Category: Information Center

The Kenyan army has finally entered the port city of Kismayu in the ongoing offensive against Al Shabaab fighters.

Sources of Kenya Defense Forces said Friday they had taken over Al Shabaab’s stronghold in Kismayu but the fighters insisted they were still incharge of the port city.

Kenya’s Military Spokesman Col Cyrus Oguna said that KDF forces stormed Kismayu at 2 am Friday but did not confirm any casualty figures.

“We finally entered Kismayu in a joint operation both on air and ground,” Oguna said.

An Al Shabaab commander in Kismayu Sheik Mohamed Abu Fatuma however, dismissed the reports.

He said,“The enemy using military boats have deployed hundreds of soldiers on the coast late last night and the mujahideen fighters are engaging in heavy fighting with them now.”

Al Shabaab’s Twitter page said the Kenyan forces had tried to take over Kismayu unsuccessfully.

“#KDF cowards attempt to attack Kismayo from the sea but the courageous Mujahideen thwart their attempts,” it read.

Another tweet posted at 10 am Friday said “Kismayo remains firmly in the hands of the Mujahideen.”

Other rebels and city residents told AFP the Kenyan troops were still on the outskirts of the city that they have been targeting for days.

“They are not very close to the city because the coast where they are now is around nine kilometres (six miles) from downtown,” another commander quoted by AFP said.

Several Kismayu residents also said the Kenyan forces were still on the beach, where they came ashore from two ships escorted by helicopter gunships around 5 Km from the city centre.

Liberian officials are in Rwanda to Acquaint themselves with how decentralisation Policy has been implementation.

The team of nine members has visited various public institutions where they recieved briefings on their operations.

Raphael Rurangwa, the Director of General, Planning and Programme Coordination in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources told the Liberian delegation:

“In addition to Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) and the National Agriculture Export Board (NAEB), we also have provincial, district and sector administration down to the cell level through which we interact with farmers.”

He explained that although each level has different tasks and obligations, they all contribute to a general objective; implementing national agriculture programmes to increase production and food security.

Police in Nyamasheke District has detained two people in connection with trading fake currency.

Thomas Mukeshimana, 38 and Celestin Mulinda were arrested on September 26 after the former was found with fake notes of 65,000Rwf of which Rwf 5000 he was trying to use to buy airtime.

Mukeshimana later implicated Mulinda as the one who gave him the fake notes.
The duo is currently detained at Kanjongo Police Station.

He told police that his co-accused had already given him Rwf150, 000, all fake, which he had already circulated by the time of his arrest.

“Mulinda had promised to give me Rwf400, 000, all fake, to trade it, but he had already given me Rwf150, 000 and intended to give me the remaining very soon,” Mukeshimana said.

Mukeshimana, who deals in mines, also said he had paid some of his employees with the fake currency.

Supt Urbain Mwiseneza, the police Spokesperson for the Western Region, said police is tracking down all those involved in such criminal acts and warned that anyone caught will be dealt with accordingly.

Police has been asked to work hand-in-hand with REMA to sensitize the communities on environmental protection and enforce environment law.

The appeal was made by Eng. Collette Ruhamya, the Deputy Director of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA).

She said, “Protecting the environment is also another way of preventing crimes which might also result from land wrangles, which are sometimes wetlands.”

Police officers have been provided with knowledge on environment law enforcement and management at a seminar that kicked off on September 26 in Rwamagana District.

A total of 67 police officers attended a two-day seminar organized by Rwanda National Police (RNP) and Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA).

The seminar attracted officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Public Relations and Community Policing department (PR&CP) and commanders of Police Stations, intelligence officers and District Community Liaison Officers (DCLO) from Central and Eastern Regions.

The training focused on areas of environment and sustainable development, environmental policy and regulations in Rwanda, state of environmental and challenges and the environmental organic law including responsibilities, preventive provisions and sanctions.

The crisis in the eastern DRC is an African problem that can be solved by Africans, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame told the United Nations September 27.

Speaking at a High Level Meeting convened by UN Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon, President Kagame invited delegates to back peace efforts spearheaded by the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

“Regional initiatives are key to finding a lasting solution and anyone who wants to help should support them because they are the best option we have. All that is needed is to support, not supplant, their efforts,” President Kagame said.

President Kagame warned against “externalising” the DRC crisis — blaming external actors for the problem and seeking external solutions — when such an approach “effectively absolves blame from those with primary responsibility”.

“The many armed groups in the country are the outcome of a complex, long-standing historical reality. Therefore singling out one group out of many is running away from the actual issue.”

Rwanda rejects allegations of involvement in the current mutiny, and President Kagame stressed that solving the crisis will be impossible if the international community continues to define the issue erroneously.

“A durable solution will clearly come from addressing the real issues of governance in DRC and dealing with the genuine grievances of its citizens, even as efforts to end the current crisis are exerted.”

President Kagame described as “perplexing” the degree to which the international community focuses on the current mutiny at the expense of the much broader challenges present in the DRC, in the eastern region and beyond.

In particular, he cited the the plight of Congolese of Rwandan descent who remain targets for rape, torture and murder as a result of their ethnic origin, and yet are mostly ignored by the DRC government, human rights organisations and NGOs.

“The problems in DRC are complex and longstanding, and therefore, applying simplistic or expedient solutions to resolve them, without going to their historical and political roots, will only gloss over them but not deal with them definitively.”

“Rwanda stands ready to play its part in finding a peaceful end to the crisis in the DRC, particularly as part of a durable regional solution.”

Rwanda and Uganda are engaged in a tripatite meeting in Kapala city of Uganda. The meeting kicked off September 27.

The Rwanda Delegation is led by Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs.

Newvision Photo

The Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana has urged police officers who will be deployed in Haiti under the Formed Police Unit 3 (FPU3) to observe discipline and execute their duties professionally.

He said this on September 26 during the pre-deployment briefing held at the police General Headquarters in Kacyiru.

“Execute your duties professionally and strive to raise our country’s flag high to make Rwanda a replica country. Rwanda has earned itself a good name on the international scene,” IGP said.

A contingent of 160 officers under FPU3 is set to depart for the mission on September 27 to serve under the UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH) mandate.

The contingent led by Chief Supt Desire Twizere will replace the same number under Formed Police Unit 2 (FPU) which successfully completed its nine months mandate and scheduled to return on September 28.

FPUs, among others, provide humanitarian assistance, conduct patrols and guard VIPs and key installations.

They also help in crowd control and provide security of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The maiden FPU1 contingent comprising of 160 police officers was deployed in Haiti in January 30, 2011 and was replaced by the same number under FPU2 on December 15, 2011.

The mission was deployed mainly to oversee relief activities after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country in 2010, killing over 200,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

Rwanda National Police maintains over 450 peacekeepers serving under the UN missions in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Darfur, South Sudan and Haiti.

Rwanda, whose officers have been awarded for their professionalism and discipline in executing their mission duties by the UN, was ranked the eighth country in providing police peacekeepers worldwide by the international community.

The UN also ranked Rwanda the first out of 84 countries in providing female individual police officers.

The United Nations has also requested Rwanda to deploy a contingent of FPU in Liberia next year.

Senate President Dr. Ntawukuriryayo Jean Damascene yesterday officially launched the broader project “Mumataha, Remember Me” for the 20th commemoration in 2014.

The project aims at producing in 2012 and 2013 a music album of 20 songs (double CD) and to offer in 2014 one hundred concerts (100) to the Rwandan community during the 100 days of the genocide commemorations.

Initiated by Rwanda Professional Dreamers, The project “Mumataha remember me” plans to also collect and publish 100 letters from 100 countries from all over the world through the project called “The Book of Life”.

The senate president appreciated this initiative adding that other innovations which support Rwandan culture should be initiated.

French Authors Laure de Vulpian and Thierry Prungnaud September 25 released a new book called “Silence Turquoise” which shows the role of French army in the killings happened from1992-1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

According to Francequest.fr, “Silence Turquoise” is a book that focuses on Bisesero, where the French military had finally taken the measure to leave Tutsis who had fled away from massacres by Hutu militias in 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Within the book, Thierry Prungnaud witnessed the French army role in the killings that took place at Bisesero between 27 -30 July 1994.

He added that he was aware of Genocide preparation from the beginning.
Until now there are no French state reactions about the book.