During the signing of performance contracts for 2017/2018fiscal year between MININFRA and implementing agencies yesterday, the ministry committed to investing more resources to ensure that the set targets are met.
Speaking at the ceremony, the State Minister in-charge of Energy and Water in MININFRA, Germaine Kamayirese said that available energy sources are enough to connect the targeted households but more projects are ongoing to boost power generation.
“Available energy sources are enough to achieve this target, there is no doubt that all targeted households will be connected” she said
Currently, there are 26 investors across the country distributing electricity. The signed performance contracts are in line with vision 2020 of the country, EDPRS II and seven-year government programme.
Organic Law N° 10/2013/0L of 11/07/2013 Governing Political Organizations and Politicians states that The Office of Ombudsman shall each year and whenever necessary verify the accounts of political organizations, on its initiative or upon request by the authority in charge of registration of political organizations.
The Ombudsman received financial records for eleven political parties which are RPF Inkotanyi, PDC, PDI, PL, PPC, PSD, PS Imberakuri, PSP, PSR, UDPR and DGPR, assessed their sources of funding as well as their expenditures.
The Ombudsman said that four political parties; PSR, PDI, PPC and PS Imberakuri had inaccurate information characterized by poor records
According to the report, PS Imberakuri financial declarations did not follow fiscal year calendar as their report covers 1st October 2015 to 30th September, 2016.
In PSR, the party did not account for Rwf360,000as PPC accounts show that the paid an extra Rwf480,000 in rent without explanations. and PDI do not follow financial reporting guidelines. Speaking to IGIHE, the chairperson for PS Imberakuri, Christine Mukabunani said that they were so far confused with laws.
“At first we had to report to the Office of the Ombudsman and submit a copy to the Rwanda Governance Board, but following the revision of the law in 2013, newchanges confused us” she explained.
She explains that they used to report in October and include activities performed in August and September.
“Now, they explained to us that we should declare activities performed between July and June. Errors are now corrected,” she added.
Public servants failed to declare wealth sources
Ombudsman’s report also revealed that six public servants failed to declare their source of wealth and some of them h had their cases taken to prosecution.
Presenting the report to both chambers of parliament yesterday, the Ombudsman, AnastaseMurekezi said that among 1,088 individuals that had to declare their wealth in 2016/2017, six did not.
The Office of Ombudsman requested that the government should seize ¼ of salary for people who fail to declare their sources of wealth.
The school is located at EL SIREAF Locality, in Northern Darfur.
The humanitarian project by the Rwandan Peacekeepers comprises of construction of a fence (120mx90m), one block of two classrooms, two latrines, four rehabilitated classrooms and an administration office. The school has now, after the project, a capacity to accommodate over 400 students.
The project was sponsored by UNAMID and implemented by Rwanda Peacekeepers deployed in Sector North Darfur as part of the Mission’s Quick Impact Projects programme.
In his remarks, the Guest of Honor Mr ABDOMAJID Mohammed, representative from State Ministry of education, appreciated the great effort by Rwanda peacekeepers who constructed and rehabilitated the EL SIREAF High Secondary School for Girls.
“We ensure you that we will maintain this work for coming generation to be a symbol of peace and love between people of Sudan and Rwandans” he said.
The UNAMID Head of Office Sector North, Mrs SUNAINA Lowe, who presided over the inauguration and handover ceremony commended the courage and effort of Rwanda Peacekeepers and its significant contribution and sustained commitment to the UN Peacekeeping operations.
On behalf of the Rwanda Peacekeepers, CO of RWANBATT49, Lt Col David MUSIRIKARE, said that the project is very useful because the existing school was old.
He mentioned that it was a challenge for the school administration to manage the security of the school especially the movement of students and other people entering inside without control.
“This project will positively impact both the local community and UNAMID; it will also employ people settled in the area reducing the security threat to the school beneficiaries”, Lt Col David MUSIRIKARE said.
The handover ceremony was attended by delegations from the Government of Sudan, UNAMID officials, peacekeepers and local communities.
The museum was established in 2015, focusing on renewable and non-renewable energy.
In the first phase, the ministry relocated different animal mummies of crocodiles, snakes, birds, monkeys, butterflies, zebra and gorillas among other animals found in Rwandan parks.
Also relocated are minerals like aluminum, colta, wolfram among others found in Rwanda.
The museum consists of three components; the first for energy, the second for animals and mining and the third for plants like trees and herbs used for traditional healing
Speaking at the event last week, the Minister for Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu said that new objects will help boost visitors.
“Increasing objects will also help to increase visitors” she said adding that students will be able to visit the museum and see what they learn in theory.
She said that the more people visit the museum the more they will understand the importance of environmental conservation.
The Environmental Museum head, Andrew Ndabaga said that 20,000 people used to visit the museum per year and optimistic that the number will increase following new changes.
“People are attracted to different aspects; someone who will not understand energy affairs will visit animals section or minerals or gardens,” he said.
INMR will also relocate snakes currently located in Natural History Museum.
While presenting the report to Parliament today, the Ombudsman, Anastase Murekezi explained that 1,934 (64.9%) cases were not handled in 2015-2016 while 1,047 (35.1%) were received in 2016-2017.
Murekezi said that of the cases that were appealed, a total of 1,033 were assessed and 67, equivalent 6.5%, were revised through the Supreme Court.
A total of 966, making 93.5% cases, the report indicates, had no injustice cases identified.
The report says that there are many cases which were not assessed in 2016-2017 because of the overwhelming numbers in contrast to a small staff to scrutinize the files.
The defense team started by protesting that the Nyarugenge court should not be in charge of handling the hearing and trial, urging that the case should be taken to Kacyiru Primary Court.
The court however ruled that Nyarugenge Intermediate Court shall be able to handle the case.
When prosecution was asked to provide audio recorded evidence supporting allegations against the trio as entered on the charge sheet and file, they instead asked that one part of the hearing should be held in-camera to protect people who provided the testimonies.
Prosecution said that they have twenty audio recordings as evidence against the accused, eight of which, if aired in the open, could affect security of the people in question.
Prosecution also said that audio recordings have names mentioned, some of who are still under investigations and their revelation can obstruct further investigations and that they have testimonies from 70 witnesses but whose names, they said, they could not reveal for security purposes.
One of the defence lawyers, Gatera Gashabana said that he was worried of audio recordings which his clients were not asked about during investigations or before prosecution.
He said that audios were not legally taken and therefore to qualify before court, but the presiding judge said that qualification of the recordings is another case that could be handled on its own merit.
Gashabana welcomed the act of listening to all the audio recordings in-camera as the allegations are based on the said audios.
Defence lawyer Pierre Celestin Buhuru reminded that they were denied audios in different times for them to prepare defence, he said that nothing they can be supporting on their clients since they will have hear audios only in court.
He also insisted that all audios should go in-camera so that they will not be surprised during the hearing.
The presiding judge admitted that hearing for some audios can go in-camera but denied to mention names of testimony givers.
Indeed, migration has since our earliest days been essential to the human story — the source of multiple economic and cultural benefits. But when migration is out of extreme need, distress and despair, it becomes another story. Forced migration is rooted in conflicts, political instability, extreme poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and the impacts of climate change.
In these situations, people have no choice other than to move.
This year’s slogan for World Food Day (16 October), “Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development”, addresses the structural drivers of large movements of people in order to make migration safe, orderly and regular.
This is all the more pertinent today because the numbers of hungry people are on the rise again after decades of progress.
According to the 2017 State of Food Security and Nutrition report (SOFI), 815 million people suffered from hunger in 2016, an increase of 38 million people compared to 2015 (777 million). This was largely due to conflicts, droughts and floods around the world.
In fact, conflicts have driven northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen to the brink of famine and triggered acute food insecurity also in Burundi, Iraq and elsewhere. Globally there are now around 64 million people forcibly displaced by conflict and persecution, the highest number since the Second World War. Furthermore, drought, due to an unusually powerful El Niño, has sharply reduced access to food in much of Africa.
Rural households often bear the brunt of these drivers. Most of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and many rural youth, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, migrate in the absence of productive opportunities.
But let’s set the story straight: Despite widely held perceptions, most of those who migrate remain in their countries of origin. There are around 763 million internal migrants worldwide, one in every eight people on the planet with the majority moving from the
countryside to cities. Of the 244 million international migrants recorded in 2015, one-third came from G20 countries and consisted of people who moved to pursue more productive opportunities. South-South migratory flows are now larger than those from developing to the developed nations.
{{Make migration a choice }}
Conflict, rural poverty, and climate change, all demand increasing attention as they drive up distress migration as a last resort, which generates a tangle of moral, political and economic problems for migrants, their eventual hosts and the transit points in between. We all have roots and few of us wish to sever them. In fact, even in the most extreme situations, people would rather remain at home.
Inclusive rural development can help on all fronts, curbing conflict, boosting sustainability and making migration a matter of choice rather than desperation.
Decent employment opportunities – which can be generated by productive agriculture and supporting activities ranging from seed research and credit provision to storage infrastructure and food processing businesses – are urgently needed to convince a fastgrowing number of young people in rural areas that there are better fates than hazardous journeys to unknown destinations.
Migration itself is part of rural development, seasonal migration is closely linked to the agricultural calendars, and remittances are a huge force for improving both rural welfare and farm productivity. Migrants’ contribution to development needs to be recognized and cherished, as they are the bridges between countries of origin, transit and destination.
FAO is working to address the root causes of migration. This means promoting policy options that favour vulnerable people. It includes youth job training and inclusive access to credit, crafting social protection programmes that offer cash or in-kind transfers, specific measures to support those returning to rural areas of origin, and offering assistance for the provision of seeds, fertilizers and animal-health services, fine-tuning early warning systems for weather risks and by working for sustainable natural resource and land use.
As co-chair in 2018 of the Global Migration Group, comprising 22 UN agencies and the World Bank, FAO will advocate for solutions that make migration an act of choice and not a desperate last resort. Agriculture and rural development have a key role to play in this.
Media reported the disputes after the hotel opened in September last year as Ubumwe Grande Hotel while it was developed as Zinc Hotel, a brand introduced by CG Corp Global which holds the majority shares and was contracted to manage the 153-rooms hotel for 15 years.
Despite the reports on the disputes, Patrick Fitzgibbon, Hilton’s Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa, told the media on Wednesday that he has no information about the disputes in the facility he confirmed last week to be rebranded under the upscale DoubleTree by Hilton starting next year.
During a press briefing on the sidelines of African Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) in Kigali on Wednesday, IGIHE’s reporter asked Fitzgibbon if he is aware of the ongoing disputes in the facility he is preparing to acquire and he answered, “I have no information about that. Go to ask those who told you that.” “I am sorry,” he added when the reporter tried to inquire more.
Was he deliberately lying to media? Pretending to have never heard of the disputes? Or is Hilton ignoring the case which has been under court of law since last year?
Being referred to shareholders, IGIHE looked for Rahul Chaudhary, Director of CG Hospitality Holdings Global who is overseeing the businesses of his father, Binod Chaudhary, a Nepalese billionaire who owns CG Corp Global. Rahul revealed that he has always informed Hilton management starting November last year when he talked face to face with Fitzgibbon and alerted Fitzgibbon of the news reports highlighting the ongoing disputes and his family’s part ownership of Ubumwe Grande. Rahul was also attending the AHIF which ended on Thursday at the Kigali Convention Centre.
Shortly after the interview, CG released a brief statement on Hilton and Ubumwe Grande news expressing their disappointment in the developments.
“It has recently come to the attention of the CG Hospitality Holdings Global (CG) that Hilton may have entered into a franchise or management agreement for the Ubumwe Grand Hotel. This information came as a surprise and disappointment to CG,” reads part of the statement which went on stating,
“At no time has CG been made aware of any negotiations for such a deal despite (1) CG’s status as a representative of the majority shareholder in the company that owns the Ubumwe Grand Hotel and (2) ongoing disputes relating to the management of this hotel, which have previously been reported on in the press. CG is seeking legal advice in relation to these developments.”
{{Essence of the disputes}}
The $40 million Ubumwe Grande Hotel is owned by three partners namely CG Corp Global and the Mukwano Group who own a combined 80% stake; and Robert Bapfakurera who owns a 20% stake, The East African reported last October.
The hotel, which was part of a global chain, Zinc, owned by Nepalese billionaire Binod Chaudhary, changed its name to Ubumwe Grande before it opened the doors. Mukwano Group changed the hotel’s name when it neared completion despite a court order barring it from doing so and cancelled the management contract of the hotel without the consent of Zinc, the company contracted to run the hotel for 15 years.
CG Corp Global/Zinc went to Nyarugenge Commercial Court to nullify the cancellation of the management contract but Mukwano appealed the decision at the Commercial High Court. According to Apollo Nkunda, the lawyer representing Zinc, the Commercial High Court ruled that the case be reviewed.
Despite the disappointment in his first investment in Rwanda, Rahul said CG Corp Global is still seeking to grow businesses in Rwanda and the region.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Local Government, Francis Kaboneka thanked the province’s commitment to the country’s development and promised continued partnership.
“There are more than 2000 small and big projects they have implemented. Their programmes contributed to health, education and supporting persons with disabilities among others,” he said.
RhenaniePalatinat also contributes in capacity building for people in different sectors including training teachers and health workers.
The province also provides Euro2.5 million every years to Rwanda.
Governance, Sports and Infrastructure Minister in Rhenanie Palatinat Province, Roger Lewentz promised extended partnership to 35 more years ahead.
“We need to advance cooperation by equipping youth as we prepare our future. We observed that Rwanda is developing, we shall continue this partnership in 35 years ahead and achieve more” he said.
RhenaniePalatinat started supporting Rwanda’s development programmes in 1982.
Before entering the grounds of the court, every person was obliged to present his/her identification (ID or passport) as well as getting registered by security agents.
Also in attendance was the new defense lawyer, Gatera Gashabana defending Adeline Mukangemanyi as she requested in the previous hearing and Pierre Celestin Buhuru defending Diane Rwigara and Anne Rwigara.
Gashabana said that he received confirmation to defend Mukangemanyi yesterday (Thursday) 4:00pm. He said that he met his client but the only document she had was arrest warrants.
Gashabana requested to be given some time to read the dossier.
He said that he discussed nothing with the client.
Prosecution said that it is unusual to adjourn pre-trial hearing four times, so far taking 10 days contrary to the laws determining 72 hours to have decided on pre-trial hearing since the prosecution submitted the case to court.
Prosecution requested the court not to adjourn hearing over defense reasons as all defendants were read their allegations with the presence of the lawyer, Buhuru.
“Isn’t this postponement contradicting ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ principle?,” prosecution questioned.
Prosecution called to separate hearing of Anne Rwigara and Diane Rwigara represented by Buhuru as lawyer Gashabana goes ahead with reading Adeline’s case file.
Defense lawyers however rejected the call for separate hearing describing it, as contradictions in the trial
Anne Rwigara requested court to give them access to their case file, allow them visitors, be given 30 minutes out of the cells and give them back their Bibles.
The presiding judge adjourned the hearing to Monday 16th October, 2017
