Over 25,000 Rwandans and guests from Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Italy and Spain witnessed the event.
Bishop Antoine Kambanda was appointed by Pope Francis as Archbishop of Kigali to succeed Archbishop Thadee Ntihinyurwa whose wish to retire was approved by Pope in November last year.
Born in Nyamata on November 10, 1958, Kambanda was ordained Bishop of Kibungo Diocese on July 20, 2013. He had been ordained priest on September 8, 1990 at Mbare, Kigali Archdiocese during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Rwanda.
Upon his priesthood ordination, Bishop Kambanda started his mission as teacher doubling as the in charge of studies at Ndera Minor Seminary in Kigali.
Between 1993 and 1999, he went for further studies at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in moral theology.
From 1999 to 2005, Kambanda served as Director of CARITAS of Kigali Archdiocese, serving also as the Chairman of Justice and Peace Commission in the Archdiocese.
He was also a teacher at Nyakibanda Major Seminary.
Between 2005 and 2016, Antoine Kambanda was the Rector of Kabgayi Major Seminary before he was once again appointed as Rector of Major Seminary of Nyakibanda, a position he left when he was appointed the Bishop of Kibungo Catholic Diocese on May 3, 2013 replacing Monsignor Kizito Bahujumihigo who had resigned from the position in 2010 amid financial troubles.
Archbishop Antoine Kambanda’s motto is “Ut vitam habeant’’, translating as, “That They May Have Life.”
The Head of State said this on the third day of the World Economic Forum 2019 during a session on Africa’s Leadership in the New Global Context with his South-African Counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, moderated by World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva.
“Africa is talking more and more about integration, working together in all sorts of ways,” Kagame said.
On digital transformation, President Kagame stressed the importance of a change in mindset and political will. “Young people are hungry for what will make a difference in their lives, not necessarily being connected for the sake of it but connecting through business to make profit or trading,” he observed.
He further noted that there is a realization that if you look at countries individually, even big countries are small when you think about global events.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa echoed his reflection, bringing to light, that with an estimated 9 million unemployed people in South Africa, his government has prioritized job creation and is working with labor unions and other economic stakeholders to develop strategies to address labor market challenges. The country is investing in a programme that aims to equip all young people in schools and colleges with digital skills to enhance their future employment prospects.
“If Africa’s leaders do not act quickly to move the continent into the 21st century, young people will leave them behind,” South Africa’s President Cyril M. Ramaphosa said.
The president was presenting during a session on Digitalizing Emerging Markets with AliBaba Group Executive Chairman, Jack Ma on the Second day of the World Economic Forum 2019.
“In most of what we do, there is a need for sustainability and predictability,” Kagame told the Davos 2019 audience. “We have to do what we have to do and believe it works.”
Alibaba Group and the government of Rwanda have agreed to multiple bilateral initiatives to promote Rwanda’s economy through increased cross-border trade, capacity building, and others. Among the agreements is the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an initiative for public-private dialogue to foster a more effective and efficient policy and business environment for cross border electronic trade (eTrade) development.
At that, President Kagame noted that the platform is a special, exciting partnership bringing together marginalized people in society to connect directly with the consumers.
“eWTP has democratized benefits. If you look at the number of people who will benefit; young entrepreneurs and farmers who are involved in coffee businesses, it is all inclusive”
Alibaba Group Executive Chairman, Jack Ma, echoed his remarks, observing that the initiative is a pioneering methodology for Globalization.
“We believe in globalization, but many don’t believe in it because it is not inclusive. How can we improve it? In the last 20 years, globalization was controlled by 60,000 companies worldwide, imagine if we could expand that to 60 million businesses.” Ma said
According to Jack Ma, eWTP is about the “Four T’s”: Training, Trade, Technology, and Tourism.
The Electronic World Trade Platform is a private sector driven initiative and will be implemented in other countries after its debut in Rwanda. “We want to convince countries where the government has the wisdom and the courage to support small business… that’s the vision.”
At date, farmers in Rwanda are already selling coffee directly through the platform, which facilitates tariff-free trade for transactions of less than US$1 million. Coffee is already being sold through this platform to Chinese customers, farmers were getting around $8 dollars per kilogram, they are now getting $12 per kilogram.
President Kagame was speaking to over 65 Heads of State and Government and top global executives for this year’s World Economic Forum [WEF] 2019 held in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme Globalization, “Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
“This session is timely. The conditions have never been so favorable for Africa to take the lead in shaping its own global agenda. For too long, we ceded responsibility for Africa’s agenda to others, with some individuals even benefiting,” Kagame said, opening the Forum.
President Kagame further remarked that everyone benefits from a stronger, more united Africa, which is reflected in the more constructive tone of Africa’s partnerships with China, Europe, and others.
He cautioned that challenges relating to migration, security and climate change among others imply that there is no longer any actor who sees an advantage in an Africa that is institutionally weak and economically stagnant. However, he noted that at present, the pace and quality of integration in Africa were increasing noticeably, a very significant, according to the AU Chairman.
“Last year, for example, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement was adopted and it is likely to come into force this year. We also agreed on a timetable for the free movement of people and on the establishment of a single African air transport market.” President Kagame added.
The Head of the State, later on, participated in a session on digitalizing Emerging Markets with the AliBaba Group Executive Chairman, Jack Ma.
Last Year, in October, Alibaba Group and the government of Rwanda agreed to multiple bilateral initiatives, aiming to promote the African country’s economy through increased cross-border trade, capacity building, and tourism. A major tenet of the agreements was Rwanda’s admission to the eWTP, Electronic World Trade Platform, becoming the first eWTP Partner in Africa so far.
On why Rwanda signed up to the Platform, President Kagame said it was a special, exciting partnership that brings marginalized people in society to connect directly with the consumers.
“eWTP has democratized benefits. If you look at the number of people who will benefit; young entrepreneurs and farmers who are involved in coffee businesses, it is all inclusive.” He explained.
African leaders are currently showcasing the continent’s diverse opportunities to investors, business leaders and policymakers at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The miners of who seven were men and seven women died on spot on Monday at 8h:00 am when the mine belonging to PIRAN Resources Limited collapsed.
John Ntanyungura who survived the incident told IGIHE that the mine showed signs of collapse and it fell on his workmates right when he went out to check the situation from outside.
“Fifteen of us entered the mine, seven women and eight men. Before the mine collapsed, it showed some signs of collapse. When I got out to see, I found it shaking and it immediately caved in. My colleagues who were still inside were all buried alive and I survived. The way it collapsed, there was no chance for anybody to survive,” John Ntanyungura said.
Different officials including the Eastern Province Governor, Fred Mufulukye, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dan Munyuza arrived at the scene shortly after.
“The miners went to work as usual and the collapse happened while they were under the ground. We have not yet established the cause of the incident,” the Governor of the Eastern Province, Fred Mufulukye told IGIHE.
The Secretary and Head of Legal Administration and External Affairs at PIRAN Resources Ltd, Minyati Tristan extended his condolences to families who lost relatives following the incident promising the company’s help to families of the victims during burial arrangements.
Minister Auajjar made the remarks on Sunday after a delegation he leads visited Gisozi Genocide Memorial Site where they paid tribute to 250,000 victims laid to rest there.
Minister Auajjar and his delegation arrived at Gisozi Memorial Site, accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana.
At Gisozi, the Moroccan delegation was shown a documentary film about the bitter times Tutsi went through in the 100 days that left more than a million lives lost in Rwanda.
They visited different parts of Gisozi Genocide Memorial Site as they were explained the history of divisions which led to the 1994 genocide.
Auajjar said what happened is beyond human imagination and efforts should be made to ensure it never happens again.
“My delegation and I were very much touched by what we saw at this site. It was a time to be witnesses of bitter times Rwanda went through but which Rwanda left behind and rebuilt the unity among Rwandans on a foundation of human values, culture, peace and human rights,” he said.
“What President Kagame did here [in Rwanda] makes us Africans proud of his generosity, Rwanda’s strength and capacity in rebuilding itself in a very short time after the genocide. It is a great human, social, cultural and economic success,” he observed adding that Rwanda’s jucidiciary needs to add more efforts in searching for genocide suspects still at large around the world.
Mohammed Auajjar will hold special bilateral talks with Rwanda’s Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye on Monday January 21 seeking to enhance bilateral partnership in the justice sector.
Currently, salaries of teachers in public nursery schools are paid by parents.
“The Ministry of Education plans that teachers in nursery will be paid salaries by the Government starting with next fiscal year. Efforts by parents are not enough. When the Government doesn’t pay them salaries, there are no planned means to follow them up and train them,” Dr. Ndayambaje said adding that the number of certified nursery teachers is still low and unless the Government sets ways to treat them well, they can’t deliver expected results.
Rwanda Government projects the number of children between five and six years pursuing nursery education to increase from 24% to 45% in the next seven years.
According to the Education Ministry figures of 2017, there were 3,186 nursery schools of which 455 are public with 1,484 being public-private whereas 1,247 schools are private.
In 2017, there were 6,039 nursery school teachers in Rwanda.
The Business Excellence Awards took place on the night of January 18, 2019 amidst pomp and spectacle.
The categories that were awarded this year were; Investor of the Year, Emerging Investor of the Year, Exporter of the Year, Emerging Exporter of the Year, Innovator of the Year, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Made-in-Rwanda Enterprise of the Year, Emerging Made-in-Rwanda Enterprise of the Year, the Service Provider of the Year and the SME of the Year.
The Investor of the Year Award was given to the I&M Bank Rwanda, while the Emerging Investor Award was given to Afriprecast, a factory that manufactures precast concrete products.
The Exporter of the Year Award was given to the Africa Improved Foods. Last Year, the Food processing company scooped the 2017 Investor Award. The Emerging Exporter of the Year was awarded to Garden Fresh Ltd, a horticulture exporter in Rwanda, which grows and sells fresh vegetables and fruits to international buyers in the UK and Europe.
The Small & Medium Enterprise of the Year is Pascal Technology Limited, a Rwandan software company that provides ICT Solutions to developing countries in Africa, while the Service Provider Award was allocated to Legacy Clinics.
Officiating the event, Rwanda Development Board CEO, Clare Akamanzi noted the importance of the awards, to celebrate the contribution of the private sector, especially when good results have been registered. Ms. Akamanzi highlighted the milestones reached in 2018.
“RDB for the first time registered investments worth US$ 2.006 billion, an increase of 20% when compared to those registered in 2017. Of the total investments registered in 2018, an estimated 26% represents export-oriented projects,” Akamanzi remarked.
“Correspondingly there was a major highlight in the Doing Business performance where we hit our Vision 2020 target of being in the top 30 globally. The World Bank ranked Rwanda 29th globally in its 2019 Ease of Doing Business Report, and 2nd in Africa,” she added.
All these great results, she said, were made possible through strong partnerships.
The Minister of Infrastructure who was also the Guest of Honor at the Business Excellence Awards, Amb. Claver Gatete applauded the results of the Excellence Awards and observed that “when these awards keep getting bigger and better it is a sign that the private sector is growing”.
According to a communiqué released after a High Level Consultation Meeting of Heads of States and Heads of Governments held yesterday in Addis, the participants “attending the meeting concluded that there were serious doubts on the conformity of the provisional results, as proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission, with the votes cast.”
“Accordingly, the Heads of State and Government called for the suspension of the proclamation of the final results of the elections,” the communiqué reads.
The meeting which was chaired by President Paul Kagame also the Chairperson of the African Union agreed to urgently dispatch to the DRC a high-level delegation comprising Kagame and other Heads of State and Government, as well as the Chairperson of the AU Commission, to interact with all Congolese stakeholders, with the view to reaching a consensus on a way out of the post-electoral crisis in the country.
Felix Tshisekedi was announced winner of the presidential elections with 38.57% according to provisional results released by the Congolese National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).
Martin Fayulu who followed him with 34.83% of votes denounced the results and filed an appeal in the Constitutional Court demanding a manual recount of the votes.
DRC outgoing President Joseph Kabila didn’t attend the meeting that was attended by a number of Heads of State and Government or their representatives from SADC, the ICGLR, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, EAC, the African members of the UN Security Council, among other officials despite the invitation by President Kagame.
“In arranging for this meeting, I also contacted the President of DRC, President Joseph Kabila, in fact I extended the invitation to him as well. He told me he had wished to participate but because of that exact situation he may not be able to travel,” Kagame said.
In 2016, Col. Always Simba requested for his early release as he had ended the 2/3 of his sentence.
However, the Government of Rwanda opposed his request as it would be against interests of genocide survivors.
In its submission to the Mechanism, Rwanda provided a detailed opinion from an expert in the trauma of genocide victims, who personally interviewed some survivors and reviewed statements from others.
She described how Simba’s release would cause untold trauma for survivors of Kaduha Parish and the Murambi Technical School, where children saw their parents murdered, and parents saw their children murdered. “But Judge Meron somehow overlooked all of this to offer Simba leniency.”
According to a statement released by the Ministry of Justice on Thursday, Judge Theodor Meron who was President of International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT) released [Aloys] Simba with utter lack of transparency and the release occurred last week in secret.
The statement says that Judge Meron has yet to make his order public, and he shielded it for days from the rest of the Mechanism. Rwanda was also kept in the dark. Such unchecked, underhanded unilateralism has no place in the administration of international law.
“Judge Meron is aware of Simba’s responsibility for the massacre of more than 40,000 Tutsi children, women and men at Murambi Technical School. Likewise, he knows that at Kaduha Parish, Simba put traditional weapons, guns and grenades into the hands of mass murderers and ordered them to “get rid of this filth” before they converted what should have been a place of refuge into a human slaughterhouse,” it says.
“He should have served his entire prison term,” the statement notes.
Judge Meron was named by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres as President of the UNNICT for an additional six months mandate slated to end on January 18th, 2019.
The Government of Rwanda says that during his tenure as President of the MICT, “Judge Meron has consistently reversed convictions, considerably reduced sentences on appeal, and released early genocidaires responsible for the worst massacres with no regard for the victims and survivors.”
In his last days as President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the statement says, Judge Meron cemented his legacy of undermining international criminal justice by releasing Aloys Simba in the dark of night, eight years before the end of his sentence.
The Government of Rwanda says it cannot know whether Judge Meron released Mr. Simba for health concerns, something the Government of Rwanda might not necessarily oppose. “Kept in the dark, however, it cannot know whether this is the case.”
The Government of Rwanda urges the next President to take more seriously the law and the facts, when reviewing applications for early release.
“We likewise urge the next President to operate in an open and transparent manner, so that the Government of Rwanda and others with an interest in the cases pending before the MICT have notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond to pleadings and orders,”
Col. Aloys Simba, 81, served as Presidential Advisor on Security in former Gikongoro and Butare Prefectures before the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
