Tag: HomeNews

  • Entrepreneurs Recieve Marketing Skills

    {{In partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC Rwanda), the Centre for Business Solutions (CBS) is training Kigali entrepreneurs in marketing skills for their work and sales.}}

    Patrick Kagabo, the CBS manager told igihe.com that this training aims at enhancing entrepreneurs’ skills in dealing with their businesses.

    “We help them at enhancing their skills in doing their marketing system. It is good that people start understanding the role of these trainings that could change their way of working”, said Kagabo.

    He added that this helps increase their practical skills because most of them are used to theoretical skills got from schools.

    One of the trainers Jimmy Rutabingwa says that trainings opened their eyes as business people and this will help to make their businesses known.

    “These trainings will help us to get their eyes open as entrepreneurs.All of them will put this into practice and let me mention that time is now”, said Rutabingwa.

    One of the trainees, Christian Mutembe told igihe.com that he welcomed the initiative by the Centre for Business Solutions.

    “On my behalf, this training was successful. We got to know how to make things into practices. I get out of here with much knowledge and skills to improve my business”, stated Mutembe.

  • Three Missed Miners Rescued

    {{Following the recent story that three miners were still missing after the soil covered the entrance and exit tunnels of the Muhanga based mine, the three miners have been rescued still alive and normal, igihe.com can reliably report.}}

    Information attained by igihe.com indicate that Viatuer, Jean Manirarora and only identified as Ndayamaje were rescued at 2:20 pm as combined efforts from residents, police and the army hurried to save their lives.

    Even one of them had a cell phone, there was no communication due lack of power on his phone’s battery.

    “No one was traumatized, no psychological distress, no injury. It was just a miracle,” Gabriel Rulinda the Managing Director of Rwanda Rudniki mining company has said by his cell phone.

    Yesterday, soils fell from the hills and covered the entrance and exit of the a coltan mine in Nyarusange Sector, Muhanga District in Southern Province four men surviving while other three remaining covered in the mining tunnel.

    Speaking at the scene in Nyarusange sector where the mine is situated Beatrice Uwamariya the sector’s Executive Secretary told igihe.com that rescue mission involved police, the army and the residents who worked tirelessly.

    “We worked since yesterday and the rain interrupted and after sun set it was dark and we left, we came back very early in the morning to continue with the rescue mission. They spent the whole night inside the mining tunnel, thank God they came out alive,” Uwamariya said by phone.

    Uwamaliya said that the rescue team used different tools like spades to remove the soil that had covered both entrance and exit tunnel.

    “They told us they had morale and had hope they would be rescued because they heard people talking and doing something to rescue them,” Uwamariya said.

    “They all looked ok and the rescue mission went very successful, they have finished taking some food and drinks,” she added.

    An effort to speak to one of the three rescued members was fruitless as they were not in a position to speak to the press at the time.

    In case of any damage, Rulinda said that all miners in his company are protected and insured with CORAR insurance company and that they would be compensated if any damage occurred.

    {{Ends}}

  • Even Men Are Domestically Violated-NWC

    {{The president of the National Women Council Francesca Tengera has said that new findings indicate that even men have been brutally domestically violated.}}

    Tengera was speaking to igihe.com in a separate interview after addressing the press at the launch of 16 days of campaign against gender based violence.

    She said that available statistics indicate that at least 94 men were brutally beaten by their spouses though women are still largely violated brutally with 430 women violated this year.

    “Women are not only the victims but men too. this year only 430 women were brutally beaten by their spouses and 94 men in the same way,” Tengera gave part of the statistics.

    Physical assaults were found to be among the leading form of domestic violence resulting to loss of lives with 83women and 60 men killed this year.

    Tengera said that there are still lack of one’s awareness on their rights is making the matter worse; “just imagine 20 women and 31 men committed suicide simply because they couldn’t stand being tormented and others divorced and left family because they didn’t know where to present their cases.”

    “Women are most affected that’s why we intend to focus more on sensitizing them on their rights, especially on owning property,” she said.

    Emmanuelle Ingabire the focal point of gender based violence at Pro-Femmes Twese Hamwe a women rights activists Non-Governmental Organization, called for the abolition of laws and cultural practices that oppress women.

    “Rights over land for instance is a major issue, I can’t believe there are areas where women up to now are denied fair shares of land during inheriting process, a similar practice is seen in men who deny their women to own property like houses, cars etc,” Ingabire remarked.

    Prior to the campaign’s launch there was a walk from Kacyiru roundabout to the Amahoro national stadium, in the afternoon that involved high profiled women leaders in the country followed by a football match between high ranking women leaders from the government versus their counterparts from civil society.

    {{Ends}}

  • 4 Rescued Alive, 3 Missing From Landslide Accident

    {{Four people were yesterday rescued alive from a big coltan mine hole after a landslide at Nyarusange sector, Muhanga district in the Southern Province, igihe.com has learnt.}}

    At the moment three people are still missing and have not been recovered from the landslides that almost covered the mine.

    According to reliable information, the victims were mining coltan by the time heavy rain fall started causing wetting of the sorrounding soils that fell and covered the path to their way out.

    Before the mine tunnel was covered the four managed to escape the huge ambushing soils and survived death and as per now there is no information about the fate of the rest who seems to have been buried by the soils inside the mine.

    Beatrice Uwamariya, Nyarusange sector’s Executive Secretary told igihe.com that more efforts are being invested to rescue the victims.

    “Since yesterday after the incidence we have been trying our best to rescue the missing people but we had to stop because of heavy rains and resumed work today very early in the morning with the help of police,RDF staff and the residents,” she said.

    Uwamariya said that there is a chance of the victims being still alive because there is a resistant rock inside and that they may be hiding in it for protection.

    According her, it’s not the first time such incidence happened because even in August this year 6 people also survived death narrowly as a result of landslide.

    {{Ends}}

  • Dead Body Found Stuffed in Sack

    {{In the morning of today Nov. 25, at around 9hrs000 at Kinamba-Gisozi junction at the bridge, a body was found roped arms and legs, placed into a sack and drowned in the flowing river under that bridge.}}

    By the time {igihe.com} reached at the scene, this body was not yet identified and our reporter found a crowd of terrified people plus the National Police taking pictures and trying to take rescue.

    When contacted Police Spokesperson Supt. Theos Badege who wasn’t yet aware of the saga said that normally when such incidents happen, police has to take action very fast.

    ‘When such incidence happens, we try to identify the person in case it’s possible, investigate the reasons behind the death, and who did the act as well among others before we take action,” Badege said.

    Badege promised to give detailed information after confirming the act and after identifying the victim.

  • AFRICA Loses $2Bn in Doctors Leaving Continent

    {{Sub-Saharan African countries that invest in training doctors have ended up losing $2 billion as the expert clinicians leave home to find work in more prosperous developed nations, researchers have said.}}

    A study by Canadian scientists found that South Africa and Zimbabwe suffer the worst economic losses due to doctors emigrating, while Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States benefit the most from recruiting doctors trained abroad.

    The scientists, led by Edward Mills, chair of global health at theUniversity of Ottawa, called on destination countries to recognize this imbalance and invest more in training and developing health systems in the countries that lose out.

    “Many wealthy destination countries, which also train fewer doctors than are required, depend on immigrant doctors to make up the shortfall,” Mills’ team wrote in a study, which was published in the British Medical Journal.

    “Developing countries are effectively paying to train staff who then support the health services of developed countries.”

    Experts say the migration, or “brain drain,” of trained health workers from poorer countries to richer ones exacerbates the problem of already weak health systems in low-income countries battling epidemics of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.

    {{CRITICAL SHORTAGE}}

    The World Health Organization adopted a code of practice in 2010 on international recruitment of health personnel that highlighted the problem of doctor brain drains and called on wealthy countries to offer financial help to poorer ones affected.

    The code is seen as particularly important for sub-Saharan Africa, which suffers from a critical shortage of doctors and has a high prevalence of diseases such as HIV, TB and malaria.

    The latest United Nations global HIV/AIDS report released on Monday found that 68 percent of the around 34 million people worldwide who have the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS live in Africa.

    Using various data including published reports on primary and secondary school spending from UNESCO, Mills’ team estimated the cost of educating a doctor through primary, secondary and medical school in nine sub-Saharan countries with some of the world’s highest rates of HIV.

    The countries studied included Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    The research team then added the figures together to estimate how much the origin countries paid to train doctors and how much the destination countries saved in employing them.

    The results show that these governments spend between $21,000, the figure for Uganda, and $59,000, in South Africa, to train a doctor, only to see them in many cases migrate to richer countries.

    “Among the nine sub-Saharan African countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, more than $2 billion of investment was lost through the emigration of trained doctors,” the researchers said. “Our results indicate that South Africa incurs the highest costs for medical education and the greatest lost returns on investment.”

    The findings suggested the benefit to Britain was around $2.7 billion, and to the United States was around $846 million. Australia was estimated to have benefited to the tune of $621 million and Canada was $384 million better off.

  • Press Release: Suzan Rice Touring RDB

    {{SUZAN RICE TAKES A TOUR OF THE RWANDA DEVELOPMENT BOARD’S ONE STOP CENTRE}}

    {{The United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Susan E. Rice met with Senior Officials at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and some private sector investors in the ICT and Hospitality sectors to discuss and observe first-hand the current business environment in Rwanda.}}

    At RDB, Ambassador Rice was taken around the investor One Stop Centre and various services including company registration, sector specific certifications and licenses, environment clearance and issuance of investment certificates, were explained.

    During the visit, it was explained that the Rwanda Development Board is not only a One Stop Shop for investors but a single point of contact for guidance on laws, policies, incentives, investment climate and trends, investment opportunities, costs of setting up a business, process of finding land and sector specific information.

    In addition, the One Center provides work permits and visas, tax exemptions and payment, construction permits, utilities and notary services.

    The Ambassador also heard from the private sector members about their experiences in doing business in Rwanda, their plans for the future and what is on their wish list.

    Ambassador Rice is in Rwanda on an official visit to various organizations and meets with Ministers and other dignitaries to witness Rwanda’s progress over the past several years, particularly in health, agriculture and in the economic sphere.

    {{ENDS}}

  • Presidential Pardon To Prisoners Begins Next Week

    {{The Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama has announced that the presidential pardon to release 1667 prisoners will begin next week contrary to what has been previously reported that it would begin mid this week.}}

    According to the Ministry of Internal security website, the prisoners would have been released this week but details of delay has not been communicated but inside sources suggest it was only finalizing administrative process.

    “Only those who have served a quarter of their sentence, those with life imprisonment sentence and have served at least ten years and those who meet all criteria for conditional release will benefit the presidential pardon,” Minister Karugarama said.

    He also said that Rwanda Correction Services and Public Prosecution is scrutinising the list of those illigible for conditional release so as no mistake is cited after their release.

    Other criteria considered for the prisoners to benefit from the presidential pardon include those who have demonstrated good behaviour or suffered from serious and incurable diseases, according to the internal security ministry website.

    Presidential Pardon was announced during the recent cabinet meeting in accordance to LAW N° 13/2004 OF 17/5/2004 relating to the code of criminal procedure.

    Section two of that law in articles 237 to 243 provides criteria for conditional release and also done on request from the Minister having justice in his or her attributions.

    It can also be approved by the Minister having Justice in his or her attributions on the request of the public prosecution and director of prison.

    This section two of this law also gives powers to deny public prosecution request of a conditional release of any inmate.

    In case of urgency, a new arrest for the purposes of detaining a person who is under conditional release can be ordered by the Prosecutor General of the Republic, or the Public Prosecutor in charge of prosecution service office at a Higher Instance level or the public prosecutor in charge of the prosecution service office at a Lower Instance level, and shall immediately inform the Minister in charge of justice.

    However article 237 also provides that persons who have been sentenced for genocide or crimes against humanity, terrorism, defiling children or sexual torture and all other crimes related to national security or of other countries, treason and espionage and all other international crimes provided for by the penal code cannot be conditionally released.

    Minister Karugarama says that the release is also aimed at creating environment of taking a prison as a correction place other than looked at as a punishment ground.

    According to the Minister about 3000 inmates had applied for conditional release adding that other benefit include decreasing crowding of the prisons.

    Karugarama says that after 1994 Genocide prison crowding has decreased from 200, 000 inmates to 58000 inmates to date with 40,000 charged with Genocide crimes.

    The minister says conditional release has helped in reduction of over overcrowding of prisons which led to three prisons of Nyagatare, Gisovu and Nyanza close doors.

    {{Ends}}

  • Rwanda Cooperatives Join Global Community

    {{The National Confederation of Cooperatives of Rwanda (NCCR) has embarked on capacity building of its members. Part of the training will be conducted by experts from the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).}}

    NCCR Director, Augustine Gatabarwa, noted that the training is among benefits of Rwandan cooperatives inclusion to ICA, which approved the membership during a general meeting held from 14 to 18 November in Mexico’s Cancun city.

    During a Press Conference, Gatabarwa waved a flag showing membership confirmation from the global cooperative alliance.

    “Being a member of ICA will contribute a lot in growth of Rwandan cooperatives, with technical support of ICA which is also an independent, non-governmental organization that unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide,” he pointed out.

    The director general of RCA Damien Mugabo urged representatives of cooperatives to urge their members to work harder since their contribution at the international cooperative was essential.

    He also announced that the UN had dedicated next year for the growth of cooperatives worldwide and encouraged local cooperatives to be orderly and do away with corrupt members.

    “We should utilize ICA resources, getting technical assistance for example, getting key contacts and information on best practices,” said Mugabo.

    ICA started in 1895 to provide an effective global voice and forum for knowledge, expertise and coordinated action about co-operatives.

    It consists of international and national co-operative organizations from all sectors of the economy including agriculture, banking, fisheries, health, housing, industry, insurance.

    Currently, ICA has over 250 member organizations from 100 countries, representing approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. In Africa, only 13 countries were represented in ICA and now, they are 15 including Rwanda.

  • Business Development Discussed At Local Gov’t Retreat

    {{The local governments’ retreat that kicked off today on November 24, 2011 at Kigali Serena Hotel discussed business development and access to finance as key points.}}

    The Minister of Local Government, James MUSONI, said,“We are going to have a face to face debate between various stakeholders focusing on; policy and legal framework, Implementation process and procedures and Finding collective solutions to existing barriers to economic development and burning questions from different stakeholders”.

    More than 170 participants attended the first day of the ongoing retreat. They discussed about industrialization, small and medium enterprises, cross border trade, access to finance, infrastructure development and urbanization, and ICT development and application in local governments, among others.

    Plenary sessions presentations were dominated by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade followed by the Central Bank (BNR), Ministry of Infrastructure and that of ICT.

    Participants shared experiences and challenges on the ground, especially concerning cross border trade, tourism, SMEs and investments promotion and industrialization.

    Though challenges persist, all participants conceded that a lot has been achieved in all sectors and reiterated their commitment towards working as one team serving one people and one nation.

    The Minister of Commerce and Trade, Francois KANIMBA, said, “this retreat is very important because it enables all stakeholders engage in open debates reconciling policy issues with field challenges, which is very important for both leaders and managers at every level”.

    “We expect that, this retreat will help us to identify gaps and share common understanding and commitment to deliver as one team, especially in local governments”, Minister Musoni asserted.