According to Article 82 of RDF Special Statute, General Officers may retire at the age of 55, an age limit which may be extended for not more than 5 years in the interest of service in RDF.
“RDF would like to inform the general public that the request for retirement by Brig Gen Jean Damascene Sekamana has been granted by the Commander in Chief of RDF and President of Rwanda in his capacity as the retiring authority for General Officers,” reads RDF statement.
Brig Gen (Rtd) Jean Damascene Sekamana, who is now 60 years old, joined Rwanda Patriotic Army, currently RDF during the liberation struggle in 1990.
He served in different capacities that include G2 Gendarmerie; Commanding officer, Brigade Commander and Acting Division Commander. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of operations in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
Prior to his retirement, he was working as Coordinator of Production in RDF Reserve Force.
The Parliament passed, in February last year, the organic law establishing Kiswahili as the fourth official language alongside Kinyarwanda, English and French in Rwanda.
Prior to the law, Kiswahili was included among the subjects taught in Ordinary and Advanced levels as an optional subject and it is expected to be a compulsory subject and examined at the national level.
Speaking to IGIHE on Monday, Dr. Munyakazi said they are working on a curriculum, books and finding teachers among other necessities so that students can study and sit for Kiswahili in the national exams.
Asked about whether they will need foreign teachers, Munyakazi said that they are yet to know whether they will need them as they are still at the stage of setting up the requirements to teach Kiswahili profoundly.
“When we notice that we need a certain number of teachers while we don’t have them in the country and unable to train local ones, we shall then request them from other countries,” he said.
Though Munyakazi emphasised that they are yet to know whether they will need foreign teachers, he said that available local Kiswahili teachers are not enough.
“Among teachers we train at the College of Education, some learn Kiswahili but they are still not enough, that is why 2018 is a year to identify all the requirements and ensure that we start implementation next year,” he said.
Former Education Minister, Dr. Papias Musafiri Malimba visited Tanzania in April last year and discussed with Tanzanian President, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli about different topics in line with skills development and ICT.
After the visit, President Magufuli hailed Rwanda’s decision to incorporate Kiswahili among official languages. He said that Tanzania was ready to provide teachers to teach the language in Rwandan schools.
Passing the organic law establishing Kiswahili as an official language at the Parliament last year, the Minister for Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu, said that the language cannot be approved to be used for administrative purposes without it being instructed in schools.
She said that they will put many efforts in schools and support elderly people in learning Kiswahili. She said that they could use the bilateral relations with EAC countries.
Through his twitter handle, Kagame encouraged participants in the exercise saying that they should make it sustainable for health benefits.
“Happy to see how car-free day is successful and continuing to attract thousands not only in Kigali but across the country,” he said.
“Congratulations to everyone who participates in car free day. We should make it sustainable/long term. The health and other benefits are enormous!” reads his tweet.
While participating in the sports last month, Kagame called for increase of hours for the programme to help contribute in promoting healthy life among Rwandans.
Based on Kagame’s call, the City of Kigali Mayor Pascal Nyamulinda announced, while participating in ‘car free day’ yesterday, that they have increased days of the activity from one to two days monthly.
He said the mass sports will take place at the first and third weekends of every month.
“I can assure you that it will occur twice a month as was requested by the Head of State when he was visiting us,” he said.
Car Free Day programme was launched in 2016 and was aimed at sensitizing city dwellers on sports culture and preventing non-communicable diseases.
According to the magazine, Kagame won as an African whose activities, policies and actions have contributed to ‘creating jobs and wealth creation; promotion, defense and delivering of democratic values; and the promotion of Africa’s image globally.
The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year Awards committee was unveiling the winners for different categories in the just concluded polls.
The winners who will be decorated on the 24th February 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa, were unveiled by the Publisher of the Magazine Dr. Ken Giami, at the UK Head Office of the group, after the awards committee working with the editorial team concluded the collation of both online and offline votes and submissions from over one million subscribers and followership base of the publication.
According to the magazine, the total online votes cast by Africans from all around the world jumped to 288,958 from 85,000 the previous year and offline submissions increased by over 400%.
In addition to the winners, a special commendation citation shall be presented to the most distinguished runners up which includes Linah Mohohlo, Governor, Bank of Botwana; Fred Swaniker, Founder, African Leadership Academy, South Africa & African Leadership University, Mauritius; and Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings Nigeria.
The Publisher of the Magazine, Ken Giami, reiterated the group’s position that all nominees in the various categories are all winners, given their individual contributions to the continent’s development.
In his words, “to be chosen out of the over 1.2 billion people on the continent, speaks volumes.” He further stated that “the nominees have elevated and redefined benchmarks of service to the humanity on the continent. They are all true lovers of Africa, contributing passionately, sometimes imperfectly, but all determined to impacting society, making Africa a better place for its people.”
The African Leadership Magazine Persons of the Year which is in its 6th run, is an annual award reserved for distinguished Africans, who are considered to have blazed the trail in the year under review.
A shortlist of nominees are selected from results gathered via a call for nomination – traditionally promoted via a paid online and offline campaigns across the continent, Europe, and the Americas. The call for nomination is the first step in a multi-phased process.
Remarkably this year, the selection committee considered, among others, three key themes – Africans whose activities, policies and actions have contributed to ‘creating jobs and wealth creation; promotion, defense and delivering of democratic values; and the promotion of Africa’s image globally’; in arriving at their decisions.
According to Reuters, Israel said on Wednesday it would pay thousands of African migrants living illegally in the country to go home or to “third countries” and threatened them with jail if they are caught after the end of March.
Rights groups including Hotline for Refugees and Migrants have said Uganda and Rwanda had agreed to take in migrants from Israel in the past.
However, both Rwanda and Uganda rejected the deal saying that it is fake news.
Speaking to IGIHE on Saturday, Nduhungirehe said that Rwanda has no agreement with Israel to receive any asylum seeker.
He said that the two governments did not sign the deal but speculations were developed by media which said the news was confirmed by Israel’s politicians.
“No agreements have been there, they base on 2014 talks which were not validated. We have not signed any agreements,” he said.
He said that no talks between Rwanda and Israel that are taking place but affirmed that ongoing talks are those to receive migrants from Libya.
According to Reuters, Uganda’s Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem also rejected the news.
“There is no written agreement or any form of agreement between the government of Uganda and Israeli government to accept refugees from Israel,” Oryem said.
“Any suggestion to the contrary was “fake news … absolute rubbish,” he added.
The majority of migrants in Israel came from Eritrea and Sudan and many say they fled war and persecution as well as economic hardship but Israel treats them as economic migrants.
The lawmakers will visit the Northern Province from 8th to 12th January, Western Province from 15th to 20th January and City of Kigali from 3rd to 5th February.
During the exercise, legislators will also assess the implementation of good settlement master plan.
According to the Parliament’s press release, MPs will mainly assess the implementation of key projects in the 2017/2018 fiscal year and citizen participation in their development programmes.
“They will also assess hygiene, fight against malnutrition programmes and the progress on “bye bye umwanda (poor hygiene)” programme,” it reads.
“During the tours, people will have the opportunity to discuss with legislators about their development and other government programmes. MPs will get to know in deep daily lives of the population, understand their problems and give orientation on how they can be addressed,” reads the statement.
MPs’ outreach exercise has become a yearly routine since it was launched in 2015.
Locally known as Itorero, the programme intends to equip the youth with Rwandan culture and good values.
Speaking to IGIHE on Saturday, the National Itorero Commission (NIC) Chairperson, Edouard Bamporiki said they expect 65,000 people to attend though the number can reduce due to different reasons like sickness and negligence.
He said the week-long programme will take place at 115 sites across the country.
He said during this year’s civic education and National Service locally known as Urugerero, the youth will participate in different hygiene and sanitation activities.
“We shall focus on hygiene. We wish to end the problem of toilets shortage as statistics show that there are Rwandans who do not have toilets. Participants will be sensitised about the value of hygiene, and when they start National Service, they will implement what they will have acquired,” said Bamporiki adding that they will teach the youth how to fight against drugs and avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Bamporiki said the programme will benefit poor households by developing vegetable gardens for them. It will also help conserve the environment by planting trees.
He said the programme will introduce ‘camped national service’ this year, contrary to the previous sessions when the youth used to do the service while staying at home.
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This year’s Camping National Services will take one month at the District level. It is expected that 15,000 and 416 people will participate in the camps at district and national levels respectively.
Participants will be selected based on their performance during the civic education programme and national service at the village level.
Bamporiki said that they will receive a small number due to resource constraints but there are plans for all senior six graduates to attend the camps.
“Our current resources do not allow us to take a big number of students but in the future, we wish that every senior six leaver participates in this programme,” he said.
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Bamporiki said that there are plans to drop civic education and replace it with National Service.
According to Bamporiki, skills that students acquire during a one-week civic education programme will be offered in schools.
“Things they learn throughout this week will be introduced in primary and secondary schools and school leavers will go straight to national service that contribute in the country’s development,” he said.
Bamporiki emphasized that basing on how the programme will have been implemented in the schools, the changes may start next year, “but I assure you that in 2020, no civic education programme will take place at the sites,” he said.
Through her twitter account, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and East African Community Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo announced that Kutesa also imparted President Yoweri Museveni’s message to his Rwandan counterpart.
“President Kagame today received my Ugandan counterpart, Sam Kutesa, with a message from President Museveni, a good discussion mainly on integration,” reads her tweet.
During the discussion, Kagame stressed that for integration to be successful, there has to be something for everybody where all partners must win.
They also talked about recent fatal arrests faced by different Rwandans in Uganda, things which caused fears among Rwandan citizens working or travelling in Uganda.
“Also discussed, and linked to regional integration, was the state of bilateral relations, including continuing arrests and disappearances of Rwandan citizens in Uganda causing tension and many Rwandan families to petition their government to intervene for their loved ones,” Mushikiwabo tweeted.
Speaking to IGIHE recently, the Ambassador of Rwanda in Uganda, Maj. Gen. Frank Mugambage confirmed the crisis in diplomatic relations between the two countries saying that Rwanda was seeking the solution.
He said that they wrote to Ugandan government asking clarification about illegal detention that Rwandans were facing.
The #Metoo initiative was started by an individual whose twitter account goes by @my250tweets. He published the names and photos of four men –including some popular personalities –who allegedly raped women recently.
The act has attracted controversial sentiments on social media. The police have asked rape victims to report to them rather than merely taking accusations to social networks.
“We encourage victims to report to the police or call 3512 and use the services of the Isange One Stop Center. We ask all those who have grievances about a rape case that has not been treated, to contact us at 0788311778,” tweeted Rwanda National Police.
Present throughout the country, the Isange One Stop Center is a care and support facility that provides medical and social support services to rape victims.
Speaking to IGIHE, Chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda, Marie Immaculée Ingabire, encouraged the act and asked other victims to dare and tell their stories.
“The victims should dare, because, to remain silent becomes gradually oppressive until silence stifles them. Police and other organs can help them; so they should dare to speak,” she said.
Ingabire added the reasons that silence victims include the stigma they can face in their communities, or the fact that their story will not be believed.
“From my point of view, victims should talk to the best-positioned institutions to help them, to avoid defamation or similar acts,” she added.
Police spokesman ACP Theos Badege said there are “better ways” to seek justice than turning to social networks to make strong accusations against people.
“Rwanda is not a country where one would commit a crime of such intensity and come out free,” Badege said yesterday.
According to Badege, one of the alleged victims reported the rape case to the police in 2014 and investigations were conducted accordingly.
The suspect, identified as Kagabo, was later brought to trial, but later discharged for lack of evidence pinning him on the crime.
Kanuma was convicted of tax evasion and counterfeit in the tender he won at Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC).
The Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) Spokesperson, CIP Hillary Sengabo told IGIHE on Friday that Kanuma was released on December 26th2017 after completing his sentence.
The court decision was read on 26th October 2017 by Gasabo Intermediate court and Kanuma was sentenced to one year in jail and a fine of Rwf1 million.
Kanuma, 48, had been arrested in the night of 31st December 2016.
During the hearing, the prosecution alleged that, in the process of bidding for a tender in RDRC, Kanuma falsified the salaries of his employees so that he would meet tender requirements.
He later won the Rwf44 million tender without informing his employees.
According to a statement submitted by The Rwanda Focus former employees to prosecution, Kanuma impersonated and forged the signature of his former accountant, Annet Bamurange, to win the tender.
Theophile Harushyamagara, former journalist with The Rwanda Focus said that he realised that Kanuma had released a Rwf500,000 cheque in his name yet he used to pay him Rwf200,000 monthly.
Another journalist Stevenson Mugisha confirmed that Kanuma released a Rwf 500,000 cheque in his name yet he received Rwf300 000 only.
It was later established among employees that Kanuma submitted false information to RDRC to win the tender. The forgery was later discovered by RDRC which filed a case for the court of law.
Regarding the case of tax fraud, prosecution claimed that Kanuma accepted tax arrears of Rwf 65, 256, 589 which he attributed to poor performance of the country’s media industry.
