IGIHE

Tag: HomeNews

  • Rwanda’s tourism income rises sharply compared to 2010

    The first quarter results of Rwanda’s tourism sectoral performance were released, and the earnings confirmed by government sources are in the region of US$56 million, compared with a figure of only US$43 million last year.

    Visitor arrivals also went up by an astonishing 32 percent compared to the same period in 2010, underscoring the successful efforts by Rwanda to market the country abroad and confirming Rwanda as an emerging destination in Eastern Africa.

    Sources contacted in the tourism industry attribute the success of the first three months of 2011 to a greater variety of tourism products and destinations, with one citing the Nyungwe National Park’s canopy walk, which since its commissioning last year, has already entertained thousands of visitors. Further, forests are being considered for conversion into national parks and lake-based tourism activities are also now taking hold, offering yet more to see and to do when visiting Rwanda. New “birding routes” are also set to be launched later this year, allowing visitors to see the wide variety of bird life resident in “the land of a thousand hills. ”

    The generous visa regime has also been cited as a key factor in attracting more and more visitors every year, with a number of important source countries not needing a visa at all, which sets Rwanda apart from all her East African partners.

    In a related development, the theme of this year’s “Kwita Izina” gorilla naming festival was revealed, which is “Community Development for Sustained Conservation.” Twenty-two baby gorillas born since the festival last year will be formally named on June 18, and hundreds of extra visitors will be coming to Rwanda to participate in this event, which will be accompanied by a series of guest lectures, workshops on conservation and community relations, and sporting events designed towards the annual celebration.

     

  • Rwanda participates in Burundian film festival

    Rwanda is taking part in an international film festival that is presently ongoing in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

    The festival dubbed Fest cab, which is taking place for the fifth time, started on 29th of April and shall end on 6th of May 2011.

     Among Rwandan films to be screened in that film festive include the ‘The Long Coat’ and ‘Mayibobo’, which are directed by Eduard Bamporiki and Yves M Niyongabo respectively.

    Burundian Minister of Culture and Youth Jean Jacque Niyongabo said that this year’s festival was more high profiled compared to previous ones.

    “We have many renowned actors, who won different awards such as Eddy Munyaneza, and Jean Marie Ndihokubwabo and many others”.

    Participants are drawn from several countries including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya, Belgium among others.

    The president of Fest cab Leonce Ngabo said that the festival would help participants to discover different cultures and also the history of different countries.

  • Did Green party leader deserve democracy award?

    The Swedish Parliament must have be misled when they recently awarded Frank Habineza, the leader of Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR) won a democracy award which is unmerited for the leader, despite his so-called conservation ideas that have never yield tangible results in the country.

    The leader, who is believed to have played his cards well, is the first individual in the region to receive the award, which risks loosing its credibility if dished out to individuals who do not deserve it.

    Habineza whose party has not yet full filled requirements to be legally registered as a political party in the country, bald-facedly said that he was proud of the award, adding that he would continue to advocate for democracy through peaceful means.

    The Green Party representative in Sweden insisted that members would not give up in persuading the Rwandan political forum to approve their party to operate in the country. Such remarks are deemed as duplicitous since the political forum has on several occasions advised the greens on the requirements.

    On 28 December last year, the Green party leader mae a key decision when he distanced his party from an opposition forum known as (Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda) PCC.

    It is believed that Habineza’s decision was influenced by Dr. Papa Meisa Dieng, the head of political parties under the African Green Federation, who might have advised him to distance himself from two other opposition leaders whose political manifestos were full of ethnic incitements.

    Among the leaders Habineza departed from were Victoire Ingabire, who leads FDU-Inkingi and PS Imberakuri’s Bernard Ntaganda. The two are currently detained at a Kigali prison on political violations and public incitement charges especially based on genocide ideology.

  • Up, close and personal with former minister Joe Habineza

    Dressed in casual clothes, already enjoying a comfortable evening after a long session of tennis, he gets up with a calm but still eager manner ready to reveal his story.

    A tale of his life, an account that has defined him and consequently made him who he is, a story that has now led him to a new chapter awaiting to be unraveled. An avid sportsman , Joe Habineza, strikes is a loving father, with a unique personality, not just as a politician but one of the most influential figures in our society. He is also a man whose passion, drive and live-wire personality has made a difference and whose success made him an easy target of outrageous controversy. In his own view, he is the perfect bull’s eye towards tarnishing the image of the state through a spiteful political motive.

    Born in Kayenzi now known as Kamonyi District, his mother always used to tell him as a young boy that he would grow up to be a leader. “I was always calling the shots, from being the school head-boy to being the captain of the sports team,” the former minister of Sports and culture nostalgically recalls. Such was his remarkable display of leadership since he was very young, a characteristic that would continue to mark his long and successful career path.

    After graduating with an information Communication Technology degree in Rwanda , he continued to embark on that particular career course, for the next 15 years, working as the ICT manager of the alcoholic beverages manufacturer, Heineken. It was a long journey full of twists and turns that eventually led him to work in other African states. When I ask him if he initially planned to pursue a career in politics, he mentions that he never envisioned that career path but was still influenced by it especially during the liberation of the country through his support and admiration of the Rwanda Patriotic Front ideology and cause.

    He is a man whose experience transcends the geographical bounds of our nation. When asked about Rwanda’s development relative to those other countries, he says, “We possess the work ethic and dedication that is superior to that displayed in some of the other nations, for instance, in the DR Congo, where I once worked. Nevertheless, we still have to take it one step further with more entrepreneurship and risk taking as we are still lagging behind in those. ”

    His extensive and thriving career in the private sector eventually led him to venture into the world of politics. Appointed to the post of Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture in 2004, he admits to have been first surprised, but embraced his new role with the gusto and vigour that have always been the hallmark of his character. Such are the traits that have undoubtedly wrought the underpinning to his incredible passion and exuberance that he ceaselessly implements in his line of duty.

    “I embraced my new found role and undertook it with a lot of passion,” says Joe.

    “I always strive to do things at 120 percent ; it is always that passion that will take you that extra mile. ”

    About the key to success and ability to reaching out to so many and bringing about a positive influence, he says. “It is all about teamwork, knowing those you are accountable to and respecting them while at the same time, being an example to your subordinates and reaching out to them as opposed to being ruthless. ”

    “But most importantly, it is integrating that strong spirit of never giving up, which is essential to attaining success or establishing a successful institution and sustaining it,” Habineza reveals.

    Despite his eventful reign as a cabinet minister, he was recently subject to a scandal through malicious publications on the Internet. He maintains that was an event initiated with malevolent purposes that go beyond blemishing the reputation of one man.

    “Those publications had very negative and dangerous intentions. They were all about negation, aimed at tarnishing the image of the government with the purpose of inciting the people to be pulled in by all the false information and rubbish that was published,” he observes, adding that it was a plot that was set up, with much bigger and far more dangerous implications.

    “I was at the centre of it all and as a responsible person at the service of my country, I had to resign in order not to associate the government with such kind of things,” he laments. 

    On his vision and future plans, he says that he still plans on servicing his nation at whatever level, be it the private or the public sector.

    He certainly depicts the image of a resolute person with a strong and powerful vision for himself and his country as well.

  • Rwanda Investment Projects Decline 30%, Development Board Says

    The total value of investments in Rwanda declined 30 percent in the first quarter, the Rwanda Development Board said.

    Investments declined to 52 billion Rwandan francs ($86.6 million) in the three months through March, from 75 billion francs a year earlier, John Gara, the chief executive officer of the Kigali-based board, told reporters yesterday in the city. The number of projects more than doubled to 30, he said.

    The total doesn’t include a $65 million pharmaceutical- manufacturing facility planned by CSM GlobalPharma, a partnership between India’s Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and the U.S.-based Holtzman Group, Gara said.

  • Prosecution recommends ten year jail term for exiled Rwandan journalist

    Prosecution in a Kigali court has recommended a ten year jail term in absentia to Rwandan journalist Jean Bosco Gasasira.

    The Umuvugizi chief editor, who is currently exiling in Europe, is accused of the offences, which include incitement aimed at destabilising national security, publication of articles that disrespect the President and violation of several media laws.

     This latest development was a result of an appeal by the prosecutors after an intermediary court in Kigali proved him innocent late September last year. The prosecution argues that the court had not fully scrutinised evidence associated with the cases.

    In this respect, the prosecution gave evidence, which was not given much consideration. Quoting article 69, for instance, the prosecution argued that the local tabloid compared the ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front to Mugabe’s Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe. The latter has reportedly been accused of oppressing the country’s opposition, which is not case in the Rwandan context.

    Usually, the Umugizi chief editor uses international media like BBC to react to court rulings against him but in this particular occasion, Gasasira has yet to respond. The final judgment will be read by the Supreme Court on 27 May 2011.

    Recently, the Media High Council suspended the local tabloid for a period of six months, after the journalist ignored a number of warnings by the media control body. Subsequent to the suspension, the paper went online without changing its editorial line and cases of media law violations are still eminent on its website version. 

  • SFAR boss says bursary scheme now well evaluated

    When the government scrapped the controversial bursary loans scheme for university students last year, a lot of disorientation arose since there were no proper laid down mechanisms to know determine bona fide beneficiaries, yet the monthly Frw 25,000 bursary fund, popularly known as “bourse” specifically targeted the neediest students to cater for accommodation and food expenses among others.

    However, even among the needy students who are set to benefit, there are those who claim that they are yet to receive the bourse from the Students Financing Agency of Rwanda (SFAR) since the start of the current academic year.

    In an interview with IGIHE.com, the Director General of SFAR, Emma Rubagumya clarified that the agency had decided to first conduct an assessment among the students to determine genuine beneficiaries from imposters.

    “We had to first make a proper evaluation before we could release this money since a lot of mistakes were made when we were implementing this,” Rubagumya observed.

    She disclosed that the evaluation had been conducted by local authorities and other departments in charge and a final list submitted to the SFAR offices on Monday (April 27, 2011). She added that in less than two weeks, beneficiaries would receive the bursary funds in their accounts.

     “We have delisted some students who were not meant to receive this money and they will have to refund it,” the SFR boss cautioned.

    Rubagumya revealed that some of the false beneficiaries were eating from restaurants and renting accommodation facilities on credit, claiming that they would clear the credit upon receiving the bourse. She warned those who may have misguidedly obtained the funds that they would have to reimburse the money to such creditors.

    She announced that the situation was regrettable especially among innocent traders, adding that such students would have to service the arrears and still be delisted from the bursary scheme.

  • SFB students accuse varsity’s administration of insensitivity

    Students at a local university, School of Finance and Banking (SFB) in Gikondo, Kigali, have accused the varsity of poor administration and failure to call assembly meeting to address their grievances.

    “How can the institution spend an year without holding a meeting with students ? They should do something, otherwise we are also human beings, we think and can act,” a student who requested for anonymity told IGIHE.com.

    Others who we interviewed raised issue with the administration’s failure by the Ministry of Education stipulation that students be allowed to work to help finance their studies and upkeep after the government’s removal of the students’ monthly allowance of Frw 25,000, popularly known as bourse.

    According to students, many of them had sought for employment since they had no alternative source to fund their tuition fees. This has however meant that class attendance levels would be affected due to clashing of working and study hours. The institution stands by its policy that if a student attendance status is below 75 percent, this would lead to an automatic year’s repetition of the affected course.

    The students allege that answer sheets in the ongoing exams at the institution indicate that those who did not attain the requisite attendance ratio of 75 percent are separated from those who did. This has resulted in tension and fear that many of those who failed to satisfy the requirement risk repeating the academic year. This further implies that those in their final year would not graduate and will have to re-sit the affected course accompanied by a fee worth RWF 55.000 per course.

    The SFB students also complain about the way the attendance issue is being conducted by the varsity’s administration. They suggest that roll-calls for attendance should be done daily according to the institution’s policy but this does not happen as regularly as expected.

    “How can the authority in charge of roll calls hold them only two or three times in a semester and compute this into a percentage ?” one of the students asked, terming the method as unfair.

    ”We need to do something or else the ministry of education needs to intervene,” said another student who also sought anonymity.

    The students said they had petitioned the Vice Rector in charge of Academics, Dr. Papius Musafiri Marimba, several times to discuss the controversial issues but they claim he has since turned a deaf ear.

    Efforts by IGIHE.com to contact the Public Relations Manager of the institution Mr. Elias Kiyaga were fruitless as the call could not get through by press time.

     

  • ISOKO Theatre relives the genocide through drama

    There’s a scene near the end of The Monument, Colleen Wagner’s searing 1995 drama about wartime atrocities, when a young soldier is forced to remember in detail the 23 women he has raped and murdered. “I killed a girl named Mini. Fifteen. She had a sun-burned face,” he recalls. “A girl named Sara. She wore glasses. She was short and chubby… Eva. She was a swimmer in training for the Olympics.…”

    The list goes on and, as it does, the anonymous, half-rotten corpses in a mass grave begin to take on names and, however rudimentary, identities. It’s an act of resurrection and reclamation that lies at the heart of Wagner’s Governor-General’s Award-winning play. And it becomes the resonant centrepiece of the touring production by Rwanda’s ISÔKO Theatre, which closes Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage season.

    As the soldier, Stetko (Jean Paul Uwayezu), recollects his victims, he draws their personal effects from amid the exhumed bodies – a bracelet, some pimple cream, a crucifix, a bra. Each item is snatched away in turn by a pair of female phantoms (Solange Liza Umuhire and Ruth Nirere) clad in dresses the colour of dried blood. We’re in Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. But we’re also in Bosnia, the original setting of Wagner’s play, and these personal items – the most poignant touch in director Jennifer H. Capraru’s stark staging – may also remind you of the ones that were raked from the ashes of the Nazi ovens.

    Wagner’s play begins with suggestions of a revenge fantasy. Stetko, about to be executed for his war crimes, is offered a reprieve by a mysterious older woman named Mejra (Jaqueline Umubyeyi). The catch is that he must obey her for the rest of his life.

    After slicing off one of his ears and nearly beating him to a pulp, Mejra turns Stetko into her slave and torments him with mind games concerning the fate of his virgin girlfriend. But it turns out she desires something more than vengeance – it’s that famous casualty of wartime, the truth.

    Leaving aside the characters’ east European names, it would be easy to believe The Monument was originally written about the systematic rape that occurred during the Rwandan genocide, with Stetko as a Hutu fighter and his victims as minority Tutsi. The play’s truth-and-reconciliation theme also jibes with Rwanda’s postwar policies. Capraru, a Canadian, obviously recognized these parallels when she founded ISÔKO a few years ago in Kigali. Her production originated there and has toured Rwanda prior to its North American debut at World Stage.

    The dialogue – performed in Kinyarwanda, with English surtitles – stays faithful to Wagner’s text, but the trappings are entirely East African. The show, in Harbourfront’s flexible Brigantine Room, is presented as intimately as a village storytelling, with the audience seated in a circle around the candlelit playing space. The Rwandan cast members are musicians as well, and there is a cappella singing and drumming during scene transitions. The drums also furnish the few sound effects – Stetko’s beating, a gunshot – while Sandra Marcroft’s subtle lighting does most of the scene-setting.

    The acting is spare and intense. Stetko is Wagner’s variation on the banality-of-evil theme – he’s the Devil as the boy next door – and the lean, handsome Uwayezu brings out the confused and immature kid under his soldier’s swagger. It’s Umubyeyi who most impresses, however. Her Mejra is a fierce enigma for much of the play, regarding Stetko with cold eyes. When at last she unfetters her grief, like a modern Andromache, it’s heart-rending.

    Capraru – who is also artistic director of Toronto’s Theatre Asylum – favours a stylized approach that de-emphasizes the play’s violence and physicality. Instead, we often feel like we are watching an ancient, cathartic ritual. That was probably the best way to offer the play to Rwandan audiences for whom the subject matter alone is bound to be painful. This is a chance to re-appreciate Wagner’s regrettably timeless tale from a fresh perspective.

    ISÔKO is a new intercultural theatre company founded July 4th, 2008 in Kigali, which creates contemporary theatre for human rights. ISÔKO contributes to civil society, social development, and creative economy in Rwanda. The company is founded in the spirit of exchange, to celebrate Rwandan artists and to further global peace building, while promoting equality for women and girls.

    ISÔKO THEATRE is a local NGO based in Rwandaand is partnered withTheatre Asylum, Canada. We are members of Theatres Against War, Dramatool, and Theatre Without Borders, and collaborators each year in the Centre x Centre Kigali International Theatre Festival at Ishyo Arts Centre.

    The Monument

    • Written by Colleen Wagner
    • Directed by Jennifer H. Capraru
    • Starring Jaqueline Umubyeyi, Jean Paul Uwayezu, Ruth Nirere and Solange Liza Umuhire
    • Produced by ISÔKO Theatre and presented by World Stage

     

  • Primary court judge nabbed obtaining bribe

    A judge was recently caught red-handed in an act of corruption through a clever scheme masterminded by the Police. Liliane Maombi, a Judge at a primary court in Kanombe, Kicukiro District of Kigali, was allegedly caught accepting a bribery of Rfw 100,000 from one Francoise Nyirabihogo.

    The latter was alleged to have committed a criminal offense in a case, which through the progression of the trial did not seem to be turning in her favour .

    This may have perhaps precipitated Maombi to ask for a bribe to alleviate the punishment that Nyirabohogo would potentially receive or better yet to turn the case around and exonerate her . This act of treachery prompted the defendant to take matters into her own hands and consult the police on the issue.

    This led to the formulation of a plot orchestrated by the police that would require Nyirabihogo to go along with this conspiracy.

    The scheme was initiated Wednesday 27 April at around 1.15p.m. after the court’s hearing. Nyirabihogi went on to hand out the money to the accused. On receiving the amount, police officers immediately intercepted the money thereby catching her red-handed. Upon suspicion, the judge reacted by throwing away the bag containing the money, in a pretentious act of rejection.

    Witnesses within the vicinity confirmed the real intents of the accused, some of whom were insiders in the intrigue.

    Maombi is presently apprehended at the Kicukiro Police station awaiting a trail. We shall continue tp update you on this story as details emerge.