Tag: MainSlideNews

“Had a good meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, discussed strengthening mutually beneficial partnership with Africa and reaffirmed commitment to bilateral relations including opening an embassy in Rwanda soon,” Kagame wrote on his twitter account.

In December 2017 when the two heads of state met in Nairobi, Kenya to attend the festivities surrounding the inauguration of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Netanyahu was quoted by the Jerusalem Post announcing the opening of a new embassy in Rwanda, and met with leaders from nearly a dozen African nations.

“We are opening a new embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali as part of Israel’s expanding presence in Africa and the deepening of cooperation between Israel and the countries of Africa,” He said after meeting Kagame in Nairobi.

The leaders also discussed the possibility of opening a direct air link between Israel and Rwanda, Netanyahu’s office stated.

Rwanda and Israel established diplomatic relations soon after the former Belgian colony gained independence in July 1962, but those ties were severed later in 1973 after Yom Kippur War when most African states-under Arab pressure-broke relations with Israel. With the reestablishment of ties in October 1994, Rwanda sent an ambassador to Israel, but had to close the embassy because of budgetary constraints some six years later.

The embassy was reopened with the appointment of Rwanda’s Ambassador to Israel Joseph Rutabana in 2015, and is one of its 53 embassies around the world (21 outside of Africa). Israel is served in Rwanda by a nonresident ambassador operating out of Addis Ababa.

It is alleged that Mugabe defiled girls aged 17 and 19, one of who he reportedly impregnated and attempted to give her crude abortion-enhancing substances.

Mugabe, the Great Lakes Voice editor, is co-accused with Emmanuel Rurangwa and Adolphe Byambu Karegeya, who are suspected of having got involved in the provision of drugs that would be used to terminate the foetus of the 19-year old girl.

They were brought in court around 10:30am.

Dressed in a navy blue suit, white shirt and black shoes, Mugabe was accompanied by his lawyer David Rugaza.

Journalists were prohibited from capturing photos and videos as they were not accredited, 48 hours before the court session.

Mugabe expressed concern that he has not yet got enough time to talk to his lawyer and read through the case file handed to court.

“I would like to ask for time to meet my lawyer and prepare my file. I would also like to request you that you may summon me after I have perused my file and allow me to meet my lawyer at any time,” Mugabe prayed to court.

Rugaza echoed his client’s remarks and asked that they be given enough time to prepare for the trial.

He said that he met his lawyer at the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) after Mugabe was arrested. He added that due to lack of means, they last met in court.
Prosecutor said that in questioning him, Mugabe came unaccompanied thrice. The prosecutor asked him whether if given a chance next time, he could not invoke these difficulties to which he said all the problems were sorted out.

Meanwhile, the lawyers of Mugabe’s co-accused said they are ready for the trial if Mugabe wants to talk with his lawyer. However, the court did not take it into account and ruled that the hearing be postponed to October 2, 2018 at 8am.

Ten years after its foundation with President Paul Kagame’s support in order to enable teachers improve their economic and social welfare, the cooperative has 73,000 members, as of today.

Since its foundation, the cooperative is funded by the Rwandan Government. The Rwandan Government has targeted to finance the cooperative to a tune of Rwf30 billion of which RWF20 billion has already been given to the cooperative with another Rwf10 billion to be released in the next four years.

In 2022, the Rwandan Government will no longer sponsor the cooperative.

In an exclusive interview with IGIHE, the Director General of Umwalimu SACCO, Laurence Uwambaje said that the sponsorship of Rwf30 million given to the cooperative by the Government has helped teachers change their lives compared to times prior to its foundation.

She added that the SACCO will keep giving loans to teachers because from 2022, it will be a self-reliant cooperative.

Umwalimu SACCO Cooperative started with Rwf10,000 as the initial cost per share and a compulsory monthly saving of 5% from every member’s salary. Today, Umalimu SACCO Cooperative counts Rwf200 billion of loans which were given to teachers while the savings count to Rwf23 billion with the loans outside the cooperative being Rwf58 billion.

Uwambaje says that the profit the cooperative obtained is at the good level though a lot has to be done for the cooperative to thrive more and get more profit.
“In 2017, we obtained a net profit of Rwf 3.300 billion (taxes counted in). In this year, we expect to get more profit as we have already acquired a profit of more than Rwf2.5 billion in the only past seven months,” explained Uwambaje.

{{Umwalimu SACCO, a life-changing cooperative
}}

The impression you get when you talk with some beneficiaries of the Umwalimu Sacco cooperative, you realize that their life was changed due to loans the cooperative has been giving them.

Priscille Mukaruzima is a teacher of English course in P1 and P2 classes at Kamashashi Primary School. She has been a teacher for 17 years now having worked with Umwalimu SACCO Cooperative for the last seven years.
Mukaruzima was given a loan of Rwf1.500 million in which she used to start a poultry business which earns her Rwf200,000 per month while her teaching salary is Rwf60.000.

Mukaruzima, a resident of Kamashashi Cell, Kanombe Sector of Gasabo District, says she started her business with 100 hens which have grown to 700 not counting those she sold.

She told IGIHE that she bought a land plot worth Rwf5 million in the money she got from her poultry business.

“At the first time, in the loan of Rwf1 million, I bought 100 hens and the second time, I was lent Rwf2 million which I used to buy other 400 hens. Now they have given me another Rwf4 million which I have not yet invested but I think of using it also in poultry business,” she recounts.

“From the poultry business, I earned a lot because besides the land area I bought, life changed in my household. My children eat well and study in good schools,” she said.
Mukaruzima rears hens which lay eggs and she says she can’t satisfy her eggs market. She has helped her two fellow teachers start poultry and some of her neighbors which she says she will keep doing.
Rent houses for teachers

Uwambaje says that loans given to teachers are different but they focus more on the rent housing loans.

“Fifty percent of the loans teachers apply for are rent related because most of the teachers own no living houses and now ½ of them have got rent loans. The teachers also ask for loans to start small business including agribusiness loans,” she explained.

Uwambaje reveals that there are teachers who withdraw between Rwf 5 and 10 million per month proving that the cooperative has turned some teachers into rich people. However, Uwambaje says that a number of teachers who engage in small-sized projects is still low because many are not confident in starting businesses.

Umwalimu SACCO gives loans to teachers on permanent contracts and based on their salaries and in case their contracts are terminated and they get fired, they don’t pay the loans.

There are teachers who start projects and lose and it becomes difficult for them to pay loans but this does not put the SACCO in the cooperatives among those with losses caused by unpaid loans because unpaid loans are on a 3.5% average whereas the law directs not to be more than 5% average.

Umwalimu Sacco trains members on better usage of loans and make them confident in starting businesses.

Today, countrywide, Rwanda counts 30 branches of Umwalimu SACCO with 235 staff.

Umwalimu Sacco owes a total Rwf2 billion debt to Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) and the OIKO Credit, a Netherlander Financial Institution. Umwalimu SACCO has applied for that debt six years ago when cooperative members asked for loans that were more than the savings they had in the cooperative.

The president’s official Twitter account did not give details about what transpired in the discussions between the two Heads of state.

In May 2018, President Kagame visited France and the two presidents had discussions on trade, investment, technology, health and the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The historical visit of Kagame at the Elysee seemed to open a new road in the two countries relation that has been ‘complex and complicated’ due to the role France in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, a role France has not yet apologized for.

During the visit, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his support for Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo who is a candidate for the post of the Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francohonie (OIF).S

Let me start with a paradox. In no other region is the sense of trans-national solidarity and unity so deeply felt as in Africa. The idea that our respective national identities stand in contradiction to Pan-Africanism is unheard of in our context.

And yet, despite this unique civic endowment, Africa has too often stood out for division and dysfunction in practice. This left Africa unable to articulate and advance our common interests. We ceded responsibility for our future to others, not by force but by default.

But times are changing rapidly, and so the management of Africa’s global position must also change. The trend on our continent is toward closer and more productive cooperation, both through the African Union and our Regional Economic
Communities.

The evident decline of old certainties and authorities is not bringing turbulence to Africa, as would have been the case, as of a previous era. On the contrary, the effect has been to focus Africa’s attention on the urgent need to get our house in order and fundamentally change how we do business. That is why the African Union initiated a major financial and institutional reform, more than three years ago.

We are already seeing practical results. New financial discipline has produced an African Union budget that is 12 per cent lower than last year. The share of funding supplied by Member States has also increased substantially. Contributions to the Peace Fund, which helps pay for African Union peace support operations, are
at the highest level since its establishment in 1993.

And earlier this year, the historic African Continental Free Trade Area was signed, which was the culmination of decades of effort.

Once in force, Africa’s place in the global economic and trade architecture will be redefined. Economies of scale and higher levels of intra-African trade will help our continent attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We will also see new
possibilities for public-private partnership with Africa’s growing private sector.
This year also provided examples of regional security affairs and key political transitions being handled in a peaceful and forward-looking manner. More effective consultation and leadership is reducing the need for external mediation, and this is how it should be.

The momentous developments in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and even Somalia) are the most remarkable. The region’s leaders deserve our full support, as they set aside decades of mistrust and work toward a comprehensive
settlement. It is important for the United Nations Security Council to collaborate closely with the African Union to accompany this process of normalisation.

In Zimbabwe as well, the next stages on the country’s path of progress warrant steady encouragement from the international community.
However, there are other situations in Africa, notably the Central African Republic, Libya, the Sahel, and South Sudan, where serious problems remain unresolved, despite so much potential.

Africa and the world should come together and do what needs to be done to harmonise overlapping initiatives and ensure that agreements are respected.

Peace and security are the foundation of economic and social well-being. Yesterday, we happily marked the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth with the Mandela Peace Summit.

In that spirit, we are already set to embark on a new chapter in cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations on the stable funding of African Union-mandated peace support operations. The resolution set to be introduced by Africa’s three Security Council members has the full backing of the African Union. This step will also align with the Secretary-General’s new Action for Peacekeeping Initiative. This reflects, once again, that the dividend of a more focused and functional Africa benefits everyone.

In this wider context of even stronger partnership between our institutions, it is important for the African Union’s diplomatic representation here at the United Nations to be accorded the status and weight enjoyed by other regional bodies.

The theme for this year’s General Debate is making the United Nations relevant to all people. This requires a commitment to achieving real multilateralism, where it has too often been lacking.

The current two-track system of global governance is unsustainable. A few get to be the ones to define the norms by which others shall be judged.

But standards that do not apply to everyone, equally, are not universal. Addressing this imbalance in the very foundation of our system is what will give shape to a revival of multilateral cooperation and renew the legitimacy of the international institutions that are so crucial to our planet’s future.

In the years ahead, we look forward to deepening this important partnership between Africa and the United Nations to advance our shared agenda of peace and security, gender equality and women’s empowerment, environmental protection, and shared Prosperity.

I thank you very much for your kind attention.

The video was taken on Sunday, September 23rd 2018 at the Zion Temple Church in Gatenga, Kigali City, where Gitwaza was preaching a sermon themed “The Symptoms of the Miracles.”

In the video, he is heard saying; “I don’t know if there is a prophet superior to me in this country. What I am telling you is not boasting and may God forgive me if there is a small boastful character inside me. I don’t know if in this country, or in Africa you have a prophet like me. It is possible that he will come up but in present times while I am still alive, you will never see him. Look for one for me and let me know when you find him.”

Gitwaza spoke those words after narrating trials he passed through which saw him being called a thief, adulterer, witch doctor and so many names but, he says, kept spreading the gospel and won through it all.

He said that if people don’t admit he is the superior prophet today, they will admit that after his death.

“I tell you the truth, you will know after I am gone. I will be believed in other places. I have a big role in the reconstruction of this country. Like [Prophet] Ezeckiel, I prophesized that bones would return to life and no other person would; or faced the battles I faced,” Gitwaza added.

The video evoked a lot of discussions and controversy in newspapers and on social platforms.

Not all Christian religions believe in prophets who are not mentioned in the Bible. For those who believe in them [prophets], a prophet is a “person who is believed to have a special power that allows them to say what a god wishes to tell people, especially about things that will happen in the future,” as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary.
IGIHE has talked to different religious leaders from Rwanda who said how they received Dr. Gitwaza’s words.

The Spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Rwanda who also doubles as the Bishop of Butare Diocese, Philippe Rukamba said they don’t believe in prophecies.
He said, “There are things you may believe like visions that can happen, but we also believe in them a little. Like for the Kibeho Visions to be believed in the Catholic Church, it took at least 25 years.”

Bishop Marguerite Rwandamura, the Pastor in United Christian Church, Gikondo Branch, Kigali, said that in their church, they believe in prophecies but that she does not know what one bases on to say one prophet is the superior to the other.

“I don’t argue with him over being a prophet, but I can’t know his superiority because I am not God. What I only believe is that prophets live and there are true and false prophecies,” she said.

Bishop Simon Masasu Murekezi of the Restoration Church in Rubavu District told IGIHE that as for their church, they believe in prophecies but it is false to say there is super prophet than others.

Masasu said, “That one [Gitwaza] is in self deceiption. The Bible talks about the five callings and they complement each other. A Man of God is the one who is humble and understands; he accepts advice and knows that when God gives him a message, he needs the Holy Spirit’s help to deliver it successfully.”

Masasu added that it is impossible for a man to be a prophet and an apostle at the same.

“Why does he [Gitwaza] call himself an apostle and a prophet? You understand that he is mixing two things. There would be a little falsehood then. Prophets lived and they still live and it is not only him alone,” Masasu added.

Zeraphath Holy Church Leader, Bishop Jean Bosco Harerimana said that no prophet praises himself but only those who see his miracles know him.

“Elijah once told God that he was the only prophet remaining and God told him ‘you are lying, there are other thousands of prophets after. God immediately asked him to finish his mission and to anoint his successor Elishah who would end his journey,” Bishop Harerimana recounted.

Harerimana said that whenever someone starts praising himself in Gospel mission, it is a sign that he is starting to get tired.

“What you do is what earns you praises and when you start praising yourself in the gospel mission, then you are starting to fail,” Harerimana explained.

It is not the first time that Gitwaza has raised controversy following his prophecies.
In 2015, Gitwaza prophesied on the end of the world which never came to pass.
Gitwaza later turned around and denied having prophesied the end of the world.

Kagame made the reamrks in New York as he delivered opening remarks at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in honour of the centenary of the birth of Mandela ahead of the 73rd session of the United Nations Assembly.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela died on December 5, 2013 at the age of 95. He is remembered as hero who fought against the system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s known as “appartheid” imposed on South African blacks by the white minority while he strove for unity and equality.

His fight against Appartheid saw him serve 27 years in prison and after being released, Mandela avoided the revenge actions but rather pushed for unity and reconciliation of the South Africans.

In 1994, Mandela was voted President of the South African Republic for a five years term which ended in 1999.

Speaking about Mandela, President Kagame said, “Nelson Mandela’s centenary presents an ideal moment to reflect on the meaning that the legacy of this great African freedom fighter and statesman holds for us today.”

“Nelson Mandela understood that the politics of confrontation and division impedes a nation’s social cohesion and progress,” Kagame said, adding that “Even though the wounds were still fresh, he endeavoured to show that the suffering endured by him and countless other South Africans could be re-directed toward building a more positive future for the country.”

Kagame noted that Mandela did not consider the unpopularity of his [Mandela] message but he did what was right.

“This was not an easy message, but President Mandela was a true leader and an inspiring communicator. He did what was right, even when it was not popular,” Kagame emphasized.

{{Rwanda learnt inclusivity through its tragic history
}}

Kagame said that the tragic history [of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi] was a lesson for the counrty on the inclusivity, equality and to avoid non-sectarian politics.
President Kagame said: “ In Rwanda, our tragic history has also taught us the importance of unity and inclusivity for reconciliation and nation-building.”

“We work to ensure that all citizens have equal rights and opportunities and are able to participate actively in shaping our country’s direction in meaningful ways. This approach has allowed us to restore trust in public institutions, and also in each other,” Rwanda’s President explained.

Kagame revealed that “Inclusive and non-sectarian politics is not only advantageous in Africa or in post-conflict situations. As the world has been seeing, national unity is a good thing, wherever it takes place.”

“We are fortunate to have Nelson Mandela’s example to keep bringing us back to this fundamental truth,” noted Kagame.

The remarks were made on Sunday, by Rwanda Senate President Bernard Makuza as he officially opened the second National Congress of the Pan African Movement Rwanda themed as “Making Pan African Movement relevant to the people of Rwanda and Africa”.

Makuza said it was high time Africans changed the mindsets and emancipate themselves from the colonial thinking and thinking they can’t achieve big things on their own.

As an example, Makuza reminded the participants of the viral video by the US Television CNN released in February this year showing the slave trade as in Libya where one African was being sold between US$300 and 800 to work as slaves and this was done by their fellow Africans.

Besides, the recent numbers by the International Organization for Migration indicate that from 2014 to July 2018, 168000 Africans had died in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe to seek a better life.

Bernard Makuza said, “It is very much sad for us all to see our fellow Africans being sold as mere merchandise, while others are made to wander on the sea and most of them finally lose their lives.”

Makuza said that mindsets that Africa should be dictated what to do by somebody else should change.

“The time we wasted is enough and will never get back to us but we can predict own future starting by changing the mindsets by preserving our self-esteem, stop always waiting for donors and know our worth,” Makuza noted.

“This will be possible only we change mindsets and know that Africa should not slow in its journey for transformation. We should be aware that the hands that kept us lagging behind are still present.”

Senator Tito Rutaremara said that Africans should understand that their brains work like those of other people from elsewhere in the world.

Rutaremara gave China as an ample example of a country that is developing fast while its elite and intellectuals don’t know foreign languages like English and French which are believed by many Africans to be the elite’s languages.

He said: “Having an “Africa first” mind is fighting for yourself because in the coming 15 or 20 years, Africa will be lagging behind if mindsets are not changed. Others will be running on the way to settle on Mars Planet whereas we will be fighting to settle in Sahara Desert while we have the same brains as theirs.”

One of the youths that particaipated in the second Pan African Movement Rwanda congress, Clememce Mbabazi urged fellow youth to valorize the African culture and customs if they wish to have the African continent with a firm foundation.

“We, youth don’t give much value to the African culture. You will find us most interested in fashions, movies, music from outside Africa while we even don’t know our history. We don’t know a lot on African traditions. The first change needed is to value our cultures,”explained Clemence Mbabazi.

The African Union member countries have set the agenda 2063 which aspires to see Africa self-reliant in all its citizens’ aspects of life.

The 53 year old former police spokesperson for the Rwanda National Police in the Southern Region, was found dead early this week in Ndera Sector of Kicukiro District, Kigali.

Friends and relatives who gathered to bid him farewell eulogized this good works,, his love of work and friendly personalty.

CSP Gashagaza’s daughter Paola tearingly gave a short tribute saying “Dear father, you left while we still needed you. Many times you gave us advice, taught us that nothing was impossible. We hereby promise you that your teachings and advice will not go to waste.”

“Your time on earth will forever be remembered. May God bless you for it all, I love you. ” Paola added

In her short speech, Chantal Uwimana, Gashagaza’s late wife, said that her husband’s loss would leave a huge gap in their lives.

Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) is holding two people suspected of having participated in the murder of the former Police officer.

Speaking to IGIHE, the Spokesperson of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Modeste Mbabazi said: “Following investigations after the murder of CSP Hubert Gashagaza, RIB has arrested two suspects in connection with his death as we pursue other leads as well.”

He said that Gashagaza might have been strangled.

{{A look into Hubert Gashagaza’s life
}}

Hubert Gashagaza was son to Saratiyeri Munyentwari and Esther Mukamusoni. He was born in Rutarabana, Ruhango, Southern Province, on 01st April 1965.

He was a first born in a family of eight; five boys and three girls. His parents were killed during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis.

He was married to Chantal Uwimana in 1965, fathered four daughters and one son.
Gashagaza was among the first Rwandan Youth that went to Uganda in 1987, where he became a member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

He served on the contingent of Rwanda National Police peacekeepers in Central Africa Republic.