A police patrol car commonly known as Panda gali (get on a car) last night slipped off the road into a gully at RTUC near round point at Sonatubes-kicukiro in Kigali.
Igihe.com attempted to obtain more information about the accident but the police at the scene declined him of any information not even to take pictures.
On a telephone interview, police spokesperson Supt. Theos Badege confirmed the accident but said he has not yet got detailed information about it
Rwandan R&B singer Benjamin Mugisha alias The Ben exiled in the United States of America has expressed interests to return home after living in New York city for close to two years now.
In a phone interview with one of the renowned musicians in the US Mike Soda who also works closely with The Ben, he admitted that he is recording songs of Rwandan context; they consist of topics related to peace and reconciliation which are contrary to his style of love songs.
Soda said that Ben’s talent has improved since he arrived in the US and due to his electrifying performances, he has been selected to perform on a California tour but his performance is scheduled on 3rd December.
The R&B singer has changed his stage name to his surname Mugisha meaning luck in Kinyarwanda.
“He has often told me that he prefers his real name in order to associate himself with his mother country Rwanda, I support his idea since it brings Rwandan musicians to the spotlight who I believe through Ben’s delivery that they have talent,” he remarked.
However, the former local singer’s move to come home has been rebuffed by some of his fans who find his passion for patriotism as a mere scapegoat.
“Remember when they first fled with his colleague Meddy they didn’t give a clear reason to their fans, then again in order to get an asylum in the US it means you have to talk bad about your home country in order to be accommodated there.”
“They should not waste their time coming, we now have better talented musicians like King James for instance Rider-Man, Tom-Close name them,” Said Abdi Gatete a music store owner in Nyamirambo’s Tari Nyota area.
The recent rainfall has left Nyabogogo-Kinamba-Kacyiru road flooded causing heavy traffic jam and business standstill near bus terminal.
About five hundred meters in length of the road were flooded due to allegedly the place being close to the wetland.
A new income opportunity for young men around the area begun as they begun lifting people on their back to assist them cross the flooded part of the road.
“This road floods and people want to cross to the end and they don’t have a way out, so I offered my service by lifting them and they pay me Rwf 100,” One young man only identified as Musa said.
This follows last week’s Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi’s visit to the area where he instructed the ministry of infrastructure to make terms of reference in one month for experts top carry out a deeper study to solve the flooding problem at Nyabugogo.
According to Bruno Rangira the Kigali city Director of Communications said that technical study to solve the problem is highly needed so as to have a solution once and for all.
Rangira said the study needs to look into aspects of drainage systems, roads and houses being near the wetland and the like.
He estimates that all the work needed to be complimented mid next year.
Ends
As Gicumbi District marks world Aids day in Gihembe refugee camp, officials has announced that 319 refugees have been infected with HIV.
Only 89 refugees have started getting ant-retroviral drugs, according to statistics from 2004 till date.
Maclean Natugasha an official of American Refugee Committee which helps the refugee to fight the scourge declined to give details of the Aids situation by press time.
In recent statistics released, 6000 young people were getting infected each day and according to the behavioral studies of Rwandan youth, the proportion of sexually active young men and women aged 15-24 years increased from 34 to 39 percent among young men while 20 to 26 percent among young women between 2006 and 2009.
HIV prevalence among youth aged 15-24 years in Rwanda is estimated at 1.0 percent, public officials announced as campaigns for World AIDS Day (WAD) in a recent press briefing.
However some refugees who analyzed situation say, the number of HIV infected refugees may be more than the official statistics due to unprotected life styles in the camp.
“That number must be very small, of course those are people who managed to jump the culture of stigma, based on behaviors I see here and lots of redundancies in the camp with no jobs to keep us occupied many young men and women could possibly end up into sexual interactions,” Said one refugee who declined to publish his name.
In her speech, Theresa Mujawamariya the vice mayor in charge of social affairs called upon more young men to be involved in the fight against the scourge.
Mujawamariye observed that above 18 years of youth did not turn up of the marking of the world Aids day.
“The most targeted group is the productive age group yet I have seen this group neglecting this campaign,” Mujawamariya said.
She also called upon girls to always make firm stand in making their sexual interaction decisions and fight stigma.
She also advised that more ant-aids clubs are needed in the refugee camp if the fight of the scourge has to be successful.
The event to mark the world aids day at the District level which took place in the refugee camp was jointly organized by American Rescue Committee (ARC), Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Gicumbi District.
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Following public funds accountability flaws as shown in the 2010 Auditor General’s 2010 report, Prime Minister Jean Damien Habumuremyi has called for a meeting with all government chief accounting officers December 2, 2011.
The meeting will also be attended by Auditor General, the Prosecutor General and the Ombudsman all government ministers, Mayor of Kigali City, governors and district mayors.
The report revealed unaccounted for financial expenditures. The meeting has been called to address all issues raised by the report in order to agree on lasting corrective measures.
Rwanda has put in place good financial accountability systems, trained accounting officers and Public Financial Management – PFM, initiatives that have born good results.
Asked about the aim of the meeting, Protais Musoni, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, said “it is in the spirit of staying the course on zero-tolerance to corruption”.
Rwanda on Thursday was ranked the 4th least corrupt nation in Africa and 49th in the world by Transparency International, its score of 5.0 out of 10 only beaten by Botswana, Cape Verde and Mauritius.
When the graft index was first introduced in 2007, Rwanda was at a lowly 111th position on the Transparency list of 178 countries, with a dismal score of 2.8.
The Author is
Director General for Media and Communication
Office of the Prime Mnister