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Belgium Development Cooperation (BTC) funded programs in agriculture, health and energy, have yielded varying success especially in the rural areas. 

The president of the board of directors, Belgian federal public service, foreign affairs, external trade and development cooperation, Dirk Achten led a delegation to visit cassava farmers benefiting from the program in Bugesera district and later toured the  Nyamata hospital, where BTC supports a mental illness unit.

Farmers who concluded training on better farming of cassava plant are expected to serve as facilitators by training their colleagues. Presently, a total of 2,000 farmers are undergoing training.

So far, 563 facilitators and 24,429 village-based farmers countrywide have benefited through the farmer field school (FFS) approach. This participatory methodology built on learning by doing has helped farmers to learn better ways of preparing fields, selecting appropriate seeds, crop rotation and controlling of pests through minimal use of pesticides.

The three year project was funded by BTC to the tune of Frw 2 billion. In that short period, farmers have seen an improvement in yields. Similarly, another four year project that covers priority crops such as Irish potatoes, maize, banana, cassava, tomatoes, and passion fruits amongst others is underway.

Epimaque Mbonimpa, a cassava facilitator in Gatsibo district said the traditional cassava plant was preferable to the contemporary one.

“The modern plant has more disadvantages ; it’s more prone to diseases, it also consumes a lot of pesticides and it’s not conducive in various types of soil, yet the local one can germinate almost in all parts of the country, “he remarked.

Another farmer was also quick to point out that consumers consider the modern cassava flour tasteless and stickier compared to the local one.

he added that thought the foreign cassava breed has a bigger yield the difference was not remarkable.

Trained farmers further disclosed that the modern cassava is also prone to pests yet the local one can withstand the majority of pests. The advantages of the local cassava plant is that farmers use locally made pesticides which are more affordable. “They are made from pepper and garlic and soap, it is used to eradicate fleas that spread the mosaic disease that affects the leaves of a cassava plant,” the facilitator further added, “Another trick to reduce the risks of pests infection is boiling the seeds for ten minutes before planting. ”

The delegation later visited ADEPER Nyamata hospital where it supports the mental health department. The assistance is in line with the national program for mental health aimed at mainstreaming mental health services in decentralized health services. So far six mental health units have been set up and are fully functional in district hospitals. Other achievements include training three specialised psychiatrists this is also in line with support training of 127 medical general practitioners and 74 nurses in district hospitals, 328 nurses of health centers and 2571 community health workers.

According to Lilian Mulisa, the head of psychiatric department at the hospital, most cases are related to trauma, depression and epilepsy.

“We attend to approximate 161 patients in a month. Those who haven’t improved are sent to Ndera mental hospital,” she remarked. 

The chairman of the council of ministers of the East African Community, Hafsa Mosi, has said the bloc proposes to spend $109.68 million from July compared to $77.66 million that was allocated for the current expenditure window.

During the presentation of the budget estimates last week in Arusha, Tanzania, she said the implementation of the Common Market and laying the foundation for the next Financial Year would be a momentous one as the Community enters a higher phase in its integration process in view of the launch of the Common Market and the energised process toward the establishment of the East African Monetary Union. 

According to estimates, development expenditure would take up 67 per cent of the total budget for next year.

Some $42 million would finance sustainable use of environment and natural resources, tourism and wildlife conservation while $10.27 million would be used to implement the common market protocol that was signed by the EAC heads of state in 2009 to boosting commerce.

Promotion of regional trade and infrastructure is planned to take up $12.5 million.

“While tremendous achievements have been made, we also recognise that there will be challenges in the period ahead to which we must apply ourselves in taking the regional integration forward,” Ms Mosi said.

She added : “The stage is therefore set for the full operations of a vibrant single market and investment area in East Africa.” Members of the EAC plan to jointly manage and share revenue from their tourism facilities as part of efforts to boost earnings from the key sector. Officials said EAC would also step up focus on the smooth implementation of the common market to allow the free movement of goods, services, people and capital within the bloc. This would make region easier to market to foreign investors.

The realisation of this dream has, however, run into hitches amid mistrust by some partner states that fear their economies would be compromised by dominant partners under such an arrangement.

“Our pressing call is to consolidate the gains of the customs union and maximise its benefits. During the year, we intensified efforts to address the problem of non-tariff barriers,” Ms Mosi said.

The EAC will also be looking to improve its road and energy infrastructure in 2011/12 fiscal year amid projections of higher inflows of investment. Foreign direct investment in the five-nation trade bloc rose to $1.72 billion in 2009 from $910 million in 2005.

She said the presentation of the Budget comes at a time when the East African Community is making very good progress and holding great promise for the period ahead. “While tremendous achievements have been made, we also recognize that there will be challenges in the period ahead to which we must apply ourselves in taking the regional integration forward. The stage is therefore set for the full operations of a vibrant single market and investment area in East Africa. 

When local fuel
pump prices went up by 4.4 percent in April, the second price increase in less
than two months, there was course for alarm. Prices went up from Rwf 1,015 to
Rwf1,060. The Ministry of Trade and Industry attributed the continued hike to
the constant increase in international oil prices over the last two months.

In a move seen to screen Rwandans from external shocks arising from the volatile fuel
market,
Rwanda plans to boost its
oil reserves by constructing an additional 40 million litre storage capacity in
a move to cushion.

The
government has contracted Falcon Oil Limited is to construct the reserves.

The
facility is expected to increase the country’s storage capacity to 60 million
up from the current 20 million litres.

According
to Emmanuel Hategeka , the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Trade and Industry
the government is considering both short and long term measures to reduce fuel
price shocks.

Mr Hategeka
said though mitigation measures have been made possible through streamlining
taxation and logistical issues, the country need to increase storage capacity
for petroleum.

“It is like
hedging such that when fuel prices are up, Rwanda is not heavily affected. We
still have limitations in storage capacity …the way out of this is investing in
fuel storage,” he said.

With the
increased storage capacity, the private sector will be encouraged to consider
bulk purchase schemes, Mr Hategeka said.

Oil
companies are required to keep 10,000 cubic metres of operational stock to
ensure that there is sufficient petroleum supply. Rwanda imports approximately
17 million litres of oil monthly, both for domestic and industrial consumption.

The main
supply route runs from the Mombasa refinery to Nairobi by a 485 kilometre
pipeline and on to Kigali via Uganda by trucks along a 1,250 km road route.

Nyarugenge District headquarters to construct new offices valued at Rwf 1 billion. The district vice Mayor in charge of finance and economic development Felicien Kagisha has said. The move follows the acquisition of the land currently adjacent to the former Jali grounds by the owners of the upcoming luxurious Marriott Hotel.

 “The funds to construct new premises were included in the next financial budget – 2011/2012,” Kagisha said.

Kagisha, however, said that the district is yet to acquire land to build the offices.

“It is a process, first to acquire land and design the block and even money to do all these. We are waiting for the developers to pay us…but we hope they will pay us before the end of the year,” said Kagisha.

According to the vice mayor, the owners of the hotel shall pay a total of Rwf 1.2 billion for the plot of land which shall be used for the extension of the hotel alongside a parking lot. Also to be relocated are the current offices of Rwanda Television to give way for the hotel’s expansion.

 “We will relocate after they (hotel proprietors) pay us…and that is when we will rent (the premises) where will be operating from as we await the completion of the new offices,” Kagisha explained.

Recently, a Marriott delegation was in Kigali, where they inspected the progress of the ongoing construction, Mr. Billy Cheung, who led the delegation, spoke to the media last week and announced that the critical room shortage in Kigali’s capital would be bridged when the 254 room and suite Marriot Kigali opens its doors next year. The hotel is expected to be opened in Q3 or Q4 of 2012, depending of progress of work and in particular the interior finish which will create the hallmarks of a Marriot Hotel like seen elsewhere in the world. Mr. Cheung also mentioned that this is the first of such projects by Marriot in sub Saharan Africa and will probably be a yardstick for further expansion and investments in Africa as a whole.

While in Kigali the group met with relevant government officials and sections of the business community to discuss the progress of the project, issues of sourcing materials and their importation to Rwanda but also future cooperation and to establish early ties with key stakeholders in the Rwandan economy.

The government has dispatched a high-powered delegation to Zimbabwe to try and convince its nationals staying in the country as refugees to return home.

Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs Marcel Gatsinzi and his delegation are expected to meet the Rwandan refugees and convince them that there was peace back home.

According to Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday, there are about 750 Rwandans staying in Zimbabwe as refugees.

Zimbabwean Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Paurina Mpariwa, said she was hopeful the Rwandan delegation will convince the refugees that their country was now peaceful.

“He (Gatsinzi) is around, we have about 700 Rwandans. I hope they will be able to convince them that it is peaceful back home,” Mpariwa said. 

“We believe as a government that there is peace in Rwanda. We believe that at their meeting, they will be convinced that they should go home.”

An adviser at Gatsinzi’s ministry in Rwanda, Jean Damascene Kayitana, said the majority of Rwandan refugees in Zimbabwe were unaware of the cessation clause, saying the aim of the minister’s visit was to sensitise the refugees about the issue.

The clause, under the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) stipulates that no Rwandan living abroad will qualify for refugee status after December 31 2011.

Last year, the Zimbabwe government promised to repatriate all Rwandan nationals by December 2011 after the UNHCR declared Rwanda safe for refugees to return but the refugees resisted the move.

Testimony in the federal trial of Lazare Kobagaya, 84, accused of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide is expected to conclude during next week with defence lawyers resuming their efforts to convince jurors about the innocence of the accused. 

According to news agencies , defense attorneys will put on the stand their last witnesses in the case of Kobagaya, who faces the loss of his citizenship and deportation if convicted. He is charged with unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 and with fraud and misuse of an alien registration card in a case prosecutors have said is the first in the nation requiring proof of genocide.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot has told jurors that they will not get their jury instructions or hear closing arguments until after the Memorial Day holiday. That would make May 31 the earliest day that the jury could possibly get the case and begin deliberations.

Jurors must decide if Kobagaya lied to U.S. immigration officials. The government alleges he purposefully concealed that he was actually living in Rwanda during the genocide by misrepresenting on an immigration form that he was in Burundi at the time. He is also alleged to have lied when he told authorities he had not engaged in genocide or committed any crimes for which he was not convicted.

More than 500,000 people were killed in Rwanda during 100 days of violence that began in April 1994. Most of the dead were ethnic Tutsi, while most of the killings were carried out by ethnic Hutu militias, before a Tutsi-led rebel movement took power.

The prosecution brought Rwandan witnesses to this country in an effort to prove that Kobagaya, a Hutu born in Burundi, ordered other Hutus in Birambo, the village where he lived at the time, to burn down the houses of their Tutsi neighbors. He is accused of stabbing a Hutu man who refused to join in the killings, forcing him to later kill another man for fear of his own life. Kobagaya is also accused of helping lead an attack up Mount Nyakizu where hundreds of fleeing Tutsis who had been massacred.

Defense attorneys brought their own Rwandan witnesses to testify otherwise.

Kobagaya’s son, Jean Claude Kandagaye, took the stand first for the defense to recount for jurors their family’s life as Burundian refugees in Rwanda and his father’s efforts years later to learn English so he could become a U.S. citizen.

The defense used Kandagaye — who filled out an immigration form for his father — to show jurors that the elderly Kobagaya did not understand English well and depended on others to translate documents and help him fill out immigration paperwork. Several people testified prisoners were pressured to confess and accuse others in order to be released from prison.

Among them was Jean de Dieu Maniraho, who told jurors that Kobagaya’s name was on a list of people whom Rwandan prosecutors and a Tutsi survivors’ organization wanted prisoners to accuse others as a condition of their release.

Maniraho testified the inclusion of Kobagaya’s name on the list caused “a lot of trouble” at the prison in 2005, triggering fights and arguments that divided prisoners from Nyakizu Commune into two groups. Some inmates didn’t want to accuse “the old man” of something he didn’t do. Others argued they had to do what the Rwandan government and a survivors’ group wanted.

Also taking the stand this past week for the defense was Francois Patrick Tuyisabe, who at the time of the genocide was an 18-year-old student home on vacation. He testified that Hutu children and elderly people were excluded from joining the attacks on Mount Nyakizu because of fears they would be killed in a fight. He told jurors that he saw Kobagaya at his home in Birambo during the attacks at Mount Nyakizu.

Unlike the glamour that characterises the MTV Africa, Global or Grammy awards in the international scene, or the Pearl and Kisima awards in neighbouring Uganda and Kenya, a heavy downpour, ignominy, absurdity and shoddy organisation exemplified the 2010 Salax Awards as chicly dressed local artistes arrived for a red carpet reception at a giant tent in Gikondo in ordinary commuter buses.

Despite promises of limos by penny-pinching organisers as a mark of respect to their celebrity status, the dismayed artistes, all the same, walked down the rain-drenched red carpet to tussle it out for the numerous awards on offer.

A laissez-faire throng of fans gathering to welcome their favourite artists were equally staggered when the musicians arrived in backpacked Belvedere buses at designated parking lots meant for VIP limousines.

At a short notice, the event had been shifted from its announced venue at Petit Stade to the Private Sector Federation-owned exhibition tent in Gikondo, Kigali.

The Salax Awards are national music awards that recognise artistes and producers for their ingenious contribution to the music industry annually.

The event which was originally scheduled to start at 5 pm began at 7pm amid poor organisation.

The sitting arrangement was contemptible as VIPs were treated to embarrassing scenes of prying from ordinary fans. The backstage typically meant for performers was half closed as some fans gawked at artistes and dancers change their attires.

The lights were of poor standard with only two floodlights for the over 10,000-seater tent.

Chubby Contact FM presenter Lain Manzi, who was the MC, drowsed the crowd who even so devised means of entertaining themselves through mad dash movements amid hollers. Thanks to the drizzle that kept the fans to shelter themselves in the tent. 

Manzi’s efforts to call on stage a dancing group to contain the wild audience were futile as the tiny decrepit stage could not allow a pounding Jack B dance to his only hit song ‘Urukundo’leaving fans in puzzlement.

The height of the confusion was when Kamich failed to give a speech to the already expectant crowd after clinching the award for the best song of the year. He instead reached to his socks for a chit to save himself from embarrassment. 

Salax awards held its third annual Music Awards last night — and some of the country’s biggest duo of course took the top prize for male and female artists of the year respectively. 

Tom Close scoop the artist of the year award in a tight competition as Miss Jojo picked up the female artists of the year trophy.

Over 15 categories were competed for during the event graced by the minister of culture and sports Protais Mitari. He hailed the Ikirezi Group, the organisers of the awards for their initiative to recognise creativity among artists in the music industry.

“When the government added me other responsibilities I was happy but I was more happy when they told me that I will be working with these artists of ours”, he said, before handing over the prestigious awards to respective categories’ winners.

Below are the winners of the various categories

Best Album 2010 : Impinduramatwara by Riderman

Best new artist 2010 : Knowless

Best Producer 2010 : Lick Lick Studio Unlimited Records and Studio The Focus Production.

Best gospel artist of the year 2010 : Dominic Nic

Best Hip-Hop artist 2010 : Jay Polly

Best Video2010 : Baza by Tom Close.

Best R&B artist 2010 : King James

Best Teen Artist 2010 : Young Grace

Best Afro beat artist 2010 : Kamichi

Best Group artist 2010 : Dream Boys

Best East African artists 2010 : GoodLyfe Crew from Uganda

Best Song of the year 2010 : Zoubeda for Kamichi and the The Ben 

Best female artist of the year 2010 : Miss Jojo

Best male artist of the year 2010 : Tom Close 

Best collar MTN tune song of the year : Bella by Dream boys and Kitoko.

 

The seventh gorilla naming ceremony commonly known as Kwita Izina will be held on 18 June 2011 at Kinigi, Musanze District. During the ceremony, a total of 22 gorilla infants, This includes a set of twins born in February this year,a rare occurrence for an endangered species which counts fewer than 800 individuals.

Mountain gorillas are Rwanda’s main tourist attraction and accounted for 90 percent of tourism revenue in 2010.

The naming ceremony will also mark the country’s seventh year tourism anniversary to be marked under the theme community development for sustained conservation,

Clare Akamanzi RDB Chief Operative Officer, observed that there has been a steady increase in tourism revenues. She pointed out that the industry made a total of US$200 million in 2010 while projections for this year are estimated to be US$216 million.

She further pointed out that there has been a 26 percent growth in the gorilla population since the last census in 2003. The growth is partly attributed to the conversion of poachers into productive activities such as agriculture. “The transformation has also improved security in the parks at the same time improved their livelihoods,|” she remarked.

Prior to the naming ceremony, RDB shall recognise the efforts of the community in contributing to the welfare of our wildlife and its conservation. The celebration of Kwita Izina will be preceded by a weeklong activities which includes Kwita Izina national cycling tour, conservation conference, launching of community projects as well as a community party known as “Igitaramo“. The activities consist of refurbishing of health centres, schools and funding of cooperatives specialising on tourism products. RDB would facilitate workshops in Kiningi to train handicraft makers on how to produce quality goods market them to tourists. In total, RDB would inject Frw 1billion to support community projects surrounding national parks.

 RDB’s head of tourism and conservation Rica Rwigamba encouraged locals to visit gorillas and abandon the erroneous mindset that this is meant for tourists. “We’re doing our best to encourage locals, we charge them Frw 20,000 while foreigners pay US$500,” she commented.

According to Rwigamba, Mountain gorillas are Rwanda’s main tourist attraction and accounted for 90 percent of tourism revenue in 2010.

In the 2010 census, the total number of mountain gorillas has increased by a quarter over the past seven years to reach more than 780 individuals. Two thirds of them are found in the Virunga massif, which straddles Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda has recorded only five twin mountain gorilla births over the past 40 years.