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  • Rwanda, Uganda Cargo Auctioned at Mombasa Port

    Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is auctioning uncollected Cargo at Mombasa port a major facility for products imported by Uganda, Rwanda and other inland countries in the region.

    The move aims at deconjesting the port but has in effect caused business losses to Uganda although Rwanda has not officially stated its position on the matter.

    Kenya Revenue Authority has in recent months embarked on an aggressive drive to clear congestion at the port after traders complained of inefficiency caused by excess cargo lying at the facility.

    KPA has started auctioning uncollected cargo after attempts to entice cargo owners using lower storage charges failed to yield much fruit.

    In February KPA had reduced the period of free storage of import containers at the port of Mombasa as part of a 100-day moratorium to clear their cargo.

    Free storage period for domestic import containers was reduced from five to four days while that for transit import containers was lowered to nine days from the current 11 days.

    The auctions, coupled with improved work flow at the container terminals, has helped ease congestion at Mombasa port substantially.

    Statistics by KPA showed that in July the container yard population at the port of Mombasa has dropped to a record 13,600 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) from 20,700 TEUs experienced during the infamous congestion period early this year.

    The terminal’s capacity is 18,500 TUEs terminal capacity.

    KPA managing director Gichiri Ndua, however, said Kenya was committed to serving the interests of all port users from the region.

    “In our strategic plan, we aim to drop the Kenyan share of total traffic from 70% to about 65% and increase the share of the transit traffic to more than 30%,” he said.

    The port is presently witnessing increased activity following improved economic conditions in the region.

    UGANDA REACTS

    Uganda is Kenya’s biggest export market. Rwanda is also reliant on Port Mombasa for major imports and exports. The auctions have simillary hurt businesses in Rwanda altho no official comment has been made.

    The government of Uganda wants the auctioning of overstayed cargo at the port in Mombasa reviewed, saying it was hurting its businesses.

    Uganda High Commissioner to Kenya Emmanuel Hatega claimed that some traders had lost fortunes after their goods were auctioned without their knowledge.

    “Auctions should be both legally and ethically sound,” he said during a stakeholders meeting in Mombasa.

    Hatega said some of the auctions were not carried out in “a proper manner”, leading to losses on the part of some businesses.

  • Koffi Olomide in Jail

    Congolese musician, Koffi Olomide spent wednesday night behind bars after Gombe Court remanded him for malicious damage to property and assaulting Diego Lubaki, the producer of his latest album-Abracadabra.

    Koffi appeared on the same day in the Court of flagrancy of Gombe peace for assault charges. The judge decided to keep him in custody.

    The hearing resumes on Thursday 16 August with the pleadings and the indictment.

    He was arrested Wednesday at Ndiaye music studio. Koffi is accused of assaulting and battering Diego Music Lubaki and malicious destruction of hotel facilities where the incident occurred.

    Koffi and his producer had misunderstandings resulting from a debt of Euros 3000 he owed his producer. However, Diego told Gombe court that Koffi owed him Euros 6,000.

    During the fight,the door to hotel room and some of Lubaki Diego property were damaged.

    Three witnesses, all employees of the Hotel Venus, made their depositions against Koffi. But their testimony has been inconsistent.

    The first two said they saw the head of the orchestra Latin Quarter administer a kick at Diego Lubaki, saying he was arguing a suitcase belonging to the producer.

    The third witness, the manager of the hotel, said she had seen Koffi walking up to the room in which Diego Lubaki stayed without being reported to the reception.

    The first two witnesses had said they had seen Koffi taking the elevator to reach Diego’s room. The incident occurred around 10 am.

    However, faced with this contradiction, the defense testified there was no evidence and called for his client’s innocence .

    The courtroom was packed. Several artists, journalists and supporters of Koffi stormed the Prosecutor General of the Republic when they learned of the arrest of the head of the Latin Quarter.

    Two of Koffi’s fans were arrested for disrupting the audience loudly manifesting their support for Koffi.

    A dramatic, late in the evening, lawyers Diego Lubaki council presented him with a sly act of withdrawal of a civil party. The latter still hesitated to endorse it at the end of the trial.

  • Africa Robbed US$ 15Billion Annually

    African countries have been challenged to find ways to avert illegal movement of money out of the continent.

    Experts have said an estimated US$15 billion is illicitly moved each year out of Africa to the developed nations,.

    The revelations were made during a high-Level Panel on Illicit Financial flows from Africa chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki,concluded its third meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday.

    “This problem (illicit flow of funds) is very serious. We are engaging with governments across the continent to come up with ways to stop it,” Mbeki told a Press in Nairobi.

    Mbeki says multinational corporations are the top culprits as they have financial muscles to take part in the prohibited business.

    “Multinational corporations are the only ones that can move $15 billion, not those with $5,” he said.

    Mbeki praised African governments for showing the will to curb the menace blamed for slow pace in development.

    Africa’s finance ministers formed the panel and tasked the retired president with finding the sources of the money and ways the money was channelled to the recipient countries.

    Mbeki blamed “corrupt practices in the public and private sectors” saying they promoted the illicit movement.

    The team’s next meeting will be in Tunis as it traverses the continent in search of ways to stop the money that would otherwise have been used for development in the continent still in need of funds to finance development programmes.

  • Smugglers Intercepted with 21Kgs of Tromaline Mineral

    About 21kg of Tromaline mineral was intercepted Tuesday from smugglers. The arresred include Selemani Basomingera and Esperance Mukashema, residents of Gatumba sector, Ngororero District.

    The pair is held at Gatumba Police station.

    Another woman Claudine Uwamahoro was arrested in Mururu sector, Rusizi District with 75 litres of Palm Oil. The oil was handed over to Rwanda Revenue Authority.

    Of recent, an anti-smuggling campaign was conducted in the country but this campaign can’t only be achieved without the involvement of neighbouring countries which act as sources of such smuggled goods.

    Police reports indicate that most of the smuggled goods originate from neighboring countries like Congo and Burundi.

    The seizure of these items is the result of Police check points and patrols in different areas in collaboration with citizens, other security organs and community policing efforts through sharing of information

  • Man Utd Agree £24m Deal For Van Persie

    Manchester United footbal Club have agreed a £24m deal to sign Arsenal striker Robin van Persie on a four-year contract.

    The 29-year-old will meet with United in the next 48 hours to discuss personal terms and have a medical.

    Arsenal captain Van Persie announced in July he would not extend his current deal, which expires in June 2013.

    “Manchester United is pleased to announce it has reached agreement for the transfer of Robin Van Persie,” the club said in a statement.

    “The deal is subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms. A further announcement will be made in due course.”

    United will pay £22.5m, with a further £1.5m one-off bonus to follow if they win a Premier League or Champions League title in the next four years.

  • Are you Living or Existing?

    Most of us actually hardly manage to mark the difference between these two and yet there is a significant one.

    Not knowing the difference between living and existing shapes our lives according to the meaning that we give to these two words.

    By definition, existing means that we are here in the World but not really enjoying life and seeing the different hues of life. We can sum it up by saying that existing is getting done what needs to get done, nothing more, nothing less to it! There is actually no life in existing. What exists is the leftover of life, the thoughts, the ideas…

    It is when we exist that we are most affected by whatever comes our way, we depresss, we are in a hurry racing with the time, we forget our relationships.

    We do what we think should get done yet we have already gone off road, forgotten what really matters the most.

    While living, on the other hand, means that we are present and involved in every second of our lives.

    Muhammad Ali,a well known Boxer of all times stated that we shouldn’t count the days but should make the days count.This simply encourages us to live every moment of our lives, making each second really count.

    With the speed at which the World moves nowadays, it has become really hard to focus on the other side of life besides the office (work) and everything else that revolves around money.

    At the end of the day, we have worked so hard, got what we needed or maybe not, but actually fail to enjoy the fruits of our hardwork, we still feel as empty after all.

    Life has become a routine: waking up-work-exhaustion-sleeping kind of cycle that shuts us down from what is really happening in the real world, that routine keeps us in a kind of “boxed life”.

    The life we have should be lived unlimitedly, every second that makes it should be felt and received, we should embrace all that it brings us; emotions,laughter,memories,relationships,adventure,resting,helping around us, taking chances, and the list goes on and on.

    There comes a time in our lives when we have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround ourselves with people who make us laugh so hard that we forget the bad and focus solely on the good.

    After all life is too short to be anything but happiness. Struggles, bad surprises always occur in our lives but they are just a transition, they are also part of the life we live. Nevertheless they shouldn’t take our passion for life away from us.

    Most of us do exist and do not live. We ought to take a break, relax and enjoy all the gifts life presents to us, because as Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the USA said “In the end, it is not about the years in your life that count, it is the life in your years”.

  • Rwanda Students in Michigan Graduate

    The Rwandan Diaspora of Michigan and Indiana hosted August 11 a graduation party for Joseph Masengesho and Dina Imbabazi, both of whom graduated from the Notre Dame University in Indiana.

    Joseph Masengesho received a Master’s Degree in computer programming and Dina Imbabazi received a Master’s Degree in Electric engineering. This event was held in place in Niles Inn & Conference Center in Niles, Michigan.

    During the opening speech, Rutsobe Nsengiyumva, Michigan and Indiana Rwandan Youth & Culture representative, challenged the graduates as well as young people who were present to continue developing themselves physically, mentally and spiritually so that those in the Rwandan Diaspora can consolidate collective skills and abilities to hasten ongoing progress in Rwanda.

    Following Mr. Rutsobe’s comments was a prayer offered by Jaqueline Rufuku MI and IN representative for Gender. She took the occasion to welcome Dina’s Mom in Michigan on behalf of all the women of Diaspora.

    Gatete Gaetan, president of the Rwandan Diaspora of Michigan and Indiana, also congratulated the graduates and thanked all the members of the Rwandan community for all their support of these graduates and challenged them to continue these endeavors.

    He reminded the graduates to use wisely their knowledge to contribute to Rwanda’s development.

    In response to the event, the graduates were overwhelmed by the Rwandan community support promising the audience that wherever they maybe that they will do their best to perform well and most importantly represent their country positively.

    Rwandan students from Oklahoma Christian University and the youth from Indiana and Michigan had photos during the event as a sign of friendship and unity.

  • Rwanda Forest Cover at 23%

    The Minister for Natural resources, Stanislas Kamanzi has said that current status of Rwanda forest cover now stands at about 23% of national surface.

    Minister Kamanzi told IGIHE in an interview that through national afforestation and reforestation programs, Rwanda has committed to a systematic forest landscape restoration initiative which aims at increasing forest cover and protection of natural resources in general.

    He added afforestation and agro-forestry programs are planned in each District to achieve the National target of having 30% of national territory covered by forests.

    Though good progresses in terms of reforestation were made, there remains room for improvement in some Districts.

    “We have been noting cases where forests are mismanaged and even illegally harvested. Districts Districts Task Forces should contribute to have that put to an end” Kamanzi said.

    One of the ways to address this issue was the establishment of afforestation task forces in level of each district led by the vice Mayors in charge of economic affairs and this occurred starting last year for the season 2011-2012.

    After establishment of those task forces, the rate of tree survival after planting has gone much higher than before.

  • Ebola Vaccine Chances Out as Research Funds Cut Off

    Ebola vaccine may never be developed to prevent the onset of infection of the lethal viral disease–scientists have said.

    This follows the cutting of funding for research on Ebola.Two companies with leading vaccine candidates have had their funding from the Pentagon suspended in recent weeks.

    Research into development of a vaccine have been mainly funded by the US Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health pouring millions of dollars into scientific research because of concerns that the virus could be turned into a biological weapon.

    Ebola is often described as the most frightening disease on Earth.The virus causes a severe haemorrhagic fever, where victims bleed both internally and externally.

    An expert said it was now “unlikely” a prophylactic vaccine would ever be used to prevent outbreaks of the disease.

    Since the Pentagon began funding this research, several vaccine candidates have been developed and have shown themselves effective in animal trials.

    Two companies, Sarepta and Tekmira have begun human safety trials of their vaccines.

    However, in recent days, both companies have been told by the Defense Department to temporarily stop work on their vaccines due to funding constraints.

    It is expected that a decision to either resume testing or completely terminate the contracts will be made by early September.

    Scientists say their understanding of the nature of the virus has markedly improved over the past decade.

    But the chances of turning that knowledge into a vaccine are very dependent on money.

    Ebola in Uganda

    Experts from the WHO and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention are in Uganda to advise health officials responding to the outbreak.

    Uganda has experienced three outbreaks of Ebola since 2000 when 224 people were killed.

    At least 42 people were killed in another outbreak in 2007, and there was a single confirmed case in 2011.

    Close to 17 people have died as a result of the latest outbreak that had Kibaale District, in the west of the country, as its epicentre.

  • Police Donates 33 Hybrid Goats to Widows

    Tuesday, 58 widows survivors of the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rutunga sector, Gasabo District,were given hybrid goats to help improve their livelihoods.

    The donation included; 33 high breed goats, agricultural equipments; watering cans and pesticide containers.

    All donated items were valued at Frw 1,130,000 courtesy of contributions from Kacyiru Police Hospital staff members.

    ACP Daniel Nyamwasa the Commandant of Kacyiru Police Hospital, urged the widows to take good care of donated goats.

    “These goats are going to reproduce and play an impact in your lives once they are given good care.”

    James Nzirimu in charge of advocacy at the National Commission against Genocide (CNLG) thanked Police Hospital’s contribution towards the welfare of survivors of Genocide.

    Nzirimu urged reciepients on better care for the goats to have high production which he said would help to solve a number of basic needs.

    Sarafina Uwimana one of the recipients said, “Citizens in Rutunga, mostly survivors of 94 Genocide were extremely poor, but God has done us a miracle with us being the first beneficiaries.”