This is part of the earlier pledged test kits and personal protective equipment to the mission to increase its capacity to test and treatment to staff as the world continues to battle the Coronavirus disease.
The donation comes particularly in support of international peacekeeping efforts to contain the spread of the virus and in light of the lack of enough testing kits in some countries.
Brig. Gen. Eugene Nkubito, UNMISS Sector Commander in Juba, handed over the kits on behalf of Rwanda.
Brig. Gen. Nkubito explained that the remaining lot of the equipment will be availed soon to UNMISS during force rotation exercises slated for next month.
Brig. Gen. Nkubito said that the Coronavirus is a “common enemy to mankind’, and cooperation is the way to defeat the pandemic.
Joan Segui Barber, UNMISS head of the Laboratory section thanked Rwanda for the support adding that it will significantly boost the mission capacity against Covid-19.
“We have always sought for testing kits from the World Health Organization office in South Sudan whenever we want to make tests, these kits are definitely augmented to our speed in testing staff,” Barber said.
The South Sudan government has taken several measures such as imposing a partial curfew, suspending schools and universities, and shuttering non-essential businesses, to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus.
Early this week, Rwanda also started testing and sampling for novel Coronavirus targeting its Police, military and prison warden peacekeepers deployed in South Sudan.
Late Mbabazi, who was a member of Rwanda Formed Police Unit-One (FPU-1) hybrid of 240 Police officers deployed in Malakal, succumbed to COVID-19 on June 2, at the King Faisal Hospital after she was evacuated back home for further treatment.
The virtual memorial function was held across all UNMISS field offices where fellow UN Police peacekeepers eulogized Mbabazi’s amiable character; how she touched hearts of all she met or worked with, and condoled with her country and family.
Orowo Regina Omuyeh from Nigeria, the chairlady of UNMISS-UNPOL Women network said that as they mourn for Mbabazi, they should also exhibit the spirit of teamwork to support fellow UNPOL women to overcome unique challenges female officer encounter everyday to give peace to fellow women in South Sudan.
“We should work and support each other as women on the frontline because we face exceptional challenges as women, as mothers who left behind our families… our children behind to bring people to fellow women in South Sudan,” Orowo said.
Eileen Jane Pickering from Fiji, the FPU Gender Focal Person Coordinator in UNMISS, said: “To the people of Rwanda, Rwanda Police and Enid’s young family, our thoughts and prayers are all with you.”
Pickering, who spoke in grief, said that PC Mbabazi left an irreplaceable impact to the women of South Sudan and fellow female officers.”
UNMISS Police Commissioner, Unamisi Vuniwaqa, stated that Mbabazi was a dedicated officer from the Rwanda Contingent who served well during her tour of duty.
Madam Vuniwaqa explained to fellow police officers who were in somber mood, the daily risks encountered by peacekeepers worldwide.
“I urge you all to remain strong, resilient and united as we serve the people of South Sudan. Take care of each other as sisters in the UN family. In moments like this, we come together as one to show the families and the world how much we care for each other as female officers in uniform,” Madam Vuniwaqa said.
Quoting from a Bible verse Matthew 5:9, Vuniwaqa said: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
As we pay tribute to her life, we must look at the bigger picture that we as UNPOL carry the symbol of peace for the community that needs it most.”
She urged them to look at this as a challenge to stay focus, encourage and tap one another.
“This is not about men and women; this is about how we should persevere, how we move-on and harness our energy as we continue to move forward in this highest standing and selfless calling,” Madam Vuniwaqa emphasized.
This is the second emergency disbursement since the onset of the pandemic and will help finance the country’s urgent balance of payments (BOP) and budget needs. It follows from the Executive Board’s decision on April 9, 2020 to double the annual access limit under the RCF to 100 percent of quota and brings the total IMF COVID-19 support to Rwanda to $ 220.46 million.
Rwanda’s economic outlook has worsened since the approval of the first RCF request on April 2, 2020, leading to a further downward revision in the 2020 GDP growth forecast from 5.1 to 2.0 percent due to deepening of the COVID-19 impact.
The unprecedented spending needs generated by the pandemic, combined with losses of revenues, are putting significant pressures on public finances and compounding the impact of sharp declines of exports and remittances on the balance of payments.
The additional disbursement under the RCF will provide much needed support for critical COVID-related spending under the government’s Economic Recovery Plan, but further support will be needed from the international community.
The authorities have committed to transparency and accountability to ensure the appropriate use of emergency financing, building on their strong public financial management framework.
Following the Executive Board’s discussion, Mr. Tao Zhang, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, issued the following statement:
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to severely impact the Rwandan economy. The global and domestic macroeconomic outlook has further deteriorated. Growth projections have been revised down, and revenue losses and spending needs are more than twice the size estimated at the time of the first RCF request.
“The policy measures deployed by the authorities to respond to the pandemic and accelerate economic recovery are appropriate. The additional fiscal spending should help mitigate the impact of the pandemic while ensuring that spending is well-targeted and cost-effective so as not to crowd-out other priority areas. Additional financing from the international community remains critical to ease the adjustment burden.
The authorities’ commitment to high standards of transparency and accountability in the management of emergency financial assistance is welcome.
“It will also be important to maintain data-driven monetary policy and continue to provide liquidity support to cushion the impact of the pandemic as well as step up supervision to safeguard financial stability.
“Once the crisis abates, it will be critical to adopt a credible fiscal adjustment path to maintain debt sustainability in the medium-term and preserve Rwanda’s development gains over the last two decades.”
The testing spearheaded by the Ministry of Health started on Tuesday in Malakal where Rwanda Formed Police Unit-One (FPU-1) hybrid contingent of 239 officers, is deployed.
Rwanda FPU-1 lost one of its members—Police Constable (PC) Enid Mbabazi—who succumbed to COVID-19 on June 2, at the King Faisal Hospital after she was evacuated back home for further treatment.
Rwanda National Police (RNP) spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera said that the testing which started in Malakal was in line with the prevention measures against the spread of coronavirus/ Covid-19 and the exercise will continue to all Rwandan peacekeepers serving in South Sudan.
“The testing of all officers under FPU-1 and Individual Police Officers (IPOs) in Malakal ended midmorning on Wednesday and the team will continue to other units deployed in Juba,” CP Kabera said.
Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) officers deployed in Malakal, were also tested for Coronavirus.
The FPU-1 Contingent Commander, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Fabien Musinguzi, said that they grieve for their colleague but also continue to execute their peacekeeping mandate.
“We have continued to serve in order to accomplish our peacekeeping mandate as we grieve for our fallen colleague, PC Enid Mbabazi.
She died in the line of duty, and we will continue to contribute to what she stood and died for, in consideration of the WHO guidelines; social distancing in our camp, parades, patrols and stations; wearing face masks, washing hands as many times as possible and avoiding hand shaking,” said SSP Musinguzi.
Apart from the Rwandan peacekeepers deployed in Malakal, who were tested for the virus, other Police, military officers as well as RCS deployed in Juba and other parts of the country, will be sampled and tested.
RNP maintains three Formed Police Units (FPU) Contingents of 160 Police Officers, each only in South Sudan, and a total of 1036 peacekeepers in different missions.
The testing and sampling of the Rwandan peacekeepers across all missions is among the measures taken by the country to strengthen their protection and safety in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Other measures include additional protective gears such as face masks, hand sanitizers and educating them on the spread of the pandemic and effective prevention and safety measures.
Among the other officials accused are Godfrey Kabera, the Director-General for National Planning and Eric Serubibi who was until recently the Director-General of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA).
With these is also Christian Rwankunda, who was the Deputy Director-General in charge of fund management at Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB).
They are faced with accusations, including misuse of public property, flouting of procedures on public tenders and complicity in flouting tendering procedures.
They appeared with their lawyers in court on Thursday, June 11, for bail hearing that did not materialize, due to prosecution’s failure to feed the details of their charges into the online case management system.
This is the second time that the case has been postponed; the hearing had been scheduled for last week, but it did not happen due to similar reasons.
The defendants’ lawyers complained to court that they had not been able to access the files detailing the accusations that their clients face because prosecution had not fed them into the system.
“Two days ago, we logged into the online system and reminded court and prosecution to assist us with the documents concerning our clients’ charges. But until today, it has not been done,” said a lawyer representing Caleb Rwamuganza.
Adding to that, Alphonse Sebazungu who represents Serubibi told court that police stopped him from accessing his client from where he is detained to prepare their defence.
“Yesterday I wanted to meet my client at a police station where he is being held, but police officers did not allow me. Yet, it was necessary for us to meet and prepare the defence,” he said.
The prosecutor in charge of the case informed the court that there is a general problem in the online system, specifically on the part of Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) who are currently unable to feed documents into the system; the prosecutor said that the defendants’ lawyers should have approached court or prosecution itself and got the documents in another form, like flash disks.
As a response to Sebazungu’s claim on him being stopped from seeing his client, some of the hindrances were as a result of measures by police to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
They prosecution said to have talked to police to facilitate the meetings between lawyers and their clients.
Due to such hindrances, the presiding judge postponed the bail hearing to June 18, to give time to the lawyers to access the files and also meet their clients to discuss their defence.
As a new company, RFC was set to initiate its operations at the end of 2020, but in the face of the pandemic, it launched a crisis action plan prior to officially opening to help curb COVID-19’s impact on agriculture. RFC is a newly created joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and OCP, a Morocco-based fertilizer producer and world leader in the phosphate industry.
The emergency relief component of RFC’s plan is a donation of 500 metric tons of DAP fertilizers to provide essential supplies to smallholder farmers. The donation will cover over 5.000 hectares of land for season 2021.
The Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr. Gerardine Mukeshimana said that providing fertilizers to farms as part of emergency relief is in line with the government’s ongoing COVID-19 response intended to build the resilience of the country’s farmers, allowing them to increase productivity and continue producing enough to feed the population.
“This is a significant contribution to our work to provide farmers with the essential nutrients needed to boost agricultural productivity, thus ensuring enough food supply.” She added
In addition to the short-term relief, RFC is implementing agricultural development programmes that will help Rwandan farmers to become more adaptive to crisis situations in the long-term. RFC is developing a partnership with the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) to support the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and RFC staff with regional training on blending soil-specific and crop-specific fertilizers.
“This will ultimately enable the farmers to better understand their soil and create fertilizer solutions that are adapted to their crops and more resilient,” according to the statement of MINAGRI.
In total, almost 1.000.000 USD will be invested to set up more than 450 demonstration platforms to build capacity and increase market knowledge. The aim is to introduce farmers and relevant stakeholders to best farming practices for all stages of the harvest, from seed selection to nutrient management, mechanisation, and post-harvest handling.
RFC’s actions during the pandemic contribute to the recent calls from the African Union and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on African states and partners to “safeguard input supply chains for small-scale agricultural producers” in the context of COVID-19.
As the world was celebrating the World Food Safety Day, under the theme “Food safety, everyone’s business”, it was noted that food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers; everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not cause harm to our health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that Lack of adequate food hygiene can lead to foodborne diseases and death of the consumer; children being the most vulnerable to these diseases, whereby per year numbers about 125 thousand children death.
KCP Ltd has been working in Ruhango district, the Southern province, for now eight years and distributes its products throughout the whole country.
Mbabazi Christian, the Chief Executive Officer of KCP Ltd in an interview with IGIHE, said that the company is on a good track, receiving raw products from farmers from five different districts in the Southern Province, with branches in the eastern province in Bugesera district and there two have started working in partnership with farmers in the area.
“We have the capacity to receive about 120 tons of raw product from farmers per day. We have expanded from the Southern to the Eastern province and are encouraging every area of the country to have cassava plantations and become our suppliers. The factory work at only 35% of its installed capacity.”
{{How is the quality?}}
While talking about the quality, Mbabazi said that the government has greatly contributed in bringing quality product, among which was the introduction the Rwanda Standard Board (RSB) that has played a great role in providing internationally recognized and customer suited standardization services.
“The RSB and other companies work in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry; they can penalize you if you are ever found selling product that are not up to the quality standard.” He said
“There are many other companies that are working in cassava flour processing. But Kinazi remains the market giants.”
There is a risk exposition to people consuming bad quality products
Mbabazi said that people should be more careful as they purchase their flour; they need to see if their products are certified by the RSB.
“We do what we have to do as a company nationwide, this starts from the factory; we have a team that examines each of our products before distribution to make sure that they are all up to the quality standard. We ask of the people that consume our products to be aware because if they are not careful they might easily consume bad quality products that can have bad consequences on their health.”
Though they have not been identified yet, there are people abroad who are said to be selling Kinazi cassava flour but have it repackaged as their own product and sell at a very high price.
KCP Ltd Quality controller, Viateur Ngabonzima said that the company has standards by which they examine the cleanness of their productions starting for the staff member, to the machines used in processing among other things.
“Kinazi cassava flour has been certified by the RSB. It was also accredited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, thus has been allowed on the US market,” he said.
The Kinazi factory currently has a market in Rwanda and on the European continent; exports are at more than 40%, where they plan to expand to the United States because there is a large market.
The company says that its flour is not only made of bread but also can be mixed with other flour and made into Cake, Capati, Pizza among others.
The Cabinet meeting, on Tuesday, okayed the resumption of interprovincial movements, movements between provinces and City of Kigali as well as taxi-moto services, effective today June 3.
However, public and private transport to and from the districts of Rusizi and Rubavu is closed. Public transport in the two districts is also prohibited. Only goods and cargo trucks transiting or destined to these isolated districts will be allowed, but under the set safety guidelines, with only two people aboard, including the driver.
Rwanda National Police (RNP) spokesperson, CP John Bosco Kabera said that the resumption transport operations and movements doesn’t mean leaning back or loosening on the directives and guidelines to combat COVID-19.
“This is rather a time to win the fight while observing all the safety measures against the pandemic such as hygiene, washing hands regularly, wearing face mask, social distancing and the curfew,” CP Kabera said.
Movements are prohibited between 9 AM and 5 PM.
Motorcyclists, he said, must abide by the directives issued by Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA) including having hand sanitizer, a fabric to wear inside the helmet, wear face mask, use a meter and cashless payment and leave enough distance in their parking lots.
Equally, passengers using motorcycles should also respect everything required of them like compulsory wearing of face mask, cashless payment of fares and sanitizing their hands before boarding.
To transporters that were already in their operation, CP Kabera said, nothing has changed on the safety directives; “continue to exercise maximum compliance.”
“As movements resume in most parts of the country, which comes with increased traffic flow and movement of people; we inform you that we have also resumed the road safety awareness–Gerayo Amahoro–to prevent road accidents.”
The year-long Gerayo Amahoro campaign was put to halt in its 46th week. RNP, therefore, reminds road users on the following:
{{DRIVERS }}
Avoid using a phone when driving
Don’t drink and drive
Regulate your speed; respect the speed limit.
Wear a seatbelt at all times
Respect traffic control signposts and pedestrian rights
{{MOTORCYCLISTS }}
When you drink don’t ride
Wear a helmet at all times. This applies to your passenger as well.
Avoid using a phone when riding
Avoid bad maneuvers
Respect traffic control signposts and pedestrian rights
{{PASSENGER}}
Your safety is your responsibility; report bad driving/riding
When on a motorcycle, stay focused, don’t be distracted by phone
Avoid putting the motorcyclist under pressure to speed for personal reasons
{{PEDESTRIAN }}
Walk on the left side of the road facing oncoming traffic
Use pedestrian crosswalks where they exist and avoid using a phone or earphones when crossing.
Walk fast but don’t run when crossing the road
{{CHILDREN}}
Avoid going or using the road without the company of a responsible person
A responsible person; when in company of a child, hold their hand and walk from the left side of the road.
Don’t loiter or play in the road
When in the vehicle, children occupy the back seat and wear seatbelt
When driving, ensure children are not playing/jumping in the car or with their head, arms out
CP Kabera said: “Rwanda National Police thanks all partners and citizens of Rwanda in general for their role in this period to combat COVID-19 as well as Gerayo Amahoro campaign. Your continued partnership is paramount.
To every citizen of Rwanda, the slogan is now #RwanyaCovid19, #GereyoAmahoro until we win the fight against the pandemic and make road safety our culture for the safety of everyone on the road.”
Rwanda National Police spokesperson, CP John Bosco Kabera said that despite the death of one of the Rwandan Police peacekeeper of COVID-19, who was serving under the UN Mission in South Sudan, measures are being strengthened to protect the peacekeepers.
“RNP is saddened with the death of PC Mbabazi Enid, who was part of Rwanda FPU-1 contingent deployed in Malakal, South Sudan. We condole with the bereaved family. We honour PC Mbabazi for her selfless service is ensuring safety and security for her country and restoring peace in other countries. She died in the name of security and peace,” said CP Kabera.
“We have jointly stepped up measures to further guarantee the safety of peacekeepers including educating them on the spread of the pandemic and effective protection,” CP Kabera said.
In her condolence message, UNMISS Police Commissioner, Unaisi L. Vuniwaqa said:
“It is with deep regret that the news of the sudden demise of our dear colleague Enid MBABAZI is received. The entire UNPOL Component grieve the contingent as well as her dear family back at home. We honour her contribution to the mission and the people of South Sudan.
On behalf of the Component,we wish to convey our profound condolences and pray that her soul rests in peace. May the blessings of the Almighty be with her family and all Rwanda FPU members here in South Sudan.”
UNMISS FPU Coordinator, Lt. Col. Mikhail Bychikhin also said: “… we convey to your personnel our deepest words of sympathy and condolences for the loss of your comrade.”
The Special Representative of the Secretary General to UNMISS David Shearer, in his guidelines against COVID-19 to protect peacekeepers issued back in April, among others, urges those feeling sick and experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath or breathing difficulty to stay in their accommodation, call the supervisor and the UNMISS medical clinic.
Supervisors are also required to consider whether some staff can work from their accommodation instead of the office. Where necessary to maintain a physical presence in the workplace, the team may take turns at working from home and the office to minimize unnecessary contact.
The SRSG also emphasized the WHO safety guidelines; when you are at work, wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use hand sanitizer, not to shake hands with others; social distancing, to sanitize their equipment regularly; avoiding holding meetings or where deemed necessary to ensure the meeting room is large enough for participants to sit at least one meter apart.
Kagame reminded leaders that though results-oriented leadership requires a high level of commitment and discipline, challenges such as the Covid-19 crisis can make their responsibilities heavier, yet offer learning opportunities.
“Difficult times such as these make your work even more challenging. It requires us to work in unconventional ways. But it also teaches us important lessons we can apply in difficult times or in normal times. There is no reason we will not prevail,” he said.
The president added that when leaders take an oath, they commit to working towards transforming the country and that when they accomplish what is expected of them in an exemplary way, Rwandans benefit.
“All of us leaders should always uphold that when it comes to fulfilling our duties in public service, we should not confuse our own interest with that of the country,”
“When you take the oath to fulfill this duty, it means that you accept this heavy responsibility to work for your country and our people and to transform what we have into even more resources,” President Kagame said.
Among the leaders who took oath are Manasseh Nshuti, the State Minister in charge of East African Community Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze the State Minister for Agriculture.
While President Kagame was comforting all Rwandans who were set to start working on Monday but couldn’t due to sudden changes, he urged Rwandans to remain patient and vigilant.
This is following a decision by the government to put on hold plans to reopen more sections of the economy, including travel between provinces and resuming of motorcycle public transportation means, which were supposed to be restored today.
“It is important for citizens to understand the measures that are being taken to fight this virus. What it requires of us is not just to wait for one day or time we can predict, none of us can say we know the date this will end,”
“Things are not only dependent on a set date; it is also dependent on what happens in that time. When there are new developments, we have to re-evaluate if our predictions still stand. That is why we have chosen to take more time,” he said.
He urged all citizens to be patient for a few more days as the situation is reassessed and new measures issued so as to ensure the safety of all people even as the country looks to reopen key segments of the economy that remain closed in averting the spread of COVID-19.
“I ask you to be patient; every institution is working to confront this virus while also finding ways to return to a normal life. We will do everything we can and leave no solution unexplored. I believe that nothing can stand in our way,” President Kagame said.
Kagame thanked Rwandans and the leaders for their continuous cooperation in ensuring that the Covid-19 pandemic is defeated and reminded them to continue working together to completely eliminate the pandemic.
