda respectively to decide on the 53 seats.
More 27 seats will be decided on the next day. They include 24 women representatives equivalent to 30% as it is provided for in the Constitution, two for the youth and one representative of the people with disabilities.
Graziano was in Kigali for a two-day conference (20th-21st) that discussed Youth Employment in the agricultural sector on the African continent.
Via his twitter wall, Graziano expressed his satisfaction for meeting President Kagame and further thanked him for his will and commitment at fostering rural development.
“My satisfaction to meet again @PaulKagame, now during my official visit to Rwanda, and to witness his commitment and leadership as @_AfricanUnion (African Union) President in fostering rural development and jobs for the African youth,” Graziano tweeted.
On Monday, as he officiated the International conference, Graziano said that the lack of participation from the Youth in Agriculture was due to the challenges it met such as lack of market, lack of knowledge on the matter, among others.
Graziano further said that governments needed to take action to make agriculture more attractive to young people.
“To tap the potential of the agri-food value chain in terms of job creation, we need to promote a new kind of rural transformation. We need to urbanize rural areas.” Graziano said
Yesterday, Graziano visited a FAO poultry project funded by the African Union, in Gakenke District. The project has provided decent employment opportunities to the Youth and improved the nutrition of families in the district.
“On my way back to Rome, I leave Rwanda very optimistic: youngsters are ready to fulfill their potential as a #ZeroHunger generation and to lead the way for a more peaceful, sustainable world. It is up to us, all of us, to create them the necessary opportunities to make this happen!” Graziano tweeted
In Rwanda, most people living in rural areas are employed in the agriculture sector. Investing in rural development promotes diversification in creation of jobs, improves food systems and consequently eliminates hunger and unemployment.
FAO has been supporting the Government of Rwanda in this sector by providing technical skills to farmers to develop their entrepreneurial capacities among others.
The Varsity’s presence in Rwanda offers a platform where people can engage in Africa’s most significant opportunities and challenges through education and contextually-relevant research.
CMU-Africa is currently hosted at Telecom House but is set to relocate soon to a Rwf9 billion newly constructed campus located in the government newly designed Innovation City, in Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ).
The University launched its operations in 2012, with the aim of training more than 400 students within five years, but has so far graduated 145.
The Chief Operating Officer at Rwanda Development Board, Emmanuel Hategeka, in October 2017, told Parliament that there had been slight complications in joining the campus with the University of Rwanda.
According to the Auditor General’s 2016/17 report, Rwanda invested $43 Million, approximately Rwf36 Billion.
As for the 2016/17 Nation Budget, the Government attributed Rwf7 Million for the construction of Carnegie Mellon’s new campus located in the Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ), in a bid to enhance better education for students.
Speaking with IGIHE, Rwanda’s Minister for Information Technology and Communications, Jean de Dieu Rurangirwa lauded the university’s campus presence in Rwanda, and said it presented opportunities for Africans.
Rwanda is currently the only African country hosting the branch of Carnegie Mellon University.
“The University enrolls students from over 20 countries across the African continent. The knowledge there is of great advantage as the campus offers an American-worthy Education,” Rurangirwa observed.
“With the campus in Rwanda, the country benefits a lot because it develops a great relationship with the students hosted and you will find that most of these students decide to stay in Rwanda when they complete their studies,” he added.
“Other benefits involve being united as Africa; we gain new brains that are in search of a place where they can develop their potential,” Rurangirwa said.
In May 2017, the university signed agreements with Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) aiming to cooperate in the making of devices for e-tax payment, and finding other kinds of online methods of tax payment.
The new CMU-Africa campus is being constructed in a place designated by the government as the Kigali Innovation City, a future hub aimed at leveling up the country’s digital transformation.
Africans studying in Rwanda’s CMU-Africa campus pay a fee of $16,000, an estimation of Rwf13 Million per year. As for East-African students, they receive a discount of 50% from the fee.
Born out of a partnership between CMU and the Government of Rwanda, CMU-Africa is addressing the critical shortage of high quality engineering talent required to accelerate development in Africa—home to the fastest growing workforce in the world.
The progress has put the incumbent Minister Louise Mushikiwabo among the most 50 influential women in Africa.
The fame has also made her stand a chance to head General Secretariat of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), generally known as La Francophonie.
Mushikiwabo has gathered support from France and 29 African countries, making her likely to win the top OIF position as the French speaking countries’ organisation counts 54 members.
She is now campaigning against the Canadian OIF incumbent Secretary General, Michaëlle Jean, for the elections slated for October 12 in Armenia.
If Mushikiwabo wins at OIF, she will have put end on her 10-year dockets in Rwanda’s Government. The 57-year was appointed Minister of Information in 2008 and took up the foreign affairs docket in December 2009.
However, seven other foreign ministers preceded Mushikiwabo in the docket. IGIHE has looked back and compiled the contribution of each into the country’s foreign affairs over the last 24 years.
The compilation starts July 19, 1994 when the Government of Unity was instituted.
{{1994: Jean Marie Vianney Ndagijimana
}}
Jean Marie Vianney Ndagijimana was the first Foreign Minister in the interim government. He served for four months, running from July to October, before resigning and going into self-imposed exile.
President Paul Kagame once said part of the funds raised for liberation struggle was used to help leaders of the country to fulfil their duties after stopping the genocide.
The Head of State said Ndagijimana stole $200,000 that he had to use for opening embassies in different countries.
{{1994–1999: Anastase Gasana
}}
Dr Anastase Gasana was a lecturer of the University of Rwanda, served as Foreign Minister in 1993 and played role in Arusha Peace Accord between then Rwanda’s Government and Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).
Dr Gasana was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in November 1994.
At the time, Rwanda was struggling to step out of the genocide lens through which the world was looking at it. Building a working and firm system looked a dream at the time.
It was a very hard time for Rwanda’s diplomats. Regional and international media had all attention on what was going on in the country. Some were trying to shed light on the genocide while those with interest in genocide denial were trying to hide the truth.
For instance, Radio Agatashya that was broadcasting from then Zaire (now DRC), and then Human Right Watch Chief, Alison Des Forges, were fighting to have double genocide approved.
Minister Gasana served for four months at the time Rwanda was trying to bring back home over 3,000,000 refugees from Zaire. The tough diplomacy times continued to the time of the second Congo War.
{{1999-2008: Amri Sued, Dr Iyamuremye, André Bumaya and Dr Charles Muligande
}}
Amri Sued Ismail followed in the docket. Nothing much was said about the man who had first served as Ambassador to Egypt during the rule of President Pasteur Bizimungu.
He was succeeded by Agustin Iyamuremye who was Minister for Information before moving to foreign affairs.
In 2000, Iyamuremye was succeeded by André Bumaya who lasted longer than his predecessors. He led the country’s diplomacy until November 2002 when President Kagame appointed Dr Charles Murigande in the docket.
The three served during the second Congo War which spanned from 1998 to 2003 in which Rwanda was fighting rebels in the Eastern DRC.
During Dr Muligande tenure, media was probing if Rwandan troops were fighting in DRC. He was succeeded by Rosemary Museminari in March 2008.
{{2008-2009: Rosemary Museminari
}}
Museminari was in the docket when Rwanda got admission to Commonwealth in October 2008. The membership awoke France that was for long indifferent on Rwanda’s affairs.
Museminari was succeeded by Mushikiwabo on October 4, 2009.
{{2009-: Louise Mushikiwabo
}}
The hard times that Rwanda has faced in the time of Mushikiwabo has earned her with enormous fame for having dealt with the issues successfully.
She often faced tough questions about the war in DRC and the arrest of Gen. Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda.
She got into the docket after four years of frozen relations between Rwanda and France. The tensions started when French Judge Jean Louis Bourguière issued warrant for Rwanda’s top leaders.
In 2008, the relations seemed re-emerging when the Secretary in the French presidency, Claude Guéant, visited Rwanda.
In January 2009, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also visited Rwanda. Rwanda’s diplomacy kept growing until then French President Nicolas Sarkozy came to Rwanda on February 25, 2010.
President Kagame was later received by Sarkozy in Champs Elysée, France’s presidency, on September 12, 2011.
{{Eastern DRC, a thorny problem in Rwanda’s diplomacy
}}
At the time the rebel group M23 was fighting DRC forces, Rwanda was accused of being behind the rebels.
On December 2012, the parliament summoned Mushikiwabo to explain the stand of Rwanda on what was going on in Eastern DRC. The accusations against Rwanda had made various foreign donors stop the aid.
Mushikiwabo said Rwanda wasn’t involved in the war but had decided to guard its boundaries with DRC to prevent the fighting from spreading to Rwanda.
In November 2014, Mushikiwabo expressed fury over the remarks of then French President François Hollande who used ‘father-to-children’ approach while addressing African countries’ Heads of State. Hollande was speaking at OIF meeting in Dakar, Senegal.
After the meeting, Mushikiwabo told France 24 that Paris is not entitled to dictate African politics.
She said French President would only give suggestions as African countries’ leaders but telling Africans what to do was outdated. She reminded that it was in 2014, meaning the colonial time was no more.
Over the years, Rwanda’s diplomacy has significantly grown up, earning the country with a good image on the continent and beyond. The step is reflected in the dockets Rwanda has been taking up in the international arena.
There are now 30 countries having their embassies in Kigali, nine are represented by consulate while 39 have non-resident representation.
Rwanda also has 33 embassies representing it in 147 countries and international organisations. There are more 37 representatives of Rwanda in 17 countries.
The Head of State made the remarks yesterday during the ‘Meet the President’ session at Intare Conference Arena in Kigali, where he met over 2,000 young professionals from across the country and the Diaspora.
Albinos face a number of challenges in life because of their conditions. They require sunscreen body lotions and creams to help keep their skin in good conditions.
Presenting the problem, the Representative of the Organisation for Integration and Promotion of People with Albinism (OIPPA) in Rwanda, Dieudoné Akimaniduhaye told the President that getting protective sunscreen body lotions and creams is expensive, and that many suffer from the struggle.
“All sunscreen lotions and creams that are imported are highly taxed and that makes them very expensive. We wish that these lotions and creams would be made affordable for Albinos, so that at least each and every one of us would be able to pay for it from our Mutuelle de Santé,” Akimaniduhaye said.
President Kagame immediately heeded to his request, saying that there was no reason as to why they wouldn’t be facilitated, and further tasked officials in charge to follow-up on the issue.
“I totally agree with you and it should be considered. There’s no reason why we should even ponder on the matter, there has to be a way of facilitating people living with Albinism.” Kagame said.
President Kagame further tasked Minister for Local Government, Francis Kaboneka, and his colleagues to follow up on the issue and resolve it in a very short time.
Jayden Fikiri Uwimana, the Executive Director of Amizero Group, an association that cares for people living with Albinism, told IGIHE that the cheapest sunscreen lotion costs Rwf8,000. He further remarked that every Albino cannot afford the costs.
Uwimana added that if the lotions and creams were made affordable, the risk of getting Skin cancer would be highly diminished among Albinos.
The skin-protecting products come in different categories and prices. For a period of two months, you can find a Rwf10,000 lotion for adults and Rwf6,000 for children. Albinos request that one bottle should go down to a cost of Rwf2,000.
World Health Organisation estimated in 20116 that there was one person with albinism condition in 5,000 to 15,000 in Sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates in other parts of the world were around one person in 20,000 people but data on albinism prevalence by country remain scarce.
Education Minister Dr Eugène Mutimura told the press on Thursday that the 57 were suspended for not meeting hygiene and safety standards, among other standards requirements.
The issues identified during the School Readiness Inspection conducted this week include poor buildings’ conditions, poor water systems, poor electrical installations and lack of food stocks.
Some suspended schools also lack ICT facilities while others have kept in stores the computers they received through the government’s ‘Smart Classroom’ programme.
The suspended include renowned public schools such as GS Officiel de Butare in Huye District and College Saint Andre Nyamirambo in Kigali.
Suspended private schools include College Adventiste de Rwankeri and Victorious Academy in Musanze and Kayonza districts respectively.
Dr Mutimura said the inspection was conducted in 90 schools deemed to be in bad conditions and 57 were found short of the minimum requirements to accommodate students.
“We have given these schools a period of one week to work on those issues and we shall, in collaboration with other relevant organs, punish the schools which will not have fixed the issues by the deadline,” he said.
The Minister said students will not be affected by the suspension because the concerned schools will add one week more to cover the curriculum as other schools end the academic year come November 23.
{{Schools leaders shocked
}}
Some leaders of the affected schools disagree with Mineduc and blame the ministry for not having informed them earlier.
Jean Basa Ngabo, the head teacher of ESSA Ruhengeri, said he was surprised to hear that his school is suspended due to poor kitchen chimney.
“The issues they found here should not ban us from starting the term on time as others. We usually paint the buildings and about the kitchen smokes, students are not eating from the kitchen,” he said, adding that he had earlier informed the inspectors that the school’s funder will construct a modern kitchen during the holidays starting in November.
Marie Chantal Uwera, the head teacher of ES Nyakabanda, said she was also surprised with the suspension, adding she is seeking explanations.
“They did not tell us if they found anything alarming here that can lead to school suspension,” she said.
Uwera added they have spread insecticide for bedbugs and have repaired stores for materials as was required by inspectors but the requirement for renovating old buildings requires good time.
The suspended schools include those offering general education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools.
Olivier Rwamukwaya, the State Minister for TVET, told the press that other 30 TVET schools were suspended at the beginning of the current academic year and some of them haven’t yet reopened.
Mineduc reported there were 1,575 secondary schools in the country in 2016 including 460 government-owned, 862 government-aided and 253 private schools.
The seventh edition of the Africa CEO Forum is the largest international gathering of CEOs and investors from the African private sector.
With Africa swinging into action to strengthen regional integration, the choice of Rwanda— being at the intersection of East and Central Africa, matches the forum’s desire to facilitate meetings and encourage business flow between CEOs from across the continent.
Being the gateway to a regional market of more than 150 million people and a signatory of 68 trade agreements, Rwanda has many assets to host the next Africa CEO Forum, according to the Amir Ben Yahmed, the Founder and President of the Africa CEO Forum.
“This 7th edition will therefore be held at the heart of the continent, in Rwanda, a country both Francophone and Anglophone, whose economic dynamism and development model anchored in education, innovation and performance perfectly reflect the values of the Africa CEO Forum,” announced Amir Yahmed.
According to media reports based on official estimates, the last edition of the forum that took place in Geneva saw at least 1600 attendees and is expected to increase in the future.
Launched in 2012, the Forum was organised for three years in Geneva, before being relocated to Abidjan in 2016 . It was further decided that the meeting was to be alternated each year between Geneva and Africa.
The President is attending in his capacity as the Chairperson of the African Union.
The two-day Summit starting today, is held under the theme “Promoting Infrastructure Development and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development.”
It focuses on sustainable growth through a conductive environment for industrialisation processes.
The organisation has been seized with the industrialisation agenda for the past four summits.
SADC, formerly the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), was established on April 1, 1980. The organisation aims to facilitate regional economic integration between Member States and within the continent. It has 16 Member States including Angola, Botswana, Comoros, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, the Kingdom of eSwatini, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The ideals of SADC are towards a common future within a regional community that will ensure improvement of standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice, and peace and security for the people of southern Africa.
At the Summit, President Hage Geingob of Namibia will be taking over the SADC Chairmanship from President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
