Author: b_igi_adm1n

The Rwanda National Police on Wednesday staged check point along the Kigali-Musanze road to search for drug distributors.

The operation focused on public transport vehicles, business as well as private cars.

During the three hour long operation no narcotics or any illict stuff was siezed.
However, Superintendent Emmanuel Ngondo, the director of anti-narcotics unit noted that the operations were necessary.

“We perform these exercises randomly or when we have information regarding narcotics being transported which we get from the public,” Superintendent Ngondo said.

Narcotic smugglers and distributors have become smarter and this has required Police to quickly adapt. Using sniffer dogs police are sure to flash out the smartest of drug smugglers.

Supply of drugs in Kigali city is believed to come from Rubavu and Kirehe districts in Western and Eastern provinces respectively.

“That is why our operations focus on the Kigali- Ngoma and Kigali-Rubavu highways,” Superintendent Ngondo added.

During the 16 day Police week activities, such operations were conducted along these routes where 22 narcotics dealers were arrested and more than 20 Kilograms of cannabis confiscated.

Imbuto Foundation has today hosted its 17 Youth Forum Series at Serena Hotel Kigali. This year’s Youth Forum, “Navigating Pathways: Lifeline to Success”, focuses on career guidance.

The forums form part of the Youth Empowerment and Mentorship Program (YEMP) which continuously engage, educate, and empower Rwandan youth through various activities.

One of the key activities of YEMP is to empower youth to set clear and high goals through the annual Youth Forum Series.

Career Guidance is the first to address the issues most youth face prior to attending university. The forum consisted of 300 participants some of which are high school graduates in their gap year and first year university students.

The forum aimed at equipping the participants with the necessary information and tools to make better and more informed educational and career decisions as they continue on to university.

Imbuto Foundation believes it is imperative for youth to make informed educational and career decisions for their next level of study especially since many youth depend on scholarships and often scholarship restrictions make it difficult to reverse decisions.

Among the student participants were guests such as First Lady Jeannette Kagame, Minister of Education Hon. Dr. Vincent Biruta, One UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative Mr. Opia Kumah, including representatives from government and university institutions.

In her address to the students Mrs. Jeannette Kagame said, “Career, as you all know, refers to a profession or occupation that one chooses as one’s life calling. Choosing a career is a delicate issue and often a dilemma for young people.”

The Minister if Education, Hon. Dr Vincent Biruta discussed in his address how important internships are for the youth, as skills are not only obtained at university but also through TVET. He encouraged youth the make use of any internship opportunities.

Topics that were covered during the forum were career options, self-discovery, and career paths.

Minister of Youth officially came to close the forum and told the students that they should embrace change and visualize the end, they should plan accordingly.

Focused on addressing the major causes of poor customer service, Rwanda Development Board has launched a two day training of trainers in customer care.

According to a press release from RDB, the training is part of a series of initiatives of the Na Yombi campaign, which was launched by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) geared towards improving the quality of services across all sectors in the country.

Apollo Munanura, RDB’s Head of Department for Human Capital and Institutional Development noted;

“While RDB has been training and providing orientation to various groups about customer care, this new training is designed to equip trainers with knowledge and skills to address the root causes of poor or indifferent customer service, specifically in timeliness, communication and problem solving.”

This training explores foundations of good customer service, critical pillars of customer care including timeliness, problem solving and communication.

Research conducted in 2010 to establish the level of satisfaction of users of services provided in 7 sectors, both public and private by the Boston-based consulting firm, On The Frontier Group, revealed that customer expectations with regard to these three pillars of customer care were minimally or in some instances never met.

The 40 trainers who are being trained are drawn from 18 organizations including the Private Sector Federation, Rwanda Tourism University College, School of Finance and Banking, Rwanda Association of Customer Care Professionals, Mount Kenya University, Akilah Institute, Adventist University, Rwanda Utility and Regulatory Authority, among others.

Yves Ngenzi, the manager of the Customer Care Unit at the Rwanda Development Board said, “trainers will be resourceful to their institutions in all customer care matters by conducting formal and regular training of customer facing staff.”

“They will also mentor selected employees to transfer the right attitude and skills in customer care.”

RDB will continue to upgrade the skills of the trainers by providing them with other tools to evaluate the level of customer satisfaction in their respective institutions.

It will also endeavor encourage them to provide their training and technical assistance to organizations which might seek to benefit from their services.

At the end of the training, trainers are expected to preparetraining and skills transfer plan to ensure that the knowledge they have acquired is transmitted to as many of their colleagues as possible and that best practices in customer care are disseminated as widely as possible.

The Rwanda Defense Forces have launched an army week to commemorate the 50th Independence and 18th Liberation celebrations through provision of outreach Health Care Services to the needy population.

The Army Week Healthcare program to be conducted by Rwanda Military hospital will cover patients in Rusizi and Nyamasheke districts from 24- 30 June.

According to the RDF leadership, the Army Medical Outreach to the needy population signifies true liberation and Independence, as a healthy population translates to a human security that the national leadership strives to achieve for all Rwandans.

The RDF not only defends the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country but engages in many other activities aimed at true independence of Rwandans, as stressed by the RDF Leadership.

About eight thousand people of Rusizi and Nyamasheke districts will benefit from this medical outreach whereby Rwanda Military Hospital will deploy a specialized multidisciplinary medical team made up of orthopedic surgeons, general surgeons, ophthalmologists, physiotherapists, dermatologists, radiologists, gynecologists and other specialists to help the community.

About 180 medical doctors and nurses including twenty six specialist doctors will leave Kigali on Sunday 24 June 2012 this week to the two remote districts whose population has no access to specialized services often available in urban and referral hospitals.

They will work hand in hand with local doctors to treat citizens at different Health Centres of Bushenge, Kibogora and Karengera in Nyamasheke district and Gihundwe, Nkanka, Muganza and Mibirizi in Rusizi district.

The official launch will be held at Gihundwe District Hospital on Monday 25th June 2012.

Prof. Esiron Munyanziza has been laid to rest. The Academician died on Monday 18 June in a surprising manner that has left relatives and residents shocked. He was burried on Wednesday at Ngoma public cemetry in Huye district.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR), held a workshop June 20, to equip those charged with responsibilities related to audits of financial statements with the new skills in current audit program and procedures.

ICPAR is a Professional Accountancy Organization (PAO) mandated by law to regulate the Accounting profession in the republic of Rwanda.

Speaking to the press during the seminar; Peter Rutaremara ICPAR president said, “Practical approach in this seminar will impart skills on how to audit in financial statement.”

“We are training them on international standards in auditing and how it is being done internally.This is to refresh them and to make sure what they are doing is in compliance with international auditing standards,” he added.

Rutaremara also said that in auditing every time there is a new development and that such workshop is to keep them updated and to help them overcome challenges in the particular field.

He further noted that among the challenges auditors go through is mainly time to update themselves on the current programs saying they always busy.

Over 50 participants from the cross cutting fields including; Professional Accountants, Audit Practitioners, Internal Auditors, Audit Consultants, among others turned up for the one day seminar held at Lemigo Hotel in Kigali.

Among the trainees; Leger Iradutiza from GPO Partners Rwanda Ltd, a cabinet of External Auditors said, “I applaud the training it is in the exact line with our work as auditors, and they taught us new standards to help us perform well during our work.”

According to ICPAR; compliance to International Standards on Auditing continues to be a real challenge to the professional Accountants and Auditors.

Participants were trained on Audit Planning, Audit of the statement of Financial Position, Audit of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, and also Audit Completion.

The case of Rwanda is also highlighted by the 2008 World Bank study on compliance with accounting and auditing standards.

The International Standards on Auditing Clarity Project commissioned by the International Accounting and Auditing Standards Board (IAASB) IN 2008 requires Audit Firms and Practitioners to implement the introduced significant changes as soon as is practicable.