The larviciding and spatial spraying for mosquito control is being used to kill mosquitoes from the breeding grounds like bushes, swamps, water bodies among others.
The exercise was launched Thursday in Kamonyi District, Musambira Marshland.
It is spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Defence under the partnership with different government institutions and partners.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Health, Dr. Diane Gashumba said that fighting malaria is a demanding exercise which calls for participation of all.
“We should spray all mosquito habitats and breeding grounds to stop their multiplication and eventual extension of their effects to our homes, you should participate in this exercise to stop malaria which continues to claim lives of Rwandans,” she said.
She encouraged Kamonyi residents to sleep in mosquito nets as a way of avoiding contact with mosquitoes that could transmit malaria to them.
Defence Minister, Gen. James Kabarebe said that Rwandan army is in charge of people’s security but which cannot be complete when some residents are susceptible to malaria.
“Complete security is when residents are healthy, children studying, people work freely and protected from such life threatening diseases like malaria. That is ample security which allows people to work for development of the country,” he said.
The mosquito sprays are manufactured by a local company Agropy from pyrethrum.
The exercise will start from Districts which are prone to malaria including, Kamonyi, Nyamasheke, Nyarugenge, Gasabo and Kicukiro.
He was speaking at a press conference he held yesterday in Kigali along with Rwanda’s Prosecutor General, Jean Bosco Mutangana.
Brammertz said that early release should follow clear directives and said that Meron’s decisions are inappropriate due to the intensity of genocide crimes.
“Internationally, early release has certain directives. Here, we speak about genocide crime, a crime that had impact to the human being and the country, which is why they need transparency. For me, before releasing any convict, I would make sure whether they don’t negate or trivialize the crimes they had perpetrated,” he explained.
He said that laws releasing people who served two-thirds in prison should go clear.
“Currently, no law compels the Judge to consult any person before granting early release to convicts, that is why my office has embarked on requesting for the establishment of the law, so that it will specify procedures leading to early release. The law should include consulting parties connected with the decision,” he added.
Mutangana said that early release of genocide convicts should reflect impact it would cause to unity and reconciliation of Rwandans.
“Those are Rwandans who were sentenced by international courts, they were tried and sentenced by the United Nations, but,they were not deprived of Rwandan nationality, there are Rwandans and we are still witnessing the genocide effects. That is why early release decisions should be discussed and agreed between UN and the country,” he said.
MICT’s Meron granted early release to Ferdinand Nahimana and Fr. Emmanuel Rukundo who were serving their sentences in Mali.
Meron is also in the process to release Col. Aloys Simba, Dominique Ntawukuriryayo and Hassan Ngeze who have already served two-thirds of their sentences.
The decision comes from a presidential decree issued on last Saturday which justifies the decision as a result of “excellent level of cooperation relations” between Angola and the two countries, the cooperation which the Angolan Government looks towards strengthening further.
According to the decree, Rwanda and Cape Verde joins the list of African countries whose citizens acquired tourism visa-free entry into Angola, Botswana, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe, as well as Singapore in Asia.
Previously, Angola had already entered into reciprocal tourism visa exemption agreements for citizens of South Africa and Mozambique.
Tourism visa exemptions involve staying in Angola up to 30 days per entry and 90 days per year based on the principle of diplomatic reciprocity, according to the Angolan Government.
In addition to these exemptions, the previous law, which entered into force on March 30, established procedures to simplify the process of getting a tourism visa for citizens of 35 other countries, namely the non-compulsory calling card.
The contingent will participate in peace-keeping operations, and women and child protection activities in particular.
The peace-keepers who will serve under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) set off at Kigali International Airport Wednesday with 144 female Police Officers joining 16 others who went in advance.
The deployment follows President Paul Kagame’s pledge in the United Nations Leader’s summit on peacekeeping operations that took place in New York in September 2015.
The Contingent Commandant, ACP Teddy Ruyenzi said that having the female formed unit has particular meaning in the mission.
“The responsibilities we will perform are always there for UNMISS, but our special particularity as women contingent will be to help women and children. As you know those categories are the victims of violence and conflicts that are taking place in that country. It also implies that women are capable to perform all jobs,” she said.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Juvenal Marizamunda said that South Sudan endures conflicts and people were displaced from their properties to the extent whih they need special protection and security.
“The United Nations needs Army and Police assistance in protecting security of people in camps. Police protect them from external threats and any emerging crimes from inside the camps,” he said.
“The reason behind female contingent is because the camps are dominated by women, children and elderly people, female Police Officers offer them special attention than men can do,” he added.
While briefing the Police Officers yesterday at Police Headquarters in Kacyiru, DIGP Dan Munyuza said that the contingent was well trained and are fully equipped to perform well their responsibilities.
He urged them to maintain discipline of the force and exhibit professionalism in supporting in trouble.
Rwanda has over 1000 Police peacekeepers in different missions including Haiti, Central African Republic and South Sudan.
The first initiative for Rwanda automotive industry, Volkswagen Mobility Solutions is the German’s car manufacturing firm.
The Head of State said that some people found it hard to believe that German cars could be built in Rwanda. “Yet today, the first vehicles are rolling off the assembly line,” he said.
“This facility undoubtedly represents a new chapter, in Rwanda’s journey of economic transformation. There are also positive implications for Africa more generally. Not only can global brands assemble high-quality products in Africa, they can also find customers here,” Kagame said.
Kagame said that Africa is not merely positioning itself as a new low-cost hub to manufacture goods for export, but African consumers will also be among the biggest contributors to growth in global demand in the years ahead.
He challenged Africans on paying higher price to second hand, and requested them to think about new things.
“Africa does not need to be a dumping ground for second-hand cars, or second-hand anything. In the long run, you end up paying a higher price anyway. If you pay a high price for second hand, why not pay for something new. Africa and Rwanda deserve better and this is one way of showing we can afford it,” Kagame noted.
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Kagame said that Volkswagen’s operations in Rwanda reminds of working regionally. He said that Rwanda benefits from Volkswagen’s investment in Kenya and urged East Africa to build a regional manufacturing base.
“In the mid-term, the only way for us in East Africa to move up the industrial value chain from assembly to manufacturing is to build an integrated regional manufacturing base,” he said.
“When we shift from a logic of competition to one of cooperation, we all gain. Success is about partnership and leveraging our strengths,” Kagame tipped East Africa Member countries.
He said that software and technology, combined with innovations in sales and distribution strategies will allow people to have routine access to a new car without the costs of ownership.
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Speaking at the event, the Volkswagen Integrated Mobility Solutions in Rwanda Chief Executive Officer, Michaella Rugwizangoga said that in July they will start with Cooperate car sharing, a service dedicated to institutions, cooperates and non-government organisations.
“We would start with forty vehicles and look to increase to 140 vehicles. This will be followed by ride-healing with initial fleet of 150 vehicles,” she said.
She said that in 2019, they will have public car sharing, with vehicles available in stations which can be self-driven. She said it will be followed by a charter service and peer to peer car sharing service.
Thomas Schäfer, Volkswagen South Africa Chief Executive Officer said that the launch of the plant cements another pillar into the ground of Volkswagen Sub-Saharan Africa strategy.
“Our goal is to play a leading role in the emerging automotive industry in Africa as we pursue a rapid and flexible expansion strategy over the coming years,” he said.
Schäfer said that Rwandans will buy different models assembled locally like VW Polo, VW Passat, VW Tiguan, VW Amarok and VW Teramont
He said that their facilities in phase one have capacity to assemble 1000 cars per year.
“As demand increases, we will move to phase two where we will increase the capacity up to 10,000 cars and from here we will move to the level of manufacturing,” he said.
He said that that they will spend $USD20 million in phase one.
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The Volkswagen’s cheaper local assembled car model is VW Polo which is $23 881 (over Rwf20 million).
For VW Passat is $37 674 (Around Rwf33 million), VW Tiguan is $37 719 (Rwf33 million), VW Amarok is $44 559 (over Rwf38 million) and VW Teramont is $48 156 (Rwf42 million) which is the expensive brand.
In an interview with IGIHE, Amb. Mujawamariya said that they want to increase number of beneficiaries of the scholarships from 15 to 70 and possibly to 100.
Figures from the Embassy of Rwanda in Russia indicate that 120 Rwandans pursue their studies there, 75 of who are sponsored by Russian government.
“The Government of Rwanda has requested Russia to increase the yearly number of scholarship for Rwandan students from 15. In September, 15 students will come, but we expect 70 next year because we requested them that number. I am also thinking that we can request them to increase the number to 100 scholarships,” she said.
“We are among countries which use properly those scholarships and our youth need quality education and skills to develop our country,” she added.
Mujawamariya said that they prefer partnership in education with Russia because their education is different from that of the West. She said that Russia teach foreign students on condition that they will go to contribute to the development of their mother countries.
Kagame was speaking in Kenya yesterday during the 14th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects that was aimed at speeding up development of infrastructure in the East Africa region.
The summit reviewed progress made in the implementation of various resolutions reached during the 13th Summit held in Uganda in April, 2016.
Kagame thanked Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for hosting the summit.
“I thank President Uhuru Kenyatta for hosting and re-convening us after a two-year break to continue with the momentum we had started for our region, coming together and working on joint projects for the benefit of our countries and people. We had made headway in bringing government, businesses, local and foreign investors in partnership to enable these projects that are important to the development of our citizens,” Kagame said.
He noted that there is a lot of work to do towards the projects in the Northern Corridor Integration.
“There is always going to be a lot of work to do but this moment provides an opportunity to rexamine what has been done and what we still need to do,” he noted.
The NCIP is a multilateral development initiative established in 2013 and aimed at speeding up development in the region, particularly the improvement of infrastructure for ease of movement of people, goods and services in the East-African region.
It is also designed to link the land locked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi to Kenya’s Indian Ocean Port of Mombasa. The corridor also serves the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Tanzania.
In a media conference Tuesday, the Governor of Central Bank, John Rwangombwa said that the quarterly Monetary Policy Committee found that the Rwandan economy continues to register strong performance.
“The projection by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of 7.2% is quiet possible because the total turnovers grew by 16.5 percent during the first five months of 2018 from 16.2 percent in the same period of 2017,” he said.
The National Institute of Statistic of Rwanda (NISR) recently revealed that in quarter one of this year, GDP grew by 10.6%, a growth which was attributed to the increase in agricultural production by 8%, industries by 7% and services by 12%.
Rwangombwa said that Rwanda’s formal trade deficit reduced by 1.4 percent during the first five months of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017, following an increase in formal exports receipts by 29.0 percent which overweighed the increase in formal imports of 9.0%.
“The value of our exportation like minerals, agricultural products like coffee and tea were remarkably raised,” he said.
He said that consistent with the performance of the external sector, exchange rate pressures remained subdue. Compared to December 2017, the Rwandan Currency depreciated by 1.5% against the USD as at the end May 2018 from 1.0% and 4.0% observed during the same period of 2017 and 2016 respectively.
Speaking at Rwanda Disability Summit in Kigali on Tuesday, the President of National Union of Disability Organisations of Rwanda (NUDOR), Dominique Bizimana warned that the union’s 13 organisations are likely to stop activities because of financial constraints.
He asked the government and donors to increase the funding to the organisations and put in place a disability policy.
Minister for Local Government, Francis Kaboneka committed the government to improving the welfare of PWDs and cautioned the public against hiding PDWs behind the doors, keeping them out of the sight of those who would help them.
“We have reviewed our laws and made them disability inclusive in order to promote the full enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities. We are discussing with local authorities on mainstreaming persons with disabilities in districts development strategies, actions, plans and contract performance (imihigo),” he said.
Minister Kaboneka said the government released the categories of PWDs last week from which the government will give them special support starting from the first category of disability.
He added that in collaboration with development partners, the government is committed to tackling stigma and discrimination by removing all barriers in registration at a national level; expediting the development of national policy on disability and inclusion and increase resources for the education of PWDs.
On the sidelines of the summit, Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs and Social Protection at the Ministry of Local Government, Dr Alvera Mukabaramba told the media that 150,000 PWDs in the country have been placed in five categories for better consideration in social protection scheme.
She added that the current draft of policy on disability will have been enacted by the next fiscal year starting next month.
The British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Joanne Lomas said the British government is passionate about supporting PWDs and pledged further support to Rwanda’s efforts in this sector.
“We are also celebrating what people with disabilities have achieved here in Rwanda. We have seen very inspiring stories. There is need for ensuring that the status of women with disabilities is recognised,” she said.
The British High Commission co-hosted the summit alongside the Ministry of Local Government.
Ms. Lomas added that among their priorities include ensuring that children with disabilities start the school on time and receive the necessary needs for their education.
Rwanda Disability Summit is part of the Global Disability Summit 2018 which will take place in London, UK on July 24.
In a tweet, the Office of the President, Village Urugwiro announced that the Somalia leader has been in Kigali for a one day working visit.
“President Kagame today received Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre of Somalia during his one day visit to Kigali,” tweet reads.
As part of his visit, Mr. Khayre also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre and paid tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi laid to rest there.
Khayre toured the memorial’s exhibits to learn more about the history of the 1994 genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi.
In his message, Khayre said that he was delighted to learn from the way Rwanda overcame the tragic past.
“I am delighted to learn that Rwanda has managed to overcome those problems in a short period due to the leadership of President Kagame,” he wrote in the memorial’s guest book.
