Igihe

Category: Information Center

  • Amani to Discuss Regional Instability

    Rwanda Parliamentary Forum “Amani” intends to determine the root causes hindering peace and sustainable development in the Great Lakes region.

    “There are too many armed groups in the Great Lakes region, particularly in the eastern DRC. We want to know how these groups receive foreign support, how they dig and sell minerals for funding, “said Sen. John Damascene Bizimana, current president of the Amani Forum.

    He made the remarks at a press conference that announced the workshop that focuses on the way to avoid violence and terrorism that spread armed groups in eastern DRC.

    The workshop will be held at Rubavu (West), from 26 to 28 October 2012.

    Parliamentarians from seven countries have confirmed their participation at the workshop. They include DRC, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya.

    Other delegates from the East African Parliament (EALA) and four other members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) will be present at the meeting.

    “Amani invited them to discuss the proliferation of light weapons and small arms. This is a project that began long before the birth of M23 in the DRC, “said Senator Bizimana.

    He noted that the workshop will analyze the nature of armed groups in the region.

    He regretted that UN group of Experts reports and NGOs saying they are insufficient and are not at the root of conflict.

    It will also analyze the impact of armed groups in the population, with internally displaced persons and refugees abroad while also focusing on justice issues facing this challenge.

    Ministers of defense, foreign affairs, refugees, and the UN agency for Refugees (UNHCR) will contribute to clarify the issue of armed groups.

  • 20,000 Farmers Covered Against Extreme Weather

    20,000 Rwandan farmers in the provinces of West and South have obtained an insurance product at the low cost to deal with extreme weather events.

    This offer has been made possible through a partnership between the insurer SORAS, the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and One Acre Fund.

    According to the Ecofin Agency specializing in African finance, micro-insurance program “Kilimo Salama – Agriculture secure” allows farmers to compensate financial losses they may incur in the event of extreme weather events (drought, rain abundant…).

    “Kilimo Salama” allow farmers to repay the money they have incurred for the purchase of seeds, fertilizers, and other inputs.

  • Interpol Arrests Key Rwanda Genocide Suspect

    Interpol has arrested a key suspect of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, who has been on the run for the last 18 years.

    Vedaste Banguwiha, a former prominent figure in the genocidal regime and a member of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND), was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

    During and before the Genocide, Banguwiha was a famous businessman in western Rwanda and was awarded a tender to purchase and supply weapons that were used to massacre Tutsis.

    He is also alleged to have incited the Interahamwe militia to erect a roadblock in the former Cyangugu town (now Rusizi), near Hotel des Chutte with an aim of stopping and killing the Tutsi.

    Witnesses accuse Banguwiha of facilitating the Interahamwe by transporting them and rewarding them for killing the Tutsi.

    A local newspaper said that Banguwiha was arrested in Katanga and later transferred to the capital Kinshasa.

    Kigali is in contact with Kinshasa to have the fugitive transferred to Rwanda to stand trial.

  • Late Turatsinze to be Burried at Rusororo

    The Body of slain Turatsinze Theogene a Rwandan national who was kidnapped and killed by unknown people in Mozambique has arrived in Rwanda he will be burried.

    Grieving family members and friends of late thronged Kingali International Airport to recieve the casket carrying the body of Turatsinze.

    A requiem mass will Thursday October 25, be held at Regina Pacis in Remera ahead of the burial at Rusororo.

  • KIST To Host Clean Technology Business Competition

    The KIST Entrepreneurship Club in collaboration with KIST (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology) is hosting a Global Entrepreneurship Week featured event called “The CleanTech Open”.

    The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest clean technology business competition. The mission of Cleantech Open is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges.

    From revolutionary ways to generate clean energy to better water filtration to ideas about how governmental policies around climate change can foster new businesses in one of the competition categories.

    For entrepreneurs with a great green idea, this is a chance to share it with the world.

    Anyone from Rwanda who want to enter this competition can use this link: http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/ideas_competition/countries/154/enter,the , the deadline is 25th October 2012.

    One winner from Rwanda will submit a five-minute video to be shown during the Cleantech Open Global Forum in San Jose, California on the 8 and 9 November, 2012. The audience of 1,000 clean technology experts, investors, and enthusiasts, and press from around the world will vote on the best idea.

    Since their founding in 2006 by Silicon Valley leaders, their organization has established itself as the leading force for accelerating clean technology entrepreneurs.

    Of the nearly 600 companies we have worked with, 80% remain viable today and they have gone on to raise external capital exceeding $660 million.

    Who can enter the competition?

    Anyone looking to turn their clean technology idea into a thriving business can apply. Entrants can be sole proprietors, teams or early-stage companies.

    All entries must be a startup with less than $1,000,000 from private third party funding (from equity investors such as angel investors and venture capital firms) at the time of entry.

    All entries must be a startup with less than $5,000,000 from all other sources of funding (grants, family and friends, and your own pocket) at the time of paying the application fee; this limit is separate from the limit on private third party funding.

  • Mugabe Urges Africa to Invest in Engergy

    Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said Africa must invest to overturn the energy deficit in many countries.

    He was addressing the Africa Energy Summit on the sidelines of the World Energy Forum.

    Mugabe underscored the right of nations to pursue peaceful nuclear options for power generation.

    He said it was disheartening to note that Africa was “a case of energy underdevelopment and energy under-consumption”.

    “My own country, Zimbabwe, sits on huge coal deposits we cannot harness. We also sit on significant deposits of methane gas which remain unexploited.

    “The billion-strong African continent accounts for a mere 3 percent of global power consumption,” said Mugabe.

    “Per capita electricity consumption in Africa, we are told, is about 60kWh compared to 8 000kWh in the United States of America.

    He said Inga Dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo could easily light up the whole continent if fully developed.

    “I am raising issues of creating a good, progressive energy policy environment on the continent which ensures we invest in our energy sector while we value-add on that same resource for greater energy access to our people and for greater export value to our economies,” he said.

    Africa’s marginalisation in the global economy, he said, replicated itself as the continent’s marginalisation on the energy front.

    “We are exporters of primary energy commodity, which is why pipelines and ships daily cart crude from the continent for refinement elsewhere in the developed world before the same commodity comes back to us as huge fossil energy bill; which we can hardly afford.

  • First Lady Meets IKEA Foundation CEO

    The First Lady Jeannette Kagame yesterday received IKEA Foundation CEO Per Heggenes who paid a courtesy call on her.

    The purpose of Heggenes’s visit to Rwanda is to see first-hand the impact of the UN Delivering as One in terms of achieving results in support of national priorities.

    Heggenes was accompanied by the UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elke Wisch , UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Leila Pakkala and UNICEF Representative in Rwanda Noala Skinner.

    IKEA Foundation is UNICEF’s largest corporate partner and has been supporting UNICEF programmes in the areas of education, child survival and disaster risk reduction for over ten years.

    The Foundation, under Heggenes’ leadership is driven by a vision of ‘reversing the cycle of poverty’ to a ‘cycle of prosperity’ through a holistic and sustainable approach of shelter, health, education and financial sustainability.

    The Foundation also strongly believes in “partnerships” which it demonstrates both in its own long-lasting commitments and in urging its partners to build synergies around their respective strengths.

    IKEA Foundation is interested in sustainable change and structural reform.

    Heggenes and his delegation will be presented with the presentation of the work Imbuto Foundation does as UNICEF is one of the Imbuto’s donors for the different project currently run at Imbuto Foundation.

    Newtimes

  • Driver Arrested for Knocking Traffic Officer

    A man was on October 22, arrested in Muganza Cell, Runda Sector in Kamonyi District after he allegedly refused to comply with traffic rules when ordered to stop and knocked a traffic officer and two other people who were nearby.

    Philbert Hitimana, who was driving vehicle registration number RAB 637R, Toyota Coaster type, according to police, hit Corporal Patrick Akumuyange a traffic police officer, after the former defied traffic orders when asked to stop and tried to speed-away.

    Other victims are identified as Deo Niyonzima and a cyclist identified as Fabien Hagenimana, who were parked on the roadside.

    All the victims were evacuated to University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

    The suspect is currently detained at Runda Police Station.

    Two vehicles which were parked at the roadside were also crashed during the incident.

    According to police, the driver was over speeding and refused to stop when ordered to do so.

    The Rwanda Police spokesperson Supt. Theos Badege cautioned drivers against “careless driving and disregarding traffic regulations,” which he said have led to “loss of innocent lives.”

    The suspect now faces charges of assault resulting from lack of foresight and precaution as prescribed under article 158.

  • Burundi Hosts EAC Secretary General’s CEO Forum

    The inaugural EAC Secretary General’s Private Sector Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Forum for Burundi was held 22 October 2012 at the Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika in Bujumbura, Burundi.

    The overall objective of the SG’s CEO Forum is to provide a platform for the EAC Secretary General and CEOs of businesses in the region for continuous dialogue to ensure the integration process works for business and trade, EAC competitiveness, and ultimately economic growth.

    Addressing the CEOs, the Secretary General Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera disclosed that in 2011, EAC Partner States sustained an average of 5% GDP growth against the global average of 3%. All performance indicators depicted significant growth trends, including Foreign Direct Investment inflows, which increased from USD 683 million in 2005 to USD 1.7 billion in 2011.

    Amb.Sezibera informed the CEOs that the State of East Africa Report 2012 shows the value of EAC’s total trade with the world doubled from $17.5 billion in 2005 to $37 billion in 2010.

    “I launched the Doing Business 2012 Report here in Bujumbura, Burundi in mid-April this year, and the Report features Burundi among the top 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business, moving up 8 places in the global ranking (from 177 to 169),” said Amb. Sezibera.

    He noted that according to the 2011 Doing Business indicators, it still takes an average of 47 days for people in Burundi to export a product; as a compared to the Dominican Republic, which takes 8 days for a person to export a product.

    The EAC official reiterated that the problem can’t be accredited to Burundi being a landlocked country. He said an exporter in Vienna, a landlocked city in Europe for example, takes 2 days to arrange for and complete the transportation of cargo to the port of Hamburg some 900 kilometers away.

    “This is almost the same distance from Burundi to the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania but that that trip here in East Africa can take one week or longer mainly due to inadequate infrastructure, as well as additional controls and waiting time at our border posts,” said Amb. Sezibera.

    The Secretary General stated that EAC Secretariat is working fulltime to implement policies which have the potential to increase investment and growth, and which also address directly issues of poverty and inequality.

    “I would like to mention one special set of policies which has the potential to increase investment and growth, and which also address directly issues of poverty and inequality. By promoting free trade and movement of labor, the EAC as a region can deploy to the maximum extent possible the law of comparative advantage, leading to higher incomes for their citizens. By lowering barriers to entry into business and improving regulatory frameworks, we would both promote investment and stimulate growth,” he added.

    At the same occasion, Amb Laurent Kavakure, the Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi said much effort had been done by the government to make sure that the private sector become stronger. He noted that the progressive liberalization of trade and banking reforms that are underway will primarily benefit the private sector.

    Amb. Kavakure informed the CEO’s that progressive elimination of non-tariff barriers; the ongoing construction of one-stop order posts and the creation of the Single Customs Territory will facilitate trade and improve the living standards of the people.

    The Secretary General CEOs Forum in Burundi is the fifth edition of CEOs breakfast meetings at the national level. The other four CEO’s breakfast meetings have been held in each of the Partner States’ capitals. A regional forum is expected to take place on 15 November 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya.

    The SG’s CEO Forum is hosted by the East African Community Secretariat in partnership with East African Business Council (EABC) and Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), based on the three organizations’ shared objectives of fostering the interests of the business community in the integration process.

    The Forum was attended by among others the Vice Chairperson of Burundi Private Sector Mr. Antoine Ntisigana; the EABC Executive Director Mr. Andrew Luzze; Country Director, TMEA, Burundi, Anthe Vrijlandt and over 60 CEOs.

  • Regional Judges Trained to Promote Justice

    Judges from the East African Community member states are undergoing a three-day training aimed at equipping them with modern skills discharging their duties expeditiously to solve the backlog problem.

    According to a statement, the East African Community secretariat, Chief Justices, Judge Presidents, Principal Judges, Heads of High Court Divisions and all judges with Administrative Responsibilities are being equipped with leadership skills advancing justice to a higher level in their respective countries.

    “The aim of the training is to enhance leadership and management skills in the judiciary as well as in promoting legal and judicial knowledge and harmonization of processes in the judicial sector in the regional bloc,” the secretariat said in the statement.

    Addressing participants, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration Mr. Jean Claude Nsengiyumva hailed the East African Judicial Education Committee for the tireless efforts in putting together the training programme for the highest cadre of the national judiciaries, with particular emphasis on leadership skills.

    He said the training was a very important step in operationalizing the provision of Article 126 of the EAC Treaty which sets out the scope of co-operation in judicial and legal affairs to include approximation and harmonization of legal learning and certification; encouraging the standardization of the judgments of the Courts within the Community; promoting exchange of legal and judicial knowledge; and the revival of the East African Law Reports and journals among other wider objectives of the Community.

    Nsengiyumva urged the participants to use the forum to identify modern innovations to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the judicial systems of the Partner States so as to positively impact on their mandate which is effective and timely delivery of justice to people of East Africa.

    The Deputy Secretary General said the training was providing a perfect opportunity for the Members of the judiciary to learn from and to share the different leadership experiences from their respective Partner States.

    He encouraged the East African states to adopt judicial practices both from the common law regime and civil law regime.

    “We hope to learn from the Chief Justices lessons from the common law regime as practiced by the Republic of Kenya; Republic of Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania as well as that of civil law regime practiced by the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi,” Nsengiyuma said.

    The programme has been attended by Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts of the EAC Partner States; the President and the Principal Judge of the East African Court of Justice; Judges of the High Court and Heads of High Court Divisions of the Partner States, Principal Judges of the Partner States, Chairmen of the National Judicial Training Committees, and the Registrar of the East African Court of Justice Prof. John Ruhangisa, among others.

    NV