Igihe

Blog

  • Kayonza: Visually Impaired Lacking White Cane

    The Blind or visually impaired people in Kayonza District have complained against the lack of white canes which help them as a mobility tool used to detect objects in the path of a user.

    During the celebration of International Day of White Cane, the Blind said the cost of the cane is high with reference to their financial capacity.

    In 2010, MINISANTE conducted a study on visually impaired people and found that in 64,000 blinds country wide include 144, 000 with one eye while only 10% of three thousand members of Rwanda Union of the Blind possess white canes.

    The Chief Executive of Rwanda Union of Blinds, Kanimba Donatile said the Union will continue to advocate for them.

    Initially, one white cane costs around Rwf 25000 to Rwf 30 000.

  • RTUC Student Commits Suicide

    Harezimana Innocent, 26 who was a student at Rwanda Tourism University College has killed himself after silently suffering with uncontrollable conditions for years.

    The witnesses said the incidents happened a while after rain when Harezimana Innocent hang himself in a small house situated in Remera near the Airtel office.

  • 50 Witnesses Testify Against Bugingo

    A Norwegian court trying former Rwandan businessman Sadi Bugingo this week started hearing more than 50 witnesses by video conference from Kigali.

    Bugingo, 47, is accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in the former Kibungo, eastern Province, in 1994. He has been living in Norway since 2001.

    The hearings are set to continue until November 29. The witnesses are testifying from a room in the Supreme Court in Kigali which has video conference equipment.

    The trial proceedings are being conducted in Norway with translation into Kinyarwanda, the language of the witnesses.

    Bugingo was arrested in Norway in 2010. This is the first genocide trial before a Norwegian court. It is expected to last several months and to close in early 2013.

  • 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.

  • Wednesday Market Report Update

    On the RSE market, only Bralirwa counter recorded the transactions.

    October 24, trading session recorded a turnover of Rwf 3,289,000 from 7,000 Bralirwa shares traded in 3 deals compared to October 23, trading session which recorded a turnover of Rwf 4,618,000 from 11,300 BK shares and 6,700 Bralirwa shares traded in 2 deals.

    Bralirwa shares traded between Rwf 460 and Rwf 470 and closed at Rwf 470, unchanged from yesterday’s closing price whereas BK counter was quiet and remained unchanged from yesterday’s closing price of Rwf 130.

    KCB and NMG shares last transacted at Rwf 154 and Rwf 1,200 respectively.

    At the end of formal trading hours, there were outstanding bids of 50,000 BK shares at Rwf 125 and outstanding offers of 308,800 shares between Rwf 129 and Rwf 131.

    On Bralirwa counter, there were outstanding bids of 7,000 shares between Rwf 430 and Rwf 461 and no outstanding offers.

  • Movie: ‘Paranormal’ Debuts at No. 1 with $30.2M

    Scary movie fans are still into “Paranormal Activity,” though the horror franchise looks as though it’s starting to run out of steam at the box office.

    Paramount’s “Paranormal Activity 4” debuted at No. 1 with $30.2 million, a big drop from the $40 million and $50 million opening weekends of the last two installments, according to studio estimates Sunday.

    Perpetual hit maker Tyler Perry failed to find an audience for his new persona as an ace crime solver. Summit Entertainment’s “Alex Cross,” starring Perry as author James Patterson’s brilliant criminal profiler, was a dud, opening at No. 5 with $11.8 million.

    Perry has written, directed and starred in a string of hits featuring his sassy grandma Madea, which mostly have had opening weekends two and three times bigger than that of “Alex Cross.”

    Fans didn’t buy into Perry as the title character, who goes up against a diabolical serial killer.

    “He’s become so identified and so successful with the Madea franchise that when he steps outside of that, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the audience is going along with him,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. “It’s fun for him to stretch out a little bit, but it didn’t really pay off.”

    Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage tale “Argo” held up well in its second weekend, remaining at No. 2 with $16.6 million, dropping just 15 percent from its debut. Big studio releases often drop 50 percent or more in subsequent weekends, but “Argo” has proven a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning Academy Awards buzz and strong word of mouth that should give it a long run at theaters.

    Affleck, who also directed “Argo,” plays a CIA specialist who concocts a wild plan to rescue six Americans hiding in Tehran after the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy there.

    Released by Warner Bros., “Argo” raised its domestic total to $43.2 million.

    Liam Neeson’s action sequel “Taken 2,” which had been No. 1 the previous two weekends, slipped to fourth place with $13.4 million, lifting the 20th Century Fox release’s domestic haul to $106 million.

    Adam Sandler’s animated hit “Hotel Transylvania,” from Sony Pictures, also held up well at No. 3 with $13.5 million, pushing its domestic earnings to $119 million.

    While domestic revenues were way down for the fourth “Paranormal Activity” flick, the franchise remains a big moneymaker for distributor Paramount.

    “Paranormal Activity 4” was produced on a tiny budget of $5 million, continuing the franchise’s trend of turning minimal investments into tidy profits.

    “For us, the focus is always, what are these movies made for and how profitable are they? Within Paramount, it’s a colossal success,” said Don Harris, the studio’s head of distribution.

    “A $5 million movie that has an opening weekend of over $30 million, it’s really kind of irrelevant what No. 2 or No. 3 did. The movies really stand on their own.”

    Overseas, “Paranormal Activity 4” had a good start with $26.5 million in 33 countries, giving it a worldwide total of $56.7 million.

    In limited release, Fox Searchlight’s acclaimed drama “The Sessions” did solid business, opening with $121,005 in four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, for a healthy average of $30,251 a cinema.

    By comparison, “Paranormal Activity 4” averaged $8,851 in 3,412 theaters.

    “The Sessions” stars John Hawkes and Helen Hunt in the true-life story of a man, paralyzed by polio and stuck in an iron lung most of his life, who hires a sexual surrogate so he can lose his virginity. The film expands to more cities over the next month.

    While “Paranormal Activity 4” fell short of the franchise’s third installment, which opened over the same weekend last year, overall Hollywood revenues continued to rise after a late-summer slump.

    Strong holdovers such as “Argo,” “Hotel Transylvania” and “Taken 2” made the difference, with domestic business totaling $131 million, up 8 percent from the same weekend a year ago, according to Hollywood.com. Revenues were up for the fourth-straight weekend.

    “Last year, the box office was so top-heavy with `Paranormal Activity 3,’ and the rest of the films really underperformed,” Dergarabedian said. “This year, we have a much more balanced lineup.”

    Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

    1. “Paranormal Activity 4,” $30.2 million ($26.5 million international).

    2. “Argo,” $16.6 million ($1.2 million international).

    3. “Hotel Transylvania,” $13.5 million ($14.5 million international).

    4. “Taken 2,” $13.4 million ($23.6 million international).

    5. “Alex Cross,” $11.8 million.

    6. “Sinister,” $9 million ($2.3 million international).

    7. “Here Comes the Boom,” $8.5 million.

    8. “Pitch Perfect,” $7 million ($320,000 international).

    9. “Frankenweenie,” $4.4 million ($4.1 million international).

    10. “Looper,” $4.2 million ($5.6 million international).