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{{A senior Commander of the FDLR- Foka Rebel group based in the DRCongo has laid down his gun and returned to Rwanda with other eight rebels.}}

Lt.Col. Mbarushimana Etienne a.k.a Bantu returned to Rwanda on 24 May though the main boarder connecting Rwanda and DRC.

The group was accompanied upto the boarder by over 19 members of their families

Mbarushimana told Press that after spending a lot of time in the jungles of DRCongo, he thought it was wise to return to his home country and work with others to build the country.

He added that while in the Jungles of Congo they listened to Radio Rwanda which provided them major information that helped them decide to return home.

Mbarushimana joined the army in 1991 and fled the country at a rank of Lieutinant. He was formerly resident in Ruhengeri prefecture Kinigi Sector currently Musanze District Northern Province.

{{The Head of “One Laptop per Child Associations”(OLPC Associations), Rodrigo Arboled is in Rwanda where he has visited Groupe Scolaire Kicukiro School one of the 208 schools that have benefited from OLPC.}}

Rodrigo said hee is in the country to thank President Paul Kagame and his leadership that has transformed the country.

“Rwanda’s development is very impressive. There is evidence of development everywhere you go in the country. This is very surprising.”

Rodrigo was surprised to see how the students at Groupe Scolaire Kicukiro are able to navigate the computers in just only a period of five months since they received them.

Nkubito Bakuramutsa the head of one laptop per child in Rwanda said that over Hundred thousand computers have been distributed to students in 208 schools since the program was launched in the country.

{{People living around the volcano areas have been urged to carefully handle stone walls (Gabillons) that were built to guard Rwebeya River from overflow of water from the volcano mountains especially during heavy rains.}}

This was during the official launch of the protective stone walls built to cut down the speed of water flowing down stream.

The stone walls were built by the collaboration of Ministry of Natural Resources and RDF Reserve Forces (inkeragutabara) in Nyange and Kinigi sectors through which the river flows.

In the recent past, Rwebeya river has overflown and claimed lives of some residents and destroyed valuable property and crops.

Lt. Gen. Fred Ibingira the head of the RDF Reserve Forces noted that after winning the war of bullets, the army will always deal with anything that threatens the peace and security of citizens.

Nkuruziza Emmanuel of thehead of Natural Resources agency said this is second phase of the stone walls project after those launched in 2011, “such projects will continue”.

{{The Referral Chamber of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) On 8 May 2012, granted Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow’s application for the referral of the case of The Prosecutor v. Ladislas Ntaganzwa, Case No. 9609-R11bis, to the Republic of Rwanda for trial.}}

That decision became final yesterday when the time for appeal expired.

Earlier today, in compliance with the Referral Chamber’s order, Prosecutor Jallow officially handed over the material supporting the Indictment against the Accused and other relevant evidence contained in his case file to Alphonse Hitiyaremye, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Rwanda.

The Indictment charges the Accused, who was the former mayor of Nyakizu commune in Butare, with genocide; direct and public incitement to commit genocide; and extermination, murder, and rape as crimes against humanity.

The handover ceremony took place at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania. It marked the completion of a week-long official mission of senior Rwandan prosecutors to the ICTR that was led by Deputy Prosecutor General Hitiyaremye.

During the ceremony, Deputy Prosecutor General Hitiyaremye thanked Prosecutor Jallow for his efforts in securing the referral of this case to Rwanda for trial. He noted that this was the fourth case to be successfully referred to Rwanda in recent months.

“Your Excellency Justice Jallow and your team, this great achievement by the OTP has brought legal changes and will go in the history of this tribunal as precedent for other national jurisdictions to refer to when taking similar decisions to extradite Rwandan genocide fugitives living a round the world.

Rwanda has already issued 138 indictments and arrest warrants against genocide fugitives living in 23 countries and with the already taken decisions by this tribunal; we expect extradition decisions in our favour in the near future. “

Prosecutor Jallow expressed his confidence that the responsible Rwandan officials would ensure the fair trial rights of the Accused in this case and the other ICTR cases that have been referred.

“The successful referral of this and other cases to Rwanda is an important step in the ICTR’s completion strategy and helps ensure that those responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda do not escape with impunity.”

Prosecutor Jallow further noted that, as part of its order, the Referral Chamber has issued a Warrant of Arrest and Order for Transfer of the Accused to the custody of Rwanda.

He called upon all States that are members of the United Nations to lend their continued support to Rwanda’s efforts to apprehend the Accused in this case, as well as the fugitives in the two other cases (Charles Sikubwabo and Fulgence Kayishema) that have been referred to Rwanda for trial.

{{In the latest development in DRCongo, Four armed groups operating in Ituri have formed a coalition of armed groups in Ituri (COGAI). The coalition leader is Col. Banaloki a.k.a Cobra Matata.}}

In a press statement released on Thursday 24 May, the new coalition is calling on the Congolese government for an amnesty for all militias operating in Ituri and the recognition of this district as a province of the DRC.

Outside the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI) of Cobra Matata, other armed groups that have signed the act of creation of this coalition are: The Popular Front for the sustainable development of the Ituri Eneko Kila. The Armed Force for the revolution of a Kabuli Integration of the Armed Forces of Ituri.

Most of the militia leaders are deserters from the Armed Forces of DRC (FARDC).

These militias are also calling for the creation of a military region in Ituri led by a native of this district and the immediate departure of Col. Fal Sikabwé, current head of operations in the area.

They accuse Col. Sikabwé of murdering Gen. Floribert Kisembo who had deserted from Congolese army, he died a year ago in Djugu after a hunt against him by loyalist forces.

Residents in the area have demanded local and national authorities to engage with such militia “to find a way out.”

However, FARDC in Ituri, say they do not believe in the existence of this coalition.

In February of this year, Cobra Matata had expressed willingness to join the army with his men saying, “it is time to make peace.”

Civil society in Ituri had invited the head of the Congolese State, Joseph Kabila to respond to its request by granting its militia and himself an amnesty.

{{The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has asked partner states to speed up removal of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to create a conducive business environment in the region.}}

Rwanda has always been pushing for the removal of such non tariff Barriers to enable quick flow of goods into the country. Rwanda nearly imports its goods from EAC member states.

Chairperson of the Committee on Communications, Trade and Investments, Dr James Ndahiro, noted that NTBs had by and large created a negative impact on trade expansion efforts in the region.

“The NTB issue has necessitated the need for inculcating a common, comprehensive and holistic approach for the elimination of NTBs,” noted Ndahiro when presenting latest findings of a recent workshop report on NTBs held in Kigali, Rwanda, at the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) opening session in Arusha on Tuesday.

This is the fifth and final two-week Assembly sitting before a new (third) Parliament is sworn in on June 5. The report points to a number of NTBs facing the business community in the region including congestion in issuing bonds, weighbridges especially in the northern and central corridors, lack of implementation of cargo tracking systems limiting movement of goods and corruption affecting major players at the border points.

Kenya is the current chair of the EAC Summit of Heads of State. Tanzania, he said, is yet to decide how many bridges to have, but Kenya has decided to have two.

{{A newly passed Resolution urges the EAC Council of Ministers to engage the European Union (EU) to address pertinent concerns and contentious issues raised by the Assembly, prior to the conclusion of the talks.}}

According to the Resolution, EAC suffers from chronic supply-side constraints and challenges and if implemented, the economic bloc stands to lose tariff revenue amounting to approximately USD 301 million yearly. Kenya alone, shall lose tariff revenue amounting to USD 193.8 Million a year.

The resoliution was passed Wednesday by The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

The Assembly is calling for a status report by the Secretary General every four months until the deliberations of the EPA talks are concluded and signed.

The Resolution was read by Hon Gervase Akhaabi on behalf of its mover, Hon Dr James Ndahiro. The Assembly once again raised a number of areas of concern in the on-going EPA.

The Assembly cited among other areas, the high level of liberalisation the EU is asking of the EAC and noted that the Most Favoured Nations (MFN) Clause would have an impact on the ability to have south-south co-operation and other trade agreements.

Other concerns that the Assembly mentioned include: Europe’s refusal to integrate additional and binding agreements and the refusal of the EU to address their yearly 80+billion Euro domestic support even as they want EAC to develop commercial agriculture markets in the region.

During debate, Hon Mugisha Muntu reiterated the need for the Council to pay particular attention to the EAC-EPA talks. He said the House had intervened on a number of times on the EPA talks in an attempt to right the concerns in the agreement.

Hon Muntu cited the example of the over 2900 tariff lines for which the EAC lacks local production capacity saying it was time for the region to implement the EAC Industrialisation Plan. Such plans and policies the legislator added, would guide the region in its negotiations with bilateral and multilateral partners.

Hon Kimura on her part noted that the Republic of Kenya as a non- Least Developing Country (LDC) would lack access to certain quotas that other Partner States in the EAC would access. She urged the Council of Ministers to engage their counterparts in Europe so that information sharing and experiences are shared.

‘There is need for mutual relationship between the region and Europe and not merely a one-sided arrangement’, Hon Kimura noted. The legislator urged the House to pass the Resolution and to forward the same to the European Parliament.

On her part, Hon Safina Kwekwe stated that the EAC and other African countries have supply challenges and that market entry was hampered despite the access on paper. ‘We have access due to the Cotonou agreement and the AGOA but I am not sure this has translated to market entry. I am not sure the European market shall change this mode once we sign the EPAs’, Hon Kwekwe remarked.

The EAC Secretary General, Amb. Richard Sezibera noted that the EAC negotiators had already taken into consideration the concerns that Members expressed on the floor and that the desire of the EAC to address the same had partly led to the delay in completion of the talks.

Amb Sezibera noted the region had requested for amendment on Market Access Regulation (EC 1528/2007). The Secretary General affirmed that there was no stalemate in the technical negotiations but added in certain areas the negotiators were yet to arrive at consensus, one of which is the MFN clause.

The Secretary General stated that during the briefing session of Permanent Secretaries on the EAC-EU- EPA negotiations held in Mombasa, Kenya on 14th May 2012, the Permanent Secretaries noted that Economic and Development Co-operation (EDC) is the cornerstone of the EPA negotiations.

They ascertained that areas of divergence should be taken up to the political levels where the policy makers could engage with their counterparts in the key EU Member States.

On the impact of EPAs on regional trade and production, the Secretary General informed the House that the EAC would liberalise 82% o its market access offer to the EU through a gradual reduction over a 25 year period and noted that such reductions would be based on the Common External Tariff (CET).

The Secretary General noted that 17.4% of EAC imports from EU were excluded from liberalisation to shore up promotion of food security, contribution to government revenue and trade competitiveness. Products include live meat, dairy produce, honey, eggs, live trees, cut flowers and ornamental foliage among others.

Amb Sezibera said the implication of market offer on agricultural development was not affected by the EPAs since they are excluded from liberalisation. In the long run, he said only seven products sourced from the EU shall be liberalised.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC in Uganda, Rt. Hon Eriya Kategaya reminded the House that it was important for the region to continue to negotiate as a bloc. He stated that the EPAs should give the region an opportunity to collectively negotiate on what it wants since the objective of integration was to enable the EAC to transform its economies.

This is the fourth Resolution passed by EALA on EPAs. In February 2009, a Resolution urging the Council to review the process of EPAs was tabled by Hon Valerie Nyirahabineza. In December 2010, Hon Dr Ndahiro moved a Resolution adopting a Position paper of the Committee of Communications, Trade and Investment urging the EAC to pursue a position on the EAC-EU papers.

Last year in May, Dr Ndahiro again moved a Resolution on EPAs. This time, the Resolution to the Council of Ministers sought to correct the record on EALA’s position on the EPA funding as used to seek a Summit directive to the 9th EAC Summit of Heads of State.