Author: b_igi_adm1n

150 patients suffering from cataracts are expected to receive free treatment from Kanombe Military hospital during the course of the next four days in a project as part of the army week annual event.

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye that eventually results in the loss of vision.

“During this annual army week event, the Rwanda Defense force tries to reach out to the community by accessing vulnerable areas in activities aimed at improving the lives of the residents.” says Lt. Col. Dr. Dr. Ben Karenzi, Director of Kanombe military hospital.

” We went to Gisagara and treated around 4,000 patients that previously had no access to healthcare. Among those patients, we encountered 71 cases of cataracts which led us to bring them here for proper diagnosis and treatment “. He said.

The Military hospital is the only health institution in the country with the available medical equipment required in carrying out the surgical procedure for treating cataracts.

It is expected that 150 patients in total would receive the treatment, including the 71 were from Gisagara while 40 more are expected to come from the same region as well 39 more from Bugesera.

“It is reported that approximately 0.5% of the population is suffering from a case of blindness among those cases it is estimated that about 80% of them which amounts to around 200,000 individuals have cataracts according Munana, Joseph Ophthalmology clinical officer.

“The major issue with the victims is that they don’t come for treatment. Not just in the case of cataracts but in general, patients are unaware that most of these illnesses are insidious and report to the hospital only when they are critically suffering “he highlights.

One of the patients who would undergo treatment Martha Kubwimana, a resident of Gisagara, gave her testimony saying: “ I am really grateful that I am receiving this treatment, I have been blind for two years and because of that I was unable to cater properly to my family.”

For some others such as Twagirayezu Theodore , who had been blind for much longer ( 20 years) looking forward to the treatment: ” I had grown accustomed to my condition and accepted it as fate so knowing that it can be changed is like a miracle.

”I look forward to this treatment and encourage many others like me to come and get treated as well.”

According to Dr. Karenzi, there are various types of cataracts such as those that naturally due to old age and Traumatic cataracts after an eye injury.

Radiation cataracts is infected through direct exposure to some kind of radiation such as ultra violet rays from the sun and congenital cataracts which can be acquired from birth.

By: Igihe.com

In the ongoing Primus Guma Guma Superstar competition, four contestants have been selected to continue in the competition for the final prize winner.

The contestants selected this night include DREAM BOYS, JAY POLLY,TOM CLOSE and KING JAMES.

The Primus Guma Guma Superstar competition is designed to bring together the best of Rwanda’s local artists and engage the whole nation in an exciting and energetic music journey.

The winner of the competition THE PRIMUS GUMA GUMA SUPERSTAR 2011 will win 10 000 USD; perform live with Sean Kingston on July 30th and fly with the star to the USA to record a track and a music video – boosting his career to a higher level and giving his talent tremendous exposure.

Despite a few irregularities in the recently concluded local leaders’ election, the Rwanda Civil Society (CSEOM) in it’s report has given recommendations aimed at avoiding reoccurence of mistakes that were highly due to lack of capacity and corruption among some polling officers.

However, the chief observer Eugene Rwibasira noted that the elections were fair and the voter-turn-up was impressive. “In general the elections were free and fair, there was high turn-up of voters that freely elected candidates of their choice,” he remarked.

The elections that started on 4 February to 5March saw the nomination of leaders from the cell to the district levels, other elections included representatives for both women and disabled people.

For the disabled and women elections, a good number of hindrances were seen especially in polling stations where voters arrived late and voting had to be postponed, while elections involving people with disabilities, in some districts they lacked candidates with the required academic qualification that allows only those with high school certificates to compete. The majority haven’t studied to this level.

Lack of adequate awareness was a challenge even though the election guidelines were published late since in some areas some voted without any legal documents (national identity or voter’s card).

Some election supervisors abused their powers by voting on behalf of some voters that had not turned up to vote. However,the National Electoral Commission (NEC) chairman Chrysologue Karangwa noted that disciplinary measures were taken against the fraudulent polling officers.

“In our future trainings to polling officers we will insist on honesty and transparency and of course we will also make the penalties clear hoping they wouldn’t favor anyone,” he remarked.

Another challenge was seen in the withdrawal of some candidates in the last minute which made it hard to inform voters on latest changes. “ There should be a time limit for the withdrawal of candidates that ends before candidates photographs are sent to the printer since this would not only avoid confusion but also reduce the printing costs and other resources,” Rwibasira pointed out.

By Supreetha Gubbala

The past week has unraveled a horror story for all those involved in high stakes media and one of the richest men in the world. Rupert Murdoch’s British media giant News Corporation took a tumultuous fall amid rising accusations of
The News of the World’s involvement in hacking of 13 year-old girl’s cell phone who was murdered earlier this year and the father of a victim of the London train bombings in July of 2005.

The hot scandal although providing ample stories for top media sources worldwide, will also hugely impact the media worldwide, including Rwanda.

The New’s of the World is Londons most widely read Sunday tabloid, and has long been involved in minor scandals involving hacking. Former Editor Andy Couslon resigned in 2007 over a phone-hacking scandal of the royal family, which eventually resulted in the jailing of the royal editor. However, currently the New’s Corp is facing is biggest scandal yet.

It was uncovered recently that The New’s of the World reporters and editors had long been involved in hacking of cellphones in order to gain tips and information. Bribes were also given to mid-level police officers to provide more information on crimes and tips for stories. Just recently, it was accusations arose against News of the World for hacking a 13 year-old girl’s phone who was founded to be kidnapped and later murdered by a London night club doorman in 2002.

When Milly Dowler’s parents detected her missing, they had repeatedly left voicemails, in great concern of her not returning home from school. Allegedly News of the World hackers had deleted some of these messages in order access newer ones, therefore giving false hope to investigations, and her parents, that Molly remained alive.

After accusations of this hacking incident were made, further connections to hacking of victims families in the London train bombing also surfaced. Later investigation narrowing down the hacking to a father of a bombing victim.

The Murdoch’s have been thrown into the spotlight internationally, especially due to their recent bid to purchase Britain’s largest broadcasting network, British Sky Broadcasting, or BSkyB. News Corp already own 39.1% of the companies shares and has recently made a deal to broker the largest deal in Murdoch’s history of 14 Bil. to own it entirely. The entire corporation however, will now be under investigation and the big for BSkyB thrown into question with a possible vetoe in the near future.

In a public statement made Wednesday, Rupert Murdoch took his stance on the matter saying, “Recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the ‘News of the World’ are deplorable and unacceptable. We are committed to addressing these issues fully and have taken a number of important steps to prevent them from happening again.”

Moreover, Britain’s new Prime Minister Cameron has also been throw into question, causing the entire scandal to hit even the upper echelons of British politics. Cameron hired Andy Coulson in 2007 as his spokesman despite his former involvement in the royal family hacking case and kept a close relationship with the most recent chief executive, Rebekah Brooks. Coulson resigned in January due to accusations of his possible involvement in the current scandal and a call for his arrest.

“Very bad things had happened at the News of the World, he had resigned, I gave him a second chance, he had proved himself as an effective person in opposition and it was acceptable for him to come into Downing Street,” Cameron told the press Friday when questioned about his judgment.

The atrocious abuse of freedom of press signified a dark day in the world of the press and the official closing of the 168 year-old newspaper on Friday. The Times published a 10-page editorial entitled, “ Hacked to Death” announcing the official closing of the tabloid and summarizing the papers path to its own downfall.

However, more than the loss of over 600 jobs and resignation of current Prime Minister’s spokesman Andy Coulson, the scandal a major step backwards for those who have defended freedom of press.

As Times editorial concluded, “A handful of people have trampled upon others in grief and despair. They have shamed themselves, destroyed a newspaper and damaged trust in the free press. It will be a long time before that trust is regained.”

Rwanda has a hit its era of fighting for its freedom of press, and the shuttering of News of the World has displayed clear support for conservative press rights. Moreover the quick closure of the company, proved to be economically efficient for the Murdoch’s as they bid to a move to television, also signifying a new push for televised journalism.

We need ot do a lot of dialogue and media reuglartion in this country.as we come up with new laws to govern media, we make them in order to make responsibility.

Unfortunately, as Rwanda enters its novel press era, this scandal could put the government and all those working within media here to take a giant step backwards. It is time for the press here to also ponder how much freedom is too much freedom, along with their fight for access and rights.

Patrice Mulama, the Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Media High Council, told Igihe, “For our part of the world, I think this something that is very important. We have discussed with colleagues and have noted that what is happening in the UK is a serious challenge to media, and to us as well.”

“In the first place, in a country like Rwanda that is under going media reforms, this represents major media self-regression. So it presents a very interesting challenge. We need to do more in terms of discussion, critical thinking as a country, given he level the media is and where we want to go,” he revealed to Igihe.com

The lessons learned from this scandal should also ensure that Rwanda Bureau of Information and Broadcasting are taking adequate measure to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future of Rwanda’s advancing media.

When questioned about what the Media Council is doing to ensure this does not occur in Rwanda, Mulama told Igihe.com, “ What happened in the UK put in question, very seriously, the role of a self-regulatory organization in ensuring media responsiblities.”

“You see one of the questions being asked today in the UK is the role of the Press Complaint Commission (PCC). Since the commission was established and managed by the media itself, there is a conflict of interest because they don’t want to criticize their colleagues. It was under their watch that the invasion of privacy occurred,” he explained to Igihe.com.

Ultimately, Mulama believes the question for Rwanda remains, “Do we want to emulate the UK model of self-regulation or pursue a different model?
Lastly, it seemed that those who may have been involved in the scandal did so out of pressure to obtain “hot” stories. As competition arises between the media moguls of Rwanda, it is vital to keep in mind what exactly we are training journalists to see as important. Their ethics or a good story?

For many in the profession, it’s a task that is often dealt with daily. From the use of off-the-record quotes to source anonymity to invasion of citizen privacy, ethics are at the core of good journalism. With the large number of young people entering media in Rwanda today, training in ethics may easily be lost in the growing competition.

Some say Britain may never be able to regain the level of trust its citizens had in the media, lets make sure Rwanda never loses theirs.

By: Dianah mutimura

Dusengimana Ephraim aged 28, is under police custody at Nyamata police station in Bugesera district on charges of rape and murder Igihe.com has reliably established.

The accused met the victim, Mukahirwa Annonciatha on July 12 at 7pm while on her way back home at Gakoni village, Kamabuye cell, Shyara sector in Bugesera District.

He reportedly confessed to police to have raped and later murdered the victim.

He allegedly claimed that he was under the influence of alcohol and stressed that he had no grudge against the victim.

During interogation by the Nyamata Police on why he killed the victim after rapping her, Dusengimana revealed to police that after rapping Mukahirwa, he realised that his actions were criminal and disgraceful in Rwanda and decided to kill the victim instantly by chopping off her head using a panga.

Mukahirwa 26 years, was reportedly preparing for her forthcoming wedding when she met the rapist on her way back from circulating her wedding invitation cards that had been slated for August 4, 2011.

The accused told police Spokesman Sup. Theos Badege that he will comply to any criminal punishments provided by law because he accepts that what he did is inhuman.

Sup. Badege urged the public to always avoid overdrinking and using drugs because they have side effects to people’s lives and the society.

He called on the general public to reporting such incidents to nearest police stations early enough for police to rescue victims.

If convicted by the competent court, a convict on rape and murder counts is sentenced to life imprisonment.