Igihe

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  • RNP Briefs Intermediate Command & Staff Course Students

    Fourty police officers from Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia and Rwanda currently undergoing a Police intermediate command and staff course at National Police Academy in Musanze district have visited Kacyiru Police
    headquarters.

    The Commissioner for Human Resources Management and Support services Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) John Bosco Kabera explained to the visitors Rwanda National Police structure which include Office of the Inspector General of Police, Office of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Commissions, territorial units, specialized units, directorates among others.

    ACP Kabera informed course participants that apart from ensuring security and safety of Rwandans, Rwanda National Police was an active participant in United Nations peace keeping operations in different countries.

    The Human resource Commissioner also explained the recruitment procedure for prospective candidates willing to join Rwanda National Police.

    He explained the welfare initiatives including; medical insurance, the Police housing project, access to loans as well as the prospective armed forces shops. These initiatives are aimed at improving the welfare of Police officers.

    They later visited Kigali memorial center where they witnessed the effects of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

    The police officers returned to Musanze where they are persuing a three months Intermediate Command and Staff Course.

  • Burkina Faso, Benin Learn from Rwanda’s Peacekeeping Operations

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    A team of five officials representing security organs from Benin and Burkina Faso are visiting Rwanda to learn about Rwanda’s Success story on Gender Promotion and Peace Keeping operations.

    Rwanda has gained respect from other nations following the successful Peace Keeping operations in Sudan and Haiti.

    Delegates received an orientation about preparations police officers undergo before they are ready to be deployed to peacekeeping tours including selections, tests undergone as well as other preparations.

    Francis A Behanzin, the controller General of Benin Police noted, “It’s going to be the first time that Benin deploys a Formed Police Unit to a peace keeping mission so we hope to learn a lot from Rwanda Police as they have already have Formed Police Units in peacekeeping duties before”.

    Burkina Faso Colonel Yssoufou Sawadogo, the logistics director in the Burkina Faso Army noted that on top of learning from Rwanda’s peace keeping initiatives, they would also gain experience from gender mainstreaming in the Police force and other security organs.

    The visit was organized and facilitated by the Pearson Peace Keeping center, a Canadian organization that has supported Rwanda on peace keeping initiatives.

    IGP Emmanuel K. Gasana noted that it was beneficial for Africans to share experiences and forge a future that is fit for Africans.

    Gasana noted that force capability was essential in deploying forces in Peace keeping missions. “You need to have a credible, professional and reliable police force and that is what we have tried to achieve here”.

  • Confessions of a Western Journalist

    Stepping onto the tarmac the warm Kigali air greets me. I breathe in deeply, as if it is the first breath I ever took. I push away the thought of enduring the stale air once again for my 22-hour return flight in just six weeks time.

    Australia seems another world away as I adjust my physicality to another time and place that is at once familiar to me, and yet, still so foreign.

    As I leave the airport, the natural movement of Kigali brings a smile to my tired face. The frustration of having my small framed body squeezed between two large men in the middle isle seats of the aircraft for fourteen and a half hours from Melbourne to Doha begins to fade. I stare out the car window and feel the wind blowing away my fatigue. I am alive again.

    As we drive across town from the airport to Nyamirambo I am reminded of my homeland Tasmania, Australia’s southern island state. The green and hilly landscape that defines Rwanda is also a touristic feature of my home.

    We share similar size capital cities and indeed my island home could even fit snug within this country’s European defined-borders. Just as Rwanda prides herself at being situated in the heart of Africa, some say the shape of Tasmania is that of a heart.

    And so, at the same time I am far from home, I am not far at all.

    It is the rich and storied landscape of the African continent that led me here, first in 2009, then four consecutive times until today. Like others before me of my kind – European writers, journalists and media producers – I come with the intent to tell Africa’s stories to the world.

    Certainly, African life has provided a constant source of fascination for the ‘European gaze’, resulting in a vast array of documentaries, books, films, articles, photographs and commentary, mostly from the perspective of the outsider.

    While the outsider too is gazed at (as the foreigner so often is, e.g. the recitation of ‘muzungu-muzungu’), it is the ‘gaze’ of the European that has been the most ‘productive’, or one could say, exploitative, for it is this gaze that has led to the dominant modes of representation of Africa and its people. According to Adinoyi-Ojo, this has led to an “unevenness of cross-cultural exchange”.

    It is true that the World Wide Web has linked different parts of the world creating more diversity in who speaks but within this ‘global village’ there are limited and specific speakers who dominate the dialogue.

    As Morley and Robins point out, the conversation is one-way, in which “the West speaks and the Rest listen”. Various African scholars argue that the domination of Western perspectives has led to the African continent and its people being “systematically misrepresented”.

    Of course today, these misrepresentations are being challenged by local media producers, especially film-makers, who are reconquering and revising images of Western representation about Africa, reclaiming their rights to represent themselves and co-construct a world about themselves.

    My mission in 2009 was perhaps no different to many other Western journalists who seek to journey to Africa and tell its stories. I had come to Eastern Congo to tell the story of the plight of refugees in Goma.

    Many would say it is a cliché story for the Western media. Of course it is a story that needs to be told but it is not a simple story as most people know, and if such a story is over-simplified, as Western journalism is so often accused of when reporting Africa, such a story fails to adequately inform its audience, and instead the reportage distorts, misrepresents and even perpetuates existing stereotypes of Africa.

    I had spent just five days gathering people’s stories from several refugee camps. In that time I came to realize I had not the knowledge or the expertise to be telling this complex refugee story. The story required someone with a deep insight into the issues in the region.

    Furthermore, for the first time in my life as a journalist I began to feel uncomfortable taking people’s stories. It became clear to me that the dialogical engagement between myself and the people I was seeking stories from was critically uneven.

    A post-colonial critique may pose the questions, how is telling the story of the Other, in this case the refugee, not “simply a form of surveillance and neocolonization”? And is the desire to have access to and to know the Other yet another “colonizing gesture”? For Homi Bhaba, asking questions and demanding answers is a significant strategy of “surveillance and exploitation” which re-ensures the authority of the colonizer.

    Thus the question arises, is it possible for Western journalists and media producers to escape their cultural Eurocentrism in order to articulate a critical narrative of Africa?

    I came across a similar experience when I was telling what could be labeled as another ‘cliché’ story, that of the life of the Pygmy, the Indigenous People of Central Africa. For this story, I reached a community who were renowned for their pottery work.

    I was taken back when one woman accused me of being yet another Muzungu coming to conduct research on ‘them’, who would then return to her comfortable life, most likely profiting from her story, and yet their life would not improve, just as it hadn’t done so in the past when other researchers or journalists had come seeking their stories.

    The woman’s words made me think critically about my role as a Western media practitioner drawing stories from Africa and why I felt I needed to tell these stories. On the other hand, I did not wish to be a ‘parachute’ or ‘fly-in/fly-out’ journalist who after getting a story was never to be seen or heard of again.

    I yearned to strengthen my knowledge of the region, and as the friendships I made grew and deepened, I felt almost an obligation to visit and revisit. Upon each visit I found it difficult to return home.

    I had grown very fond of Rwanda in particular. I was fortunate that I was able to come and go and fund the travel through telling stories. After visiting Kibuye for the first time I was compelled to share the mysterious and untouched beauty of this tranquil place so I wrote a travel article, something I so rarely do.

    As for my role as a radio documentary producer, I began to critique and reflect on how I told African stories, why I felt compelled to tell them, and ask myself whether it was my place to do so.

    This reflection led me to critique Western journalism’s liberal individualistic paradigm which perhaps can be problematic when Western journalists are reporting in places where community takes precedence over the individual, thus another question is posed: Can the West’s “individualistic ethos” understand the nature of community that is intrinsic to African societies?

    Some scholars have argued instead for a communitarian journalism that “deepens connections between members of community both near and far”, and attempts to “locate connections from group to group, culture to culture” and to emphasise the profound “commonalities” between human beings.

    Creating shared connections between peoples of different cultures certainly instills a sense of communality amidst humanity’s diversity. But such an aspiration is distinctly different to the West’s “Us vs Them” style of storytelling which at its worst can create divisionism.

    It is the ethics of representation, or more specifically, the representation of Africa in the Western mainstream media, which I have come to explore more deeply, not only as a media practitioner and as part of my PhD research but as someone who has become deeply connected to people in Rwanda both in country and within the Diaspora.

    Based on my own personal experiences telling stories from this region, my research question is this: does the Western libertarian journalism model serve well the stories that are told from Africa? Or is another form of journalism required – a hybrid form of journalism – one that is informed by local knowledge systems and African ethical roots, as well as the virtues of Western journalism?

    Working self-reflexively as a media practitioner in Africa, I have begun to question the set of frameworks I use to interpret and to understand the life of people here. I can use the following metaphor to emphasize this point: When on a moto to Kigali city centre I was given a helmet with a cracked and damaged wind-screen and so my view of things around me became distorted and unclear.

    I could see that the helmet wind-screen is like the Western lens in which I view Africa and tell its stories. However, it is the poignant statement by Michel Foucault that I may rest my morals, and may help me determine whether I am in a position to continue telling Africa’s stories at all: “There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting at all.”

    The Author is an Australian Journalist (PHD Student)

  • Man Arrested Over Fake Money

    Police in Gasabo is holding a man found in posession with fake currency notes.

    Janvier Mbarushimana 24, was seized after he attempted to pay for cigarettes to a local shop keeper at Kabuga center using a counterfeight note of Frw 2000.

    The suspect is detained at Rusororo Police station while investigations into the matter are underway.

    If found guilty, Mbarushimana is likely to be sentenced between 5 and 10 years and pay a fine up to Frw 100,000.
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  • Kagame’s Speech at William Penn University

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    Dr. Ann Fields, President of William Penn University;

    Mr Jerry Ellis, Chairman of the Board of William Penn University;

    Dr Noel Stahle, Vice President for Academic Affairs;

    Faculty and staff;

    Distinguished Guests;

    Class of 2012;

    Parents, ladies and gentlemen:

    Thank you Dr Fields for your kind introduction and for the honour of this degree you have just conferred on me.

    I accept it with deep humility, knowing that in actual fact, it is a recognition of the collective effort of Rwandans to work for a better and brighter future.

    It is a distinct pleasure for me to be associated with William Penn University personally – through this honorary doctorate – but also as a country through the special partnership we have in the common search for what can better the lives of our people. This partnership is evidently beginning to produce results.

    Today we mark another milestone in this relationship with Rwandan students being part of this graduating class. We are proud of them and this university, and hope to have many more coming here. They did not only find an education here but also a home away from home.

    I would like to thank Mr Steve Noah and Joe Crookham for providing the Rwandan students the comfort and warmth of home and family.

    We value the partnership with this university and with other learning institutions, and with nations because we recognise that the future of humankind is best guaranteed by collaboration in learning, research and joint approaches to issues of our time.

    I am also happy to say that Rwanda shares the principles and values on which this university was founded and that continue to shape it – equal access to quality education without discrimination.

    Wherever people decide to live the best life they can, and better the lives of others as well, one will find some common characteristics – vision, determination and resilience.

    I believe this ethos is what inspires the William Penn University community – and it is what should keep the ties between this institution and my country Rwanda even stronger for years to come.

    Many of you know that Rwanda’s history has been a challenging one – and in describing our nation’s recovery, reconciliation and socio-economic progress, the word “miracle” is sometimes used.

    Well, certainly, there has been rapid change – but not in the mystical sense that most may think; there has been no magic formula to fix the daunting challenges we face.

    While appropriate policies and good governance structures have all played their rightful role, the key to our transformation lies with the individual Rwandan citizen and in their interactions with each other.

    In their capacity to find common ground and a common cause and purpose, to come together in pursuit of peace and national prosperity – there has not been a Rwandan miracle as such, but millions of them.

    In every language, there are words that are not easily translated. One such word in Kinyarwanda – the native language of Rwanda – is agaciro.

    In English, you might say self-respect, self-worth or dignity — but none conveys its meaning precisely. The word tries to capture the very essence of humanness.

    Agaciro has been – and continues to be – the indispensible ingredient of Rwanda’s transformation.

    To truly grasp the meaning of agaciro, it helps to contemplate the consequence of its absence. After all, this is what made our history so tragic.

    The genocide in Rwanda eighteen years ago had its origins in decades of bad governance (combining internal and external factors), hateful ideologies and impunity.

    For that to have happened – to the unbelievable degree that it did – people had to have surrendered the last shred of their dignity because to truly value one’s own life means valuing the lives of others.

    As a people, Rwandans have since sought to rebuild a sense of individual as well as collective worth.

    As a government, we have pursued policies of economic growth – not for its own sake, but because expanding the horizons of opportunity for our citizens will lay the groundwork on an equitable basis for prosperity and peace.

    Our work in tackling corruption has earned respect from around the world, but that is not why we took such steps.

    We did so because there is no dignity in paying a corrupt official to get your goods to market, your children to school or hospital, or for the guarantee of temporary safety.

    Our national mission is towards self-reliance, but it does not come from some kind of reflexive nationalism.

    It is simply the recognition that there is no self-respect in depending on the permanent generosity of others.

    Rwandans of your generation are more optimistic about their country than any before them. They are full of hope, full of pride. This is because they have grown up in a society that has restored the enduring spirit of agaciro.

    Madam President;

    Class of 2012;

    Ladies and Gentlemen:

    These lessons we have learned along the way in Rwanda may have some relevance for you, Class of 2012:

    Today marks the culmination of much preparation and hard work – and you stand here to celebrate your achievements, realised dreams and the promise of a better tomorrow. Congratulations!

    Indeed, this is the end of one phase of your education – but also, the beginning of a whole new different one. You will now get the opportunity to apply what you have learned to real life situations, moving beyond theories and debates to action that can make a difference in your own life, and for those around you.

    You are graduating as leaders of this century – possessing the idealism that has driven leaders over the centuries, but also tempered by the realities of the world we live in, and above all, equipped with the knowledge and skills to deal with its problems and challenges.

    And how you deal with them and transform the environments in which you will be working shall be the test of true leadership.

    Your formal education has given you a valuable skill set to succeed in the world – but it will be the values you uphold, and the high standards that you set, that will distinguish you as the leaders our communities need today.

    It is these values that will help you deal with the inequalities that exist in the world, to know that what is taken for granted in one place is not the same in another. And so the goal will be to reduce disparities and increase opportunities, and create societies where everyone can realize their potential.

    Every generation has its unique challenges and opportunities, but also its specific mission. In your generation, technology and globalization have created a borderless, fast-paced and interdependent world.

    In this environment no single individual, however talented, no one nation, however powerful, can live in isolation or think that they do not need the other.

    It means we must collaborate in dealing with humanity’s challenges – whether they are about international security, economic difficulties, climate change, energy, education and healthcare or food for the world’s increasing population.

    I am confident that the networks for such collaboration are being formed here at William Penn University and others will be made in the workplace in the different continents.

    You are entering a competitive world where knowledge, skills and innovation matter a great deal. Competition has over time produced the best in humankind – in academics, sports, science and technology, and many other areas – and propelled us to the present level of development of the human race.

    Leaders who will make a difference are those who are able to harness our competitive energies, creative and innovative potential and channel them into work for the common good.

    You should always remember that leadership is not about a single individual, no matter how gifted; it centers on the ability to inspire others to move together in the right direction, towards a common good. Aspire to be that person.

    I have no doubt that among the 2012 Class of William Penn University there are outstanding leaders ready to step into the future and make the world a better home for all its citizens.

    Once again congratulations to you all, and I wish you success in all your endeavours. Thank you for your kind attention.

  • Rapper Angry at being addressed as ‘Boy’

    After turning 18 years, Rapper Lil G is not happy with people that still refer to him as a young boy as they used to do before he was 18.

    Karangwa Lionel known by his stage name Lil G was born 20 March 1994, he started his music career as a rapper in 2007 when he was 13 years, since then his fans and the media at large knicknamed him ‘umwana muto’( translated as young boy).

    He told IGIHE that he doesn’t like to be called “umwana muto” because he has now turned 18. He says it hurts him so much because he believes that he is now a man.

    “when someone calls me that name, I get furious. Am not a little boy. It doesn’t make me happy anymore.” Lil G explains adding that he wants to be addressed as Lil G as his stage name.

  • Developing World: Child, Maternal Mortality Unacceptably High

    A Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2012, released April by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), says the developing world’s progress is seriously lagging on global targets related to food and nutrition, with rates of child and maternal mortality still unacceptably high.

    Recent spikes in international food prices have stalled progress across several of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the report says.

    GMR 2012: Food Prices, Nutrition and the Millennium Development Goals reports good progress across some MDGs, with targets related to reducing extreme poverty and providing access to safe drinking water already achieved, several years ahead of the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs.

    Also, targets on education and ratio of girls to boys in schools are within reach.

    In contrast, the world is significantly off-track on the MDGs to reduce mortality rates of children under five and mothers. As a result, these goals will not be met in any developing region by 2015.

    Progress is slowest on maternal mortality, with only one-third of the targeted reduction achieved thus far. Progress on reducing infant and child mortality is similarly dismal, with only 50% of the targeted decline achieved.

    “High and volatile food prices do not bode well for attainment of many MDGs, as they erode consumer purchasing power and prevent millions of people from escaping poverty and hunger, besides having long-term adverse impacts on health and education,” said Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank’s chief economist and senior vice president for Development Economics.

    “Dealing with food price volatility must be a high priority, especially as nutrition has been one of the forgotten MDGs,” he added.

    GMR 2012 details solutions for making countries and communities more resilient in the face of food price spikes.

    Countries should deploy agricultural policies to encourage farmers to increase production; use social safety nets to improve resilience; strengthen nutritional policies to improve early childhood development; and design trade policies that enhance access to food markets, reduce food price volatility and induce productivity gains.

    However, the challenges countries face in responding to high food prices have been made more difficult as a result of the global recession.

    “The fragile global economy could very well slow developing countries’ progress on human development goals, since the fiscal, debt, and current account positions, particularly of low income countries, have been weakened by the global financial crisis,” said Hugh Bredenkamp, deputy director of the IMF’s Strategy, Policy and Review Department.

    Regional progress towards the MDGs is uneven. While upper middle income countries are on track to achieve most targets, low-income or fragile countries are lagging, with only two goals achieved or on track. While food prices have declined from their 2011 peaks, commodity prices remain volatile.

    “To help deal with volatility, more developing countries are complementing their fiscal and monetary policy responses with insurance or hedging operations, such as selling crops in forward markets. This can be part of a broader strategy for managing risks like natural disasters and swings in commodity prices,” said Lynge Nielsen, senior economist at the IMF.

    Jos Verbeek, lead economist at the World Bank and lead author of GMR 2012, cautioned that declining development assistance, population growth and high food prices will make the need to focus on nutrition programs for the poor even more challenging.

    “According to our projections, an estimated 1.02 billion people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2015. Clearly, assistance must be leveraged in new ways if we are to improve food security and nutrition, particularly for the poor and vulnerable,” said Verbeek. (IMF/World Bank)

  • Homes, Crops Destroyed by Heavy Rains

    Over 169 hectares of food crops have been washed away by the recent constant rains since 11 May in Murundi sector, Kayonza district.

    The executive secretary of Murundi sector Murekezi Claude said most crops destroyed include those planted in low laying areas especially mashlands.

    “beans,maize,sorhgum and soyabeans crops have been mostly washed away by floods”.

    Residents in the area fear that in the nearfuture they will have to endure hunger since this season there is less to harvest from their gardens.

    Not only crops, houses were also destroyed especially in Ryamanyoni and Cyamburara villages in Murundi sector.

    Murekezi says that the concerned authorities have been notified about the problem and residents are waiting for the responces from above.

    Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Prime Minister Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi accompanied by government officials visited flooded areas resulting from busted Nyabugogo, Nyabarongo and Akagera rivers.

    The Prime Minister diercted concerned institutions to respond quickly to the affected citizens and finding a long term solution to the flood problem.

    Dr. Habumuremyi also said effective this week, a series of community work (Umuganda) should be conducted to cleanup roads and blocked water ways.

  • Odinga Accuses Kibaki of Not Consulting Him

    In Kenya, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has opposed appointment of 47 county commissioners saying President Mwai Kibaki did not consult him.

    The Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) said the appointments should be re-done because the Kibaki did not follow the law while making the appointments.

    Dennis Onyango,the spokesman of Odinga said, “The PM says he was not consulted. He also does not understand what their specific roles are because the Constitution says that governors will be in charge of the counties. He feels their appointment is a recipe for chaos in the counties”.

    Five Orange Democratic Movement Cabinet ministers have also opposed the selection, many arguing that they were not fair to all tribes.

    However, Kenya President’s office explained that appointments concurred with Section 17 of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

    It is provided in the section that “Within five years after the effective date, the national government shall restructure the system of administration commonly known as the provincial administration to accord with and respect the system of devolved government established under this Constitution.”

    The county commissioners will coordinate security, national government functions and delivery of services, according to the announcement from the President Press Service (PPS).

  • South Sudan Lobbys to Join East African Community

    A Southern Sudan delegation is in Tanzania lobbying for support of the East African Community.

    James Wani Igga speaking on behalf of the Speaker of the Southern Sudan parliament said the region stands to benefit immensely if South Sudan joins the regional body.

    The delegation met members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

    “I had one long message to the honourable Members of Parliament; that we are eager to join the bloc and we have asked their support to fast track our intention to become new member of this important regional body.”

    He said allowing Southern Sudan to join the EAC would be of mutual benefit to all member countries, considering the readily available market of about ten million people for various products produced in the region.

    The EALA Speaker, Abdirahin Abdi, said the issues discussed would be forwarded to Heads of State for resolution.