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The East African Community Secretariat is organizing an event that will focus on sustainable development in the context of regional integration. The event is scheduled for June 20.

The Event will be organised in collaboration with EAC Organs and Institutions mainly Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and Partner States- the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda through designated UNCSD National Focal Points.

The overall objective of the side event is to showcase EAC’s efforts, achievements and challenges in the implementation of sustainable development goals in the region within the context of EAC’s integration process.

More specifically, the event shall review the progress in the implementation of the EAC Treaty and its related Protocols relevant to sustainable development namely; the Sustainable Development of Lake Victoria Basin (2003), Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources Management (2006); and Environment and Natural Resources provisions of the EAC Common Market Protocol (2009).

The event is expected to mobilize political will and support to EAC on the Implementation of Regional Policy Instruments aimed at contributing to the three pillars of sustainable development in the region and identify the role of EAC?s in monitoring the implementation of the Rio+20 Outcome.

Two men have been arrested found in possession with over 10 kilograms of cannabis as they attempted to smuggle the narcotics into Kigali city.

David Gashugi 21, and Alfred Niyitegeka 25, were seized at the Police checkpoint at Gitikinyoni .

The suspects were travelling in a commuter taxi. They are currently being held at Mageragere Police Station.

According to Police sources, the suspects tried to conceal the drugs in small sachets hidden and tied across their bodies and in a bag.

The suspects admitted to have been transporting narcotics from Goma and Ruhengeri respectively to Gisozi.

Police is on the hunt for other accomplices as investigations continue.

A representative from Bureau Veritas will visit Inyange Plant in Masaka this Friday, 15th June, to present the official certificate from the International Organization of Standards (ISO) to Inyange Industries.

The International Organization of Standardization (ISO) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards.

Bureau Veritas, which operates in more than 100 countries, is part of the ISO Technical Committee, TC34/SC17 (Management Systems for Food safety) and helps every player in the food supply chain to meet the highest standards of Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental compliance.

Inyange Industries has reinforced its commitment to complying with global food safety standards by implementing the ISO 22000:2005 Certification as concerns for Food Quality and Safety continue to rise across the nation.

The International Food Safety Management Standard, ISO 22000:2005, defines a set of general food safety requirements that apply to all organizations in the food manufacturing industry.

This globally recognized certificate will be presented to Inyange Industries in recognition of its high standards of quality in the food industry.

Since 2010, Inyange Industries had to undergo a long series of both internal and external audits to ensure that strict safety standards are consistently upheld so that Inyange products can be enjoyed by all, without fear of health risks and to meet the international requirements for Food Processing companies.

Inyange industries will be among a few food companies in EAC having the ISO 22000:2005 certificate, enabling Inyange to trade on the global market.

ISO, a non-governmental organization, is a network of the national standards institutes of 164 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system and forms a bridge between the public and private sectors.

This certification is an incredible achievement for Inyange and an official “stamp of approval” in terms of higher standards of quality and brand reliability.

Consumers can have full confidence that Inyange’s products come from reliable sources thus eliminating any associated health risks.

This certification process which began in 2010 was intended to accomplish two (2) specific goals: (1) improve internal efficiency processes by reducing operating costs.

(2) improve customer satisfaction through the delivery of products that consistently meet customer requirements including quality, safety and legality.

Legal compliance is a major component as this certification contributes to compliance through internal audits and management reviews.

Furthermore, Inyange now has proven business credentials through independent verification against recognized standards and the ability to win more business – particularly where procurement specifications require certification as a condition to supply.

A team of officials from World Health Organisation are in Rwanda to acquaint themselves with Rwanda’s healthcare programmes.

They will also assess progress on the ground with the view of sharing some success stories with the rest of the continent.

The team is led by Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo the boss of World health Organisation (WHO) in Africa. His visit seeks to reinforce the UN’s country team in health care improvement.

“We intend to reinforce our technical team in Rwanda to address some of the areas that need to be strengthened in collaboration with international agency operating in the field of health,” Dr. Sambo noted.

Dr. Sambo met with President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

“During my visit to Rwanda, I have found that the health care system in Rwanda has been strengthened at local level with a great positive impact on the people.”

He added, “I have realised enormous progress in the control of certain diseases like malaria, and improving child health”.

“It’s upon this satisfaction that I paid a courtesy call to President Kagame to thank him and his government for these wonderful achievements in the sector”.

It is now Criminal offense to Skype in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government has passed new legislation that criminalises the use of Internet-based voice communications such as Skype and other forms of Internet phone calling.

Authorities have also installed a new filtering system that monitors the use of the Internet in the tightly-controlled Horn of Africa country in a move seen as targeting dissidents.

The telecoms law strictly prohibits VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which includes audio and video related social media communication, and the transfer of information packages through the fast growing global cyber networks.

It also authorises the government to inspect any imports of voice communication equipment and accessories, while also banning inbound shipments without prior permission.

Anyone involved in “illegal” phone calling services will be prosecuted and could be jailed for up to 15 years or fined heavily if found guilty.

Luanda the capital city of Angola is the most expensive place to live in Africa and the second in the world after Tokyo in Japan.

The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2012 conducted by human resource consulting firm Mercer Group shows that Luanda, last year’s global “winner” is the most expensive city in the continent and second in the world.

According to the survey, three of African cities are among the world’s 20 most expensive places for expatriates to live in.

Djamena city of Chad is listed as the second most expensive and Libreville city of Congo is the third most expensive.

The survey, gathers information used by governments and major companies to protect the purchasing power of their employees when transferred abroad,
Tunis capital of Tunisia ranks at position 209 of the 214 cities covered by the study across five continents is the least expensive African city for expatriates.

“It might be surprising to see 20 African cities in the top third of the ranking.
The main driver behind this is the difficulty in finding good secure accommodation for expatriates. So the limited supply of acceptable accommodation is very expensive,” says Constantin-Métral, the group’s spokesperson.

According to her, the cost of imported international goods is also very high in these cities, considerably contributing to the high cost of living.

The fourth most expensive city is Khartoum up 18 places from last year and ranked 26 on the global list. Ndjamena, Chad (8), follows, dropping five places since 2011.

Dropping eight places, Libreville, Gabon (20), is the next followed by Niamey, Niger.

On the list after Niamey are Lagos in Nigeria, Bamako, Mali, Abidjan,Cote Devoir, Brazzaville, Congo, Djibouti, Djibouti and Dakar, Senegal.

A senior official of the East African Community (EAC) has observed that the region needs a solid and workable peace and security strategy to counter emerging threats.

“We still lack workable strategies to contain new security threats such as maritime piracy, money laundering, terrorism and cyber crimes, among others, with the view to ensuring that peace and stability in the region remain our top priority,” said the EAC deputy secretary general in charge of Political Federation Dr. Julius Rotich.

He was opening a five-day meeting of EAC member states experts to review the regional Peace and Security Strategy. The meeting is taking place in Dar es Salaam, according to a statement from the Arusha-based secretariat.

In a speech read on his behalf by Didacus Kaguta, the EAC Peace and Security officer, the deputy secretary-general emphasised that addressing and maintaining regional peace and stability should continue to serve as the cardinal security agenda among members.

The Peace and Security Strategy is an operational policy document that mandates partner states and the secretariat to jointly plan and respond to issues of peace and security in the region. This should happen as the Peace and Security Protocol is being finalized.

The protocol has been presented before the EAC Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs for legal input and endorsement.

The EAC Treaty recognises peace and security as pre-requisites for the success of the regional integration. The matters are more important now than ever because of the already advanced negotiations on the Monetary Union.

“Our joint desire for successful integration cannot and should not be frustrated by criminals or criminal activities and hence a need to move quickly to position ourselves through strengthening the peace and security strategy.

This will ensure that the achievements made through the integration stages are not threatened,” he asserted.

The chairman of the session, David Njoka, said the region cannot sit back without addressing critically new security issues, which can otherwise “divert us from our perceived objective of a united and prosperous East Africa”.

“Emerging security issues must be managed and tackled swiftly so that East Africans can carry out their activities without being inhibited by security threats,” the official added.

The meeting is attended by experts from military, police, security, prisons/correctional services, judicial and legal sectors coordinated by the EAC Secretariat.

The five-day meeting is held with support of the German International Development Agency (GTZ), which has over the years supported a number of EAC Peace and Security programmes.

In the ongoing Police week activities, Police has conducted community work in Kicukiro involving preparation of road and construction of a bridge that connects Niboye and Kanombe sectors.

During the even, Police in partnership with stakeholders lay a foundation stone for the construction of Isange one Stop Center aimed at decentralising Isange and facilitate gender based violence victims.

After the community work, the mayor of Kicukiro district, Paul Jules Ndamage handed a check of Frw 10 million to Police to facilitate construction of Isange One Stop Center within the district.

The construction phase is expected to take 3 months at a total cost of Frw 30 million.

The Police also distributed free 100 mosquito nets and health insurance cards to the most vulnerable people in Kicukiro district.

The Kigali City mayor Fidèle Ndayisaba applauded the existing collaboration in fighting crime between Police and Kigali City citizens.

He said that drugs and illicit alcohol consumption have negative effect to citizens’ health, their socio-economic well being and the development of the country as a whole.

“Drugs are of no use, they only lead to self destruction and death. You should instead focus on income generating activities to improve your livelihood,” Ndayisaba noted.

He added that consumption of drugs and illicit alcohol lead to criminal activities.

Swtizerland’s media has reported that Gaspard Ruhumuliza an alleged Rwandan war criminal suspected of genocide is living in Luzern on welfare benefits.

In 2011 Canada media had reported that Ruhumuriza was suspected to be living in Canada.

Its alleged that most Genocide fugitives changed their names when they arrived abroad to enable them quickly secure assylum.

Identified only as GR he is one of three people living in Switzerland suspected of involvement in the Rwandan genocide. He protests his innocence, online news site Blick reported.

“The accusations against me are nonsense. I always wanted to help my people. But now they want to see me hang,” he said referring to Rwanda government.

GR, now 59 years old, was Rwanda’s Minister of Environment and Tourism when the genocide began in Rwanda 18 years ago.

Meeting with one of Blick’s journalists in Luzern, he said he fled the country when the genocide started, taking refuge in Switzerland, where he has remained ever since.

Since his arrival in Switzerland in 1994, GR has benefited from welfare payments of up to 260,000 francs ($273,000). His wife and four children have been living in Geneva.

He has been living on 1,677 francs ($1,759) a month, having tried without success to find work.

“As long as I am a suspect, I cannot get a job,” he said.

GR is being investigated by the military justice system in Switzerland, but will not be returned to Rwanda despite a request for his extradition, the news site said.

He is also wanted by Interpol for war crimes and genocide.

“We know that Switzerland is a happy hunting ground for former war criminals who live here in secret,” says Philip Grant, director of TRIAL, the Swiss society for international criminal law.

Switzerland cannot return GR to Rwanda because it does not believe that he would receive a fair trial: if the Rwandan system found him guilty, he would almost certainly face the death penalty.

“They have accused me of leading the army in the fighting. This is absurd, I was only Minister of Environment and Tourism. I’ve never given a command to kill,” he told the news site.

Rwanda expert Gerd Hankel from the Hamburg Institute for Social Research believes that GR was not one of the instigators of the genocide, but said that as minister, he must have at least condoned it.

GR said he was not perturbed by the military investigations into his past.
“I have nothing to hide, and it is also important to me that the truth comes to light.”