Lt Col Munyengango was appointed on 26th September 2017, but officially started the job this Tuesday.
Speaking to the media Lt Col Munyengango said that he will serve properly as his predecessors did.
“I will start from my predecessors’ good successes like working closely with media and linking population with the army. I will do all my best to promote cooperation with population we serve” he said.
Prior to new appointment, Munyengango worked in different positions including Logistics Officer in RDF’s Air Force and an instructor at Nyakinama Military Academy.
Munyengango also commanded a troop 165 of RDF’s Air Force soldiers that were on peace keeping mission under UNAMISS in South Sudan. The troop started their mission in August 2016.
Brig Gen Ferdinand had been the RDF acting spokesperson from 17th July 2017 replacing Lt Col René Ngendahimana who retired from service.
Among presented their credentials to president Kagame include Bishop Andrzej Jozwowicz, the Vatican’s envoy to Rwanda.
Jozwowicz promised to strengthen bilateral relations with Rwanda’s Catholic Church to promote reconciliation and general development.
He said that he’s committed to help Catholic Church write new history of partnership with the government as Pope Francis promised president Kagame during his visit to Vatican early this year.
“To the best of my ability, I will help the Church to take forward this cooperation especially reconciliation. We will do our best in both spiritual and economic development,” he said.
Other ambassadors presented their credentials are AnvireDjabia Joachim from Ivory Coast, Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk from Ukraine, Raza Bashir Tarar from Pakistan, Antonio Louis Pubillones Izaguirre from Cuba, Elizabeth Taylor from Colombia, Benson Keith Chali from Zambia,
Benoit Ryelandt from Belgium, Elman Abdullayev from Azerbaijan, Oliver Wonekha from Uganda and Adamu Onoze Shuaibu from Nigeria.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Rwanda, Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, pledged to promote bilateral relations between both countries, be in trade, investment and education.
He promised to share with Rwanda expertise in Agriculture especially in wheat, Maize and Horticulture farming.
Tsymbaliuk will have his residence in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the first Ukraine’s ambassador to Rwanda.
Cuba’s Ambassador, Antonio Louis Pubillones Izaguirre said that his country wishes to contribute to Rwanda’s development.
Speaking to the media, Ivory Coast’s Ambassador to Rwanda Anvire Djabia Joachim said that both countries are prepared to extend cooperation in terms of trade, culture, tourism and education among others.
“We already have RwandAir’s f lights to Cotonou via Abidjan. We need to extend partnership in knowledge and culture,” Anvire said.
The move was announced Monday while unveiling findings of Labor Force Survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
Statistics show that 84% of people eligible to work already have jobs. The survey points out that the government still uses labor law of 1974 determining Rwf100 for every employee per day.
The law has been criticized by different non-government organizations advocating for rights of employees saying that the cost of living is very high and doesn’t match the current salary policy.
Kayirangwa told the media that wage policy reform discussions were held and completed.
“Restructuring was completed; we are waiting for the completion of new labor law and consider policies in setting up minimum wage” Kankindo said
According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), tourism receipts register an annual growth of 10% but the target is to increase the growth rate to 25%.
The Chief Tourism Officer at RDB, Belise Kariza says that Tourism in Rwanda is making this long jump in a short spell of time because of the explicit policies and approaches initiated and consistently nurtured, implemented with diligence and, where need be, adjusted to guarantee the harvesting of best possible results.
She says they are putting in place strategies that will attract more visitors, receipts, high value tourism products and, eventually, double by 2024.
“We need to position Rwanda as the international tourism destination of choice,” she said.
“The first system is to understand how foreigners perceive us, do they perceive us only as a country that passed through the genocide or they know something else?” she added.
That positioning will go hand in hand with promoting the country using social media platforms as they connect billions of people across the World. Other activities will include developing touristic sites, and investing more efforts in different tourist attractions across the country.
“We shall implement Kivu Belt master plan by promoting investment in that region. The areas surrounding Kivu Lake will be the model of tourism activities,” she said.
“We shall also highlight good service delivery as well as proper monitoring of tourism sector in the country. Two months ago, we started providing operational certificates to institutions offering tourism services in Rwanda to create a clear working vision,” she added.
The revenue sharing scheme will also be enhanced by distributing 10% of tourism revenues to support community projects around National Parks. RDB will continue with sensitizing people about the importance of sustainable biodiversity,
Mushikiwabo assured them support in promoting cooperation.
“I wish you success in your assignments. I assure you support to upgrade bilateral relations and promote cooperation” reads Ministry’s twitter account.
All five envoys had been admitted by different Cabinet Meetings.
Envoys that presented their copies of credence letters are of Ukraine, Colombia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
The extra-ordinary meeting of 3rd November, 2015 approved Ambassador Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk to represent Ukraine in Rwanda with residence in Nairobi, Kenya. The Cabinet Meeting of 9th December approved Ambassador Elizabeth Taylor to represent Columbia in Rwanda with residence in Nairobi Kenya.
The Cabinet Meeting of 26th May, 2017 approved Ambassador Elman Abdullayev to represent Azerbaijan in Rwanda with residence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Cabinet Meeting of 8th December, 2015 approved Ambassador Raza Bashir Tarar to represent Pakistan in Rwanda with residence in Nairobi.
Mushikiwabo also received copies of credence letters from Ambassador Adamu Onoze Shuaibu to represent Nigeria in Rwanda with residence in Kigali. Shuaibu had been approved by the cabinet meeting of 12nd September, 2017.
Gatabazi announced the decision following cases in the provincial agriculture consultative meeting that took place last week.
During the meeting, the governor found some local government officials charting and ordered them to leave their handsets outside the conference room in subsequent meetings.
Speaking to IGIHE this morning, Gatabazi explained that telephone engagements tend to distract members from giving attention to salient issues under discussion and later translate into poor implementation.
“We were discussing important issues which impact the public; I saw some leaders busy on social media. This implies that they were outside the meeting dealing in own affairs” he said.
He said that punitive actions will be taken immediately against culprits, attracting sanctions that are yet to be determined. “I am going to communicate this directive to all mayors,” he said.
Their lawyer, Pierre Celestin Buhuru told court that he had not read through the prosecution’s file on allegations leveled against the three family members.
Buhuru said that he was not handed files containing the allegations so that he could peruse them and prepare the defense.
He requested five days to assess the prosecution’s allegations.
The prosecution side said that the lawyer was just reluctant to access and read a soft copy of the case file as it was available in the court system.
Noting that defendants have a right to fair time for preparation before hearing and trial, prosecution allowed defendants to be given some time to study the file but opposed the five days. Buhuru asked prosecution to give him hard file, which prosecution declined saying that information contained therein is confidential.
The presiding judge denied them the requested five days to prepare for defense and set the hearing date for Wednesday 11th October 2017 at 9:00 am.
The graduation ceremony took place at the academy’s Commercial and Cabin Crew Training center on October 7, 2017, graduating
262 aviation professionals from different African countries.
In total, the academy has graduated 50 pilots, 66 aviation maintenance technicians, 120 cabin crew and 26 Equipment and Facility Maintenance technicians; 10 majoring in Industrial Mechanics and 16 in Industrial Electricity.
This round of graduates includes a total of 34 Cameroonian, Rwandese, Equatorial Guinean, Togolese, and Congolese nationals, which testifies Ethiopian Pan African stance and key role in the development of African aviation.
According to Tigrai Online, the Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam congratulated and welcomed the new graduates to the airline’s dedicated workforce, gave out diplomas to all the graduates, flight wings to graduating pilots and cabin crew and achievement award to graduates with outstanding academic performance.
“Education is the greatest Equalizer in our world today and Human Resource Development (HRD) is one of the Four Pillars of our Vision 2025 Strategic Growth Plan. In line with this belief we have invested adequately in capacity building in the Ethiopian Aviation Academy, which is the largest and most modern in the continent of Africa,” Tewolde said
“The Academy has been training and graduating the required Aviation Professionals both for Ethiopian Airlines Group and other partner airline around the region. It has the capacity to support our vision 2025 growth plan with adequate aviation professionals and to contribute its share towards the development of Aviation in Africa. While I congratulate today’s graduates for their success, I also wish them the best of success when they join our winning Team of strong work force,” he added.
Currently, the academy trains 2000 aviation professionals per annum and it envisages enhancing its intake capacity to 4,000 by 2025.
Ethiopian Aviation Academy is a full ICAO TRAINAIR plus member and IATA Accredited Training Center.
The discussion about the development of peace education took place on the first day of the 3rd Annual Commemoration of the World Alliance Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit held in Seoul, Republic of Korea on September 17, organised by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, and Restoration of Light (HWPL) under the UN ECOSOC.
As a part of “establishing collaborative governance for development and implementation of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) drafted by HWPL in 2016 to advocate international cooperation with participation of civil society in peace building efforts, the forum with education specialists as participants diagnosed the current issues of education in countries and discussed introduction and application of peace education inspired by HWPL.
Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL emphasized comprehensive application of peace education by saying, “We need peace education specifically for today. We ourselves should be the reality of peace education. Without the spirit of peace in himself, how can he possibly educate peace to students? To do this, peace education must start from family so that the family becomes peaceful with the spirit of peace.”
Maria Eugenia Barrios Robles de Mejía, Vice Minister of Education in Guatemala, said “We should help the citizens of tomorrow be more tolerant of each other and know that a dialogue is the way to accept their differences and solve their conflicts.”
Participants discussed ways to enhance communication and network for inventing methodology and curriculum of peace education for future generations and to raise awareness of the need for teachers’ understanding of the value of peace with detailed educational contents.
“When we as teachers take up the responsibility to speak to our students, and be the necessary role models concerning how we speak, relationships and the adherence to order within society, we will start seeing the results in our students.” said Nancy Roussopoulos, former Principal of Camps Bay Preparatory School in Cape Town, South Africa.
Prof. Juan Carlos Torres from Don Bosco University shared his teaching experience of peace education by saying “When I applied the focus of ‘conflict resolution’ value of HWPL, with children 5-9 years old, the result was surprising. The change in attitude in their faces and joy was drawn on the paper. This education will change and form these values within their hearts as a permanent change.”
As an action plan to develop peace education discussed at the high-level meeting with education specialists last year, HWPL has established HWPL Peace Academies with 127 education institutions in nine countries including India, Israel, Kosovo, and the Philippines.
Ensconced in his chair at home on Friday at 4.00pm local time, retired Pastor Naasson Hitimana plays gospel music on the radio on his left side, has a Bible on the cockpit by his right and awaits a visitor he was told about, none else but a journalist from IGIHE. Elder Hitimana has got another chance to break loneliness and engage in a lengthy talk, definitely as long as 25 minutes compared to 10 minutes of the previous talk when he got tired and the talk was postponed until another schedule.
His caregiver is away for a gospel mission, a housemaid is busy outside, Pr Hitimana sits alone in a big modern house located in Kicukiro District, Kicukiro Sector, Gasharu Cell. He shakes hands again with the visitor who had been there a week before but the elderly cannot recall the face until he is reminded. He picks Bible and explains how he usually loses mind on everything starting from Bible verses he had memorised and used for around 40 years. He talks of frailty that comes with elderhood.
He says he was born at the time birth days were not recorded but it was later guessed and recorded for him as born in 1932, meaning he is now 85 years old but he says he is older than that. He started teaching at primary school in 1947 and was later sent to Cameroon where he spent four years receiving pastoral training and came back to Rwanda in 1962 with a qualification as a Pastor for a Christian church. He served the church until 1998, the time he retired due to frailty of ageing.
Hitimana, whose wife and some children passed away while other children live overseas including a son working in England, has no close family member around him but a nephew, young Pastor Désiré Niyomugabo, who committed the last seven months to staying with his paternal uncle, Hitimana. Retired Pastor Hitimana lives on his pension and rent of his two houses but sympathises with older persons who do not have means to afford their needs.
“I had always heard of a local adage ‘Gusaza ni Ugusahurwa’ (loosely translated as ageing is losing all) but I could not understand its real meaning until this age. An older person loses all capabilities to do what they used to do for and find themselves in need of someone else to provide everything just as a little baby needs. I have means to pay my housemaid but I imagine how challenging is the life of older person without such means, it is worrisome!” He says.
Pastor Hitimana urges churches to work closely with governments to provide eldercare by establishing centres for older persons who do not have caregivers, provide them with space for expressing their views and contribute to decisions that affect their well-being.
“Imagine that we need someone to take water and do us a bath yet young people also have got responsibilities and need to work for their prosperity. Centres for older persons would help better because they can hire workers and pay them for the job. It is a huge but crucial project; its elaboration should start now,” he adds before concluding, “Thank you for coming to talk with me.” He stops talking, stands up, leans on walls and walks to bed for rest.
The concerns were shared by a number of other older persons that IGIHE visited including Tesla Bayijuka, 93, Louise Bamurange, 84, both living at Muhima Sector in Nyarugenge District and members of elderly support group ‘Nsindagiza’ based in Remera Sector of Gasabo District.
Fourth Rwanda Population and Housing Census, 2012 released in 2014 indicates that there were 511,738 elderly persons (aged 60 and above) living in Rwanda, representing 4.9% of 10,515,973 population. According to National Social Protection Strategy 2011, only 24,300 aged 65 years and above (7.4%) had access to a pension from the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB). United Nations’ definition of older person considers aged 60 years and above.
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Well over 10 years through Age Demand Action (ADA), rights activists have advocated for international convention on the rights of older persons, participation of older persons in governments’ decisions that affect them and having choice about their lives in their respective families.
Elie Mugabowishema, the president of Nsindagiza, a local non-governmental organisation that advocates for rights and social welfare of older persons, told IGIHE last week that there is still a lack of international convention and local policies about the rights and welfare of older persons.
He urged the Government of Rwanda to set up particular platforms through which older persons can channel their concerns as children, youth, women and people with disabilities have theirs.
Béatrice Mushimiyimana, the coordinator of Nsindagiza activities, said most of older persons suffer serious depression and stigma resulting from isolation and creating space for them to participate in the country and family’s life would be the best solution as well as developing effective social protection schemes for older persons.
Madeleine Nirere, the Chairperson of National Commission for Human Rights, said that after the recent outreach in which the commission learnt about lack of proper protection of older persons, the commission recommends government to develop a policy on eldercare and support existing charitable centres for older persons.
She added that considering the frailty of older persons, they deserve special care, saying that Rwanda should ratify and implement obligations in international and regional instruments on older persons’ rights and protection.
Ms Nirere stressed that older persons’ close and extended family members, neighbours, close government entities and Rwandan society at large should take responsibility of eldercare.
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Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs and Social Protection at the Ministry of Local Government, Dr Alvera Mukabaramba, told IGIHE last Friday that government does its best to support all vulnerable people and older persons constitute the majority of beneficiaries of social protection schemes such as cash transfer under Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) and Community-Based Health Insurance (Mutuelle de Santé).
“Not all elderly persons need support. Some are receiving their pension while others have children or other family members supporting them. We are working on a comprehensive social protection policy considering together all categories of the disadvantaged as the current policy will expire in 2018,” she said.
She said that only people with disabilities have their particular policy being developed because their case is not only about social aspect but fall in different ministries such as Ministry of Infrastructure for their mobility, Ministry of Education for their special needs in education and Ministry of Health for their special healthcare.
Dr Mukabaramba urged young people to save for their old age, saying that every working Rwandan, not only monthly salary earners but also informal sector actors including those on government support schemes, has to save for pension as a sustainable solution for ageing demands.
“Government seeks to strengthen pension scheme and poor people who will join the scheme will receive government’s incentives according to law which is now in Parliament. Meanwhile, children should not forsake their old parents and government will intervene where necessary,” she said.
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International Day of Older Persons
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Dr Mukabaramba said Rwanda will mark International Day of Older Persons, which is usually marked on 1st October, on 8th October in Nyamasheke District at a national level and in all districts under the theme “Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society.” Nyamasheke is the second district, after Gicumbi, with the highest number of older persons.
Global AgeWatch Index report 2015 ranked Rwanda as 89th out 96 countries studied including 11 on African continent, the position that Minister Mukabaramba refuted saying that there are obviously Rwanda’s commitments towards older persons which were not reported and ensured of reporting all to win a better ranking in the next report.
The study measured four key domains for older people: income security, health status, capability, and enabling environment –factors that older people say are necessary for them to be able to function independently.
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa adopted by the 26th ordinary session of the Assembly convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on January 31, 2016, stipulates that “States Parties shall ensure that the 1991 United Nations Principles of Independence, Dignity, Self-fulfillment, Participation and Care of Older Persons are included in their national laws and are legally binding as the basis for ensuring their rights.”
