Igihe

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  • Court grants Ingabire till September to study her dossier

    The leader of yet to be registered FDU-Ikingi political party, Ingabire Umuhoza Victoire has finally been granted her wish for the beginning of her trial in September – as prosecution again accused her of wasting time.

    Before the start of her trial, Ingabire pleaded that her team needed more time to study more than 2,500 pages of documents. And because two of her three lawyers are British, the documents also had to be translated into English as all have been prepared in Kinyarwanda.

    Amongst the many serious charges, Ingabire is accused of promoting ethnic divisionism, setting up of a terrorist organization and collaborating and financing the Rwandan FDLR rebels in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Three of the prosecution’s top witnesses are also accused along with Ingabire. They are former FDLR commanders who have alleged that Ingabire had engaged them to start a rebel force in eastern DRC.

    In Court, Ingabire repeated her previous quest for four months to work on her defense. She said the prosecution dossier had information coming from different countries including Belgium, The Netherlands and Burundi.

    Ingabire outside court waiting for the prison car

    Public prosecution spokesperson Alain Mukurarinda said in a statement, “we are ready to begin the trial as soon as the defense is fully prepared. Our country respects the rights of the accused to a fair and speedy trial”.

    After a brief consultation, the Judge ruled that the trial could begin on September 05, 2011. In the earlier appearance in May, Ingabire has actually asked for time up to September. For the meantime she will be back in jail until the agreed hearing date. This story was first published by the Rwanda News Agency.

  • WDA trains hoteliers on customer care service

    Rwanda has been known for its infamously pitiable and pathetic customer service. Recently, however, enormous strides have been taken to improve comfort, luxury and service of hotels and restaurants countrywide, focusing on better delivery to customers.

    The Work force Development Authority (WDA) has been the driving force behind these commendable efforts which have contributed substantial positive feedback.

    The program has undertaken this challenge by training people on a nationwide aspect especially in areas such as Rusanzi, Rubavu and Kayonza districts.

    For the third time in Kigali, the weeklong training was categorized into four sections; front office, food and beverage service, housekeeping and culinary arts.

    Commenting on the lessons, Beatrice Mutoni, the curriculum facilitator noted that. “Among what we teach include all the skills encompassing customer care within the four domains that are housekeeping, culinary arts, front office and food and beverage service.”

    Yet much emphasis is put on culinary arts (cooking) module, food hygiene since they’re among the main basics that ensure better service.

    Edwinson Ndizeye, acting head of culinary arts says: “There have been numerous reporting of food poisoning and this is something that can easily be prevented if certain hygiene principles in the kitchen are emphasized and negligence reduced.

    Mutoni was also quick to point out that. “ We also teach many types of cooking methods such as the well celebrated “mise en place”method ,” she also added that, “many waiters make mistakes and are incredulous to certain things such as how to serve properly, the right way to address a customer, we cover all those fundamentals through what we teach,” Mutoni remarked.

    Customer care service in Rwandan hospitality is one element that has been identified to be lacking in areas that go beyond the skills – the general attitude of the service providers. Mutoni sheds some light on this mystery by pointing out the fact that employers are the ones that can considerably contribute to the improvement of this factor.

    “The receptionists, waiters and other service providers, in some cases work extremely long hours with an unsatisfactory remuneration, and these poor working conditions lead to negative attitudes and in the end, it’s the client that suffers.

    “Despite this obstacle, it is apparent that employees still need a major acquisition of skills and with the work of the WDA, there has been a major success.

    “Employers countrywide have appreciated the skills that we give to their employees , the knowledge they acquire soon becomes evident by the way services are improved, ” Mutoni said adding that, “positive feedback from employers can be seen with the recent increase in trainees that showed up in this month compared to April.”

    Alex Munyaneza , acting head of hospitality unit highlighted that, “this time around we received a surplus of trainees ( a total of 168 )from owners of hotels and restaurants who were more than eager to have their staff employed for a better and efficient service provision”

    This affirmative and optimistic response wasn’t only seen with the employers but the employees themselves. Vincent Gakwaya , a waiter from Sky Hotel noted that. “This training has really taught us much and we feel that with these new skills, we shall be operating more efficiently and better”.

    Gilbert Kiza also sided with Gakwaya adding that. “With these new skills we feel that we are better prepared to face the day-to-day challenges in our duties as restaurant waiters.”

  • Norwegian court detains genocide suspect for two months in remand

    A Norwegian court has extended by two months the detention of a 45-year-old Rwandan suspected of murder during the 1994 genocide.

    While conceding that remanding the suspect, Sadi Bugingo, in custody for several months was a constraint for him, the Oslo court, citing the “gravity of the charges”, said “it was necessary to guard against the risk of destruction of evidence and escape.”

    Bugingo, who has lived in the western Norwegian town of Bergen with his family since 2002, was arrested there last May 3. Bugingo is also suspected of murdering Tutsis in the southeastern town of Kibungo and elsewhere. His Norwegian lawyer however said his client denies all the allegations against him.

    Bugingo is the second Rwandan to be arrested in Norway for an alleged role in the genocide after Charles Bandora was arrested last year. Currently he’s on remand pending an investigation into his identity and possible extradition to Rwanda. Some parts of the story were borrowed from AFP

  • RSE market highlights as of 20 June

    Today, the RSE remained in the same trading range as far as prices are concerned but went up in volume.

    BRALIRWA shares closed unchanged from last week’s closing price of Rwf 220. A total turnover Rwf 2, 820,000 was recorded from 11,200 BRALIRWA shares transacted in 3 deals at Rwf 230 and Rwf 220.

    The KCB and NMG counters did not record any transaction today and their share prices remained unchanged from last week’s closing prices of Rwf 175 and Rwf 1200 respectively.

    At the end of formal business hours, there was an outstanding bid of 10,000 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 215 each and outstanding offers of 32,000 BRALIRWA shares and 21,900 BRALIRWA shares at Rwf 230 and Rwf 220 respectively.
    There was also an outstanding offer of 2,100 KCB shares at Rwf 180 eac

  • Drain the dam, residents urge authorities after series of deaths in the water

    Residents in Kamatamu cell Nyarutarama golf club were once shocked to find a young lady’s dead body floating in a nearby dam. 8 people have so far died in the dam since 2009.

    postmortem results affirm that the cause of the death was not a result of physical assault or sexual harassment as proposed earlier by the majority of onlookers.

    Vedaste Nsabimana the Kacyiru sector executive secretary noted that investigations are in its peak and that he was hopeful that the mystery would be solved to the yet to be identified woman.

    The corpse was first noted by child who was heading home from the market and raised the alarm to an official in charge of social affairs in the Kamatamu cell. The police was later informed but arrived on the scene after the residents had pulled out that body.

    According to public concerns the incident was not new since in the past three years there have been eight cases of death in the dam, causes of human loss are often attributed to suicide and drowning.

    The deceased lady had a height of 1.40 meters; she was wearing a jacket with red and white stripes as well as black spectacles.

    Christian Murenzi one of the residents noted. “This dam has caused many deaths especially among kids who drown or even acquire harmful waterborne diseases,” he commented.

    In this regard, the majority of residents urged authorities to dry-out the damn as a way of reducing the number of deaths. Though this sounds like a sustainable solution Nsabimana differed with the proposal citing that the advantages of the lake were enormous particularly in environmental conservation. He further pointed out that the dam’s security will be stepped-up from the current day time surveillance till overnight.

    “Normally we have people who guard the dam from morning to evening but we hope that strange incidents which occur often during the night will reduce once we increase the watchmen,” he remarked.

    The Kacyiru executive secretary also advised that investors should utilize the dam since there were lots of business opportunities. He was more optimistic that the dam would attract investors since it was first constructed to facilitate recreational activities but got stuck in the building process.

  • 22 baby gorillas christened

    All roads led to Kinigi’s Musanze district for the Kwita Izina ceremony which saw the naming of 22 gorilla babies, the foster parents included government officials, diplomats, company representatives, conservationists and community advocates.

    The ceremony also aimed to recognize the conservation efforts by local communities, which is also in line with this year’s theme “Community development for sustained conservation”.

    Leading the naming team, Prime Minister Bernard Makuza christened the first gorilla Ijambo meaning action, achievement, determination and dignity that symbolize the country’s efforts towards gorilla conservation.

    Other names chosen were Urahirwa (prospects and future), Indamutso (greetings), Umujyanama (advisor) and Sakaara (known). The twins (only the sixth pair to be born in the last 40 years) were baptized Isangano (meeting-place) and Isango (appointment)

    Since the first Kwita Izina was held in 2005, 123 Gorilla have been given a name. It has since become an international event meant to create awareness on the importance of protecting mountain gorillas as well as the conservation of Volcanoes National Park (VNP).

    The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) which oversees the conservation process recorded a rise in its tourism revenue sharing schemes at the tune of Rwf 460 million in 2008. The amount was used to construct 11 schools and 3 health-centers, as well as other amenities such as water tanks.

    Normally the constructions are part of the Gorilla conservation projects are not only meant to improve the livelihoods of the park’s enclosed communities but also encourage them to protect the parrk , yet prior to this year’s Kwita Izina ceremony RDB launched 52 small household based water collective tanks and 4 large public water collective tanks that were constructed at a cost of 62 million Rwandan francs; raised from the past Gorilla conservation efforts.

    With the local communities being sensitized to the benefits of gorilla tourism, the gorillas are more protected than ever before. A census conducted in April 2010 showed a 26.3% increase of the mountain gorillas over the past seven years, with an average 3.7% annual growth rate. This also means that the gorillas have risen from 380 to 480.

    Commenting on the same, RDB Chief Executive Officer John Gara, said these statistics are very encouraging given that it was predicted in the 60s that the gorillas would be extinct by the year 2000. He credits the steady increase in the gorilla population to the efforts of RDB, local administrators not forgetting the communities.

    In this respect, Rwanda has set a good example by developing several measures that hinder those destroying forests and its inhabitants. Poachers for instance have been transformed and they now have income generating activities while some have even been trained as rangers and guides in the park. What is more fencing of all national parks is underway.

    Similarly, Akagera national park for example has been training its rangers on law enforcement, security, anti poaching and wildlife management. This knowhow contributes to forest conservation.

  • Trinidad and Tobago ought to learn from the country’s genocide

    Survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide Immaculée Ilibagiza believes Trinidad and Tobago should learn from other countries in an effort to avoid similar incidents of ethnic violence.

    She disclosed this during a media briefing yesterday at the Hyatt Regency, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.

    Ilibagiza is one of the world’s leading speakers on peace, faith, and forgiveness. She is also a best-selling author of Left to Tell; Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.

    “You realise hate is like a snake, it is in different shapes but the damage is the same. What happened in Rwanda, with people who look completely alike, one with a bigger nose, one with a smaller nose, that was the beginning of tribes in Rwanda so I would advise learn from outside, and realise hate is just hate, it is not about people of different origins. Don’t be like us, don’t do what we did to ourselves… please learn from other people and be wise,” she said.

    She advised women who also experienced hate throughout their lives that there was always hope and God. “There is a time I didn’t have nothing, when I came out the bathroom after three months, my family was gone, every home was destroyed, the only thing I had was the rosary my father gave me, all I had was God, the Almighty,” she said.

    Ilibagiza was one of eight women who spent 91 days confined in a bathroom of a Rwandan pastor’s house. She entered the bathroom as a 115-pound university student with a family and came out, weighing just 65 pounds, to find out her entire family had been killed in the genocide with the exception of one brother who had been studying out of the country.

    When asked how long it took her to forgive those who wronged her and her people she said about a month.

    “For three months, we haven’t showered, haven’t brushed our teeth, sharing a plate of garbage food. It took maybe a month, I went through a stage, I went through rage, there is no way God would want me to forgive them. I remember hurling out of anger, sweating of thinking of what I could do, I blew up the country in my mind…then I moved into a time through prayer when I knew God was there,” she said. Ilibagiza arrived in Trinidad yesterday afternoon from New York.

    She will be giving lectures today and tomorrow at the National Academy of Perform-ing Arts (NAPA). She is also expected to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar tomorrow at 9.30 am. some parts of the story were borrowed from NewsDay.

  • Mighty Popo’s dream of a folk festival in his native land (Rwanda) is about to come true

    Mighty Popo has a dream. The Ottawa-based musician is organizing an outdoor music festival in Rwanda that he hopes will bring the spirit of a Canadian music festival to his Central African homeland.

    KigaliUp will be a family-friendly event that takes place in a park in Kigali, the capital, in September. The lineup includes the Juno-winning Canadian hiphop artist Shad, blues singer Shakura S’Aida, Popo and other musicians from Canada and Africa.

    The festival has been in the works for years, inspired by the folk festivals that have had such a strong influence on Jacques “Popo” Murigande, who was born in Burundi to Tutsi refugees from Rwanda. He immigrated to Canada as a teenager and settled in Ottawa, where he was welcomed in the music scene. He released his first album in 1997; the latest, Gakonda, was nominated for a Juno Award.

    “To me, the Canadian music festivals made me who I am, really,” said the singer-songwriter-guitarist during a backstage interview last weekend at Westfest. “They made me realize how healthy it is to do workshops with other musicians and to learn from them. If you’re open enough, you end up developing this art form that you really weren’t expecting.”

    What’s more, Murigande has always been concerned about African children losing touch with their musical roots. The youngsters tend to idolize American rappers and stay away from learning to play instruments.

    For many, their notion of making music is limited to singing or rapping along to a computer- generated track.

    Murigande, who has a two-yearold son in Rwanda, wants to change the culture to bring back an awareness of creating music on instruments. The young people he meets at Canadian festivals talk about seeing him play when they were children, and how it made them want to learn an instrument and become involved in community events.

    “How great it would be to create something like that in Rwanda, where the kids can grow up having some kind of reference to music, and somewhere they can really look forward to going to every year,” he says. “With this festival I’m copying (Bluesfest’s) Blues in the Schools program. Eventually we will go the schools and present music to them, and show the kids live musicians. ‘This is how the music is made: First there are the humans, the players of instruments. Not machines.’ ”

    Not surprisingly, the biggest challenge is funding. Murigande has raised about $40,000 toward the $150,000 required to put on a oneday event, but it’s a slow process and he’s had to scale it back from the three-day festival he originally envisioned. The volunteer organizing team includes well-connected Canadians such as former CBC Radio broadcaster Tom Metuzals and the Calgary Folk Festival’s artistic director Kerry Clarke, who accompanied Popo to Rwanda in February to check out the site.

    “It’s beautiful,” Clarke said in a phone interview. “It’s everything we’d want in a folk festival site. It’s lush, central and there’s lots of room for growth. I had heard that Rwanda was quite beautiful but I had no idea.”

    Clarke first met Murigande several years ago when they were both serving on a Canada Council jury. They’ve been talking seriously about the Kigali festival for three years. The Calgary folkfest has already contributed more than $5,000 to the effort, while another $5,000 has come from the Edmonton Folk Festival. Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest has pledged $1,000, and an IndieGoGo. com campaign has raised almost $10,000 so far. Murigande is also performing benefit concerts to raise money, including one in Ottawa on Wednesday.

    Clarke believes Popo not only has the initiative to make it happen, but also the connections in Canada and Rwanda. “He’s not just some Canadian landing in the country,” she says. “He has a long history in Rwanda. Popo has had such a good experience living in Canada and he loves Rwanda so I think it’s to meld the two experiences. Really, it’s just to give back.

    “I think we all see that music festivals can be a very positive thing to bring to a country, and they can have a lot of other spinoffs in terms of education and gathering people together.”

    The reaction in Kigali has been one of surprise. When Murigande went to the city for permission to use the site for a concert, officials thought the request was a mistake. Most public events in Kigali are held in the stadium. A music festival in a park aimed at families is a foreign concept.

    “When I went to rent the park, they said, ‘Are you crazy? Music in here?’ ” Murigande says.

    “But music should happen there, not in the stadium, where it’s VIP over there and soccer poles everywhere. I want your kids to be safe in the park and I want them to feel comfortable and feel like they belong to this Rwanda that we’re trying to build.”
    source, Ottawa Citizen

  • Gorrila conservation projects beneficial to the park’s enclosed community

    Gorilla conservation projects have been among activities improving the livelihoods of communities sorrounding the park.

    Prior to this year’s gorrila naming ceremony which is now taking place in Kinigi, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) launched 52 small household based water collective tanks and 4 large public water collective tanks that were constructed at a cost of 62 million Rwandan francs; raised from the past Gorilla conservation efforts.

    Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Operating Officer RDB said, “by celebrating Kwita Izina, we seek to accrue the merits of conservation to the communities around our National Parks. We seek better livelihoods for our people achieved through the growth in tourism revenues which would not be possible without the active protection of our mountain gorillas and conservation of their habitat.”

    She clarified that, in the spirit of fundraising at Kwita Izina ceremonies and revenue sharing, RDB board and partners have been able to design and implement strategies that would manage the delicate balance between conservation of biological diversity and human development needs.

    The launched household based water collective tanks will facilitate the communities adjacent to the Volcanoes National park have access to water harvested from the rain for their daily activities.

  • urban inflation dips to 4.54 pct

    Falling food prices in May helped slow the inflation rate in Rwanda’s urban centres for the first time in seven months to 4.54 percent, official data showed on Thursday.

    The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda said the country’s urban consumer price index rose less than 0.1 percent in May from a month earlier as a 0.92 percent fall in food and non-alcoholic beverages prices was off-set by increases in the cost of transport and housing and utilities.

    “The increase in the consumer prices index … is attributable primarily to the increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.73 percent) and Transport (0.87 percent),” the statistics office said in a statement.

    Year-on-year, food prices rose by 4.69 percent in urban areas.

    Rwanda’s overall inflation rate, which has a higher weighting for food, increased to 3.82 percent in May from 3.05 percent a month earlier.

    Rwanda has the lowest inflation rate within the five-nation East African Community trade bloc. Uganda has the highest inflation rate at 16.0 percent, followed by Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and then Rwanda.

    Rwanda’s Finance Minister John Rwangombwa said in his budget last week he forecast inflation rising to about 7.5 percent this year. This story was first published by Reuters.