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Gil Courtemanche a journalist in international and third-world politics, and an author of several non-fiction works, whose novel on Rwanda’s 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, was successful and translated into 23 languages, died early Friday from cancer. His publisher les Éditions du Boreal said.

A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali (original French title: Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali) is the first and successful novel by Montreal author Gil Courtemanche
Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali, which recounts the Rwandan genocide of 1994 against the Tutsi, and it, was published in 2000.

The novel was translated into English as A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali in 2003 and made into the acclaimed film Un dimanche à Kigali in 2006.

Another of his books, Une belle mort, was also adapted for the screen in 2010.
He is survived by his mother, daughter, granddaughter, four sisters and one brother.

Courtemanche, who was born in 1943 and became a journalist in 1962, was recognized for his analysis of international politics for a variety of media.

These included Radio-Canada, the French-language network of the CBC; Quebec City Le Soleil; and most recently Montreal Le Devoir.

He was also one of the co-founders of the now-defunct sovereigntist newspaper Le Jour in the 1970s.

The Coffee cup of excellence stages two and three are slated for this 22nd to 25th of August 2011. The best coffee will be awarded on 26th August at Karongi District

This follows the pre-selection stage of coffee samples that was done by experienced international and national coffee cuppers between 18-22 last month.

The first stage was aimed at eliminating poor quality coffees.

Out of 189 samples that were brought to the competition, 132 samples qualified for the international jury selection.

The Coffee Cup of Excellence benefits coffee farmers, as the winning coffees are sold through an Internet auction to the highest bidder.

In 2010 the top winning coffee was awarded by The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister and was then sold at $52.05 per kilo and the last at $16.09.

These coffees have a very rare and exemplary quality. They are perfectly ripe, carefully sorted and processed, with well-developed body, pleasant aroma and a lively sweetness that only extremely high quality specialty coffees contain.

Each winning coffee has its own flavor signature from the soil where it grows and has been handcrafted to enhance its unique characteristics.

The Cup of Excellence Program is owned by non-profit Alliance for Coffee Excellence INC and is dedicated to exemplary coffee and coffee farmers.

Since 1999, the Cup of Excellence programs have been hosted in Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia and 2011 will be the third time in Rwanda.

The Alliance for Coffee Excellence team in collaboration with the National Agriculture Export Development Board are in charge of bringing this program and competition to the African continent for the third time.

The Rwandan coffee sector aims at recognising quality coffee from big and small farms. The competition is normally conducted in three stages.

Rwanda’s Judiciary has launched new electronic system called Electronic Filing System that will be used to file all cases and submitted online to the Courts of Laws.

The new eletronic system enables more efficiency in Information Technology projects currently being implemented in a number of pilot sites.

Electronic Records Management System Includes a Case Management Module, Digital Court Recording System, Electronic Filing System which will include other subcomponents such as electronic payment of court fees, toll free lines, Electronic Alert System using SMS and Email, Video Conferencing System and Legal Information Portal.

Charles Kariwabo the Judicial Spokesperson noted, “the new system will help citizens in submiting their cases electronically without wasting time and money coming here.

Citizens will just scan and email detailed documents of their cases to the courts and people in charge will be working immediately notifying back that person telling him that his documents have been delivered to the court.”

A Judicial IT Committee has been created to ensure that information management initiatives are fully aligned to the Judiciary’s Strategic plan.

The major task of the Committee will be to devise a holistic approach to integrate the use of technology in litigation process and harnessing the benefit of experience.

The judiciary also intends to make the courts operational all the time, reducing long process delays, making best use of time and resources, reducing long queues when filing documents and also to avoid high costs of operating due to moving long distances.

Johnson Busingye the President of the Supreme Court, remarks, “This is to enable us identify and address problems before they surface when the use of EFS is made compulsory.”

Payment can also be done online and the system will support electronic servicing of court documents, subject to what the domestic legal acts allow.

A Pilot phase has already started with; Supreme Court, Commercial Court, Gasabo High Court, and also Nyarugenge High Court.

Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) under the patronage of Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are sensitizing for barrier free society for people with disabilities in order to enable them reach their needs of social and economic participation.

Kobayashi Hiroyuki, JICA resident representative told Igihe.com, “the workshop was to share knowledge and experience about barrier free activities because most of the Rwandans with disabilities cannot find it themselves and they could not recognize their difficulties as people with disabilities.

After getting lectures, they did practical workshop themselves and moved in different areas of the hotel to recognize it themselves and then tomorrow in their houses and everywhere they are going; they will experience it.”

JICA in Rwanda is involved I different sectors including; agriculture, water and sanitation, education, energy and transportation. The workshop was under the education sector.

Prof. Yoshihiko Kawauki, a JICA expert of barrier-free a wheelchair user is experience in raising awareness towards barrier-free society in many countries.

He told igihe.com, “about 40 years ago I broke my leg and I had to use a wheelchair up to now. After today’s session I realized that physical environment in Rwanda is far behind and its very necessary for the society to change their mind set and recognize people with disabilities in whatever they do like during construction process, they should put in mind that even people with disabilities will use the same building.” “We have been also lecturing them on how to overcome such challenges,” he added.

Zinda Victor, Vice Chair of people with disabilities in Niboye sector, Kicukiro district and a student at KIE has a family of three children and a wife. He attended the workshop to give a presentation.

Zinda pointed out that, “I started a cleaning company and will also be dealing with furniture workshop. Sometimes we get challenges and find with no people to push us while on our wheelchairs, or even claim for money and sometimes getting into the toilets is also a problem.”

He added, “The major problem is entering into the staled buildings, and also roads in our residential areas are not well formulated for our wheelchairs.”

He also said that the message received from the workshop will help them to advocate and also to transform their lives.

Police in Gisagara district is holding a man of gaharanyonga village suspected to have murdred three family members.

Felix Nzabalinda is in Police custody over the murder of Emmanuel Murekezi 39, J. Bosco Sinzabakwira 20 (an in law to Murekezi) and Vianney Gashongore 43, while three other suspects are still at large.

Its alleged that after entering a bar, four armed men opened fire right away that killed three people, other six escaped through the window uninjured.

According to the eye witness, the assailants fled without looting anything.

The eye witness further told police, that he recognized some two attackers as Peter Minani and Nkuriragenda, Burundian citizens who believed to have fled to Burundi immediately.

He added that, Minani had earlier called Murekezi asking him to pay money he owned him, the eye witness says, this is suspected to have been the cause of the murder.

According to information posted onto the National Police website, it is claimed that Peter Minani, the principal assailant was a business partner of Murekezi Emmanuel and they were involved in fraudulent sale of items from Burundi.

After arriving at the scene of crime, the Inspector General of Police Emmanuel K. Gasana, Governor of Southern Province and the area RDF division commander, calmed and assured residents of ultimate security and promised to fetch the criminals to justice.

IGP Gasana secured residents, saying the Rwanda police is working hand in hand with Burundian counterparts to track down and take into custody the criminals that seem to have fled to Burundi.

Gasana said, “ You should enlarge local night patrols and for all time provide well-timed information to avert such criminal acts.”

Igihe.com has reliably learnt that the US Congress has just approved Susan Page as the new and the first United States’ ambassador to South Sudan, which became independent last month.

Currently serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, Page is an experienced hand on American diplomacy in Africa.
She has worked on Sudan and Rwanda with the United Nations and on African issues at non-governmental organizations.

Earlier today, US president Barrack Obama had nominated Page due to her extensive experience in the U.S. foreign services, having worked in Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda and Botswana.

South Sudan government headed by Salva Kiir seceded from the North on July 9, and was shortly admitted to the United Nations as its 193rd member.

In a referendum held in January following two decades of conflict, the people of southern part of Sudan overwhelmingly voted for independence, dividing Africa’s largest country into two.

Despite the partition, North and South Sudan have a lot of work remaining to put in place, such as arrangements on security, citizenship, international treaties, economics, a soft border and natural resources.

They include the amount of oil proceeds to the North during a transition period before they lose most of their revenue from the South’s oil, and problems of ownership of the pipeline and other complicated structural issues in how to run the oil sector when countries divide.

The United States has offered to host in September a major development and private investors’ conference for Southern Sudan.

The Director General of Rwanda Transport Development Agency Elias Twagira has said that the country is yet to construct three weighbridges as to harmonize its axle load control laws and regulations.

This was resolved in a three-day 3rd East African Community (EAC) stakeholder’s workshop on harmonization of axle load control laws and regulations currently in progress at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

The main objective of the workshop is to receive summary of key findings, reach consensus on outstanding issues and develop a roadmap for the finalisation of the study on harmonization of axle load control laws and regulations in the EAC.

He, however, did not specify where and when the weighing facilities will be installed.

In his keynote address at the official opening of the workshop, the EAC Director for Infrastructure, Philip Wambugu said the workshop was critical in reaching consensus on outstanding issues pertaining to the harmonization of axle load regulations in the region, a vital component of the larger EAC trade and transport facilitation program.

Director Wambugu said the present situation of differentiated axle weight loading requirements where some Partner States were imposing a 56-ton requirement while others applying 48-ton were contradictory to the spirit and objectives of regional integration and untenable.

But the argument is no more according to Twagira since all member states have agreed to adopt 56ton. “In the past Rwanda allowed 53 ton but it is high time we construct weigh bridges to facilitate the harmonization process,” he remarked.

Wambugu further hailed the EAC Partner States and stakeholders for the strong support and involvement they have shown towards the harmonization of not only vehicle overload control in the region, but also in developing the regional transport strategy, a roads development program and the development of the One Stop Border Post concept, among other important initiatives.

Twagira revealed, “In Rwanda we’re yet to conduct a study to find whether it would be appropriate for us to shift to right hand drive like the majority of EAC member states”.

Corridor diagnostic studies have been carried out along the two major transit corridors in EAC namely; the Northern Corridor and the Central Corridor and the studies reveal a discouraging scenario with border delays, inefficient weighbridges and unnecessary police checks being the biggest culprits.

“The situation is of course aggravated by the poor performance of the railway system, which would alleviate greatly the burden on the highways and reduce the high maintenance costs of roads,” Wambugu remarked.

The EAC director of infrastructure added that by rationalizing and harmonizing axle weight loading, the region shall not only remove a costly logistics burden from the backs of the operators and investors.

However, “We shall also dramatically put a shine on the Brand East Africa that we are at the moment promoting as a prime investment destination”.

The Director informed the delegates that the Final Report of the Study will be tabled to the Ministers responsible for road transport for consideration and adoption in September 2011.

The East African Community Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Beatrice Kiraso has said that good governance and rule of law, are basic conditions for peaceful co-existence and economic prosperity for the regional bloc.

Kiraso who is also Secretary General of Uganda’s strongest opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) was speaking at a conference in Kampala Uganda with the theme: “Upholding the Rule of Law and Constitutionalism for the Promotion of Regional Integration.”

Hon. Kiraso also argued the EAC citizens to fully participate in good governance issues as they have a crucial role and duty to play in their countries’ growth and development.

“Complacency on the part of citizens towards their governments’ actions, or their reluctance to participate in governance processes contributes to bad governance,” she underscored.

“Guaranteeing the security of people in East Africa will ensure sustainable development in the region,“ she said.

However, the EAC official cautioned that when holding the government accountable, the people must behave responsibly as individuals and communities through their elected representatives.

The Vice President of Uganda Dr. Edward Kiwanuka Ssekendi emphasised the importance of upholding rule of law and constitutionalism in the region, saying that they are the bedrock in the deepening and widening East African Community (EAC) integration.

“Deficits in good governance principles and practices have been responsible for conflicts and political unrest in some parts of the continent,” he further noted adding that efforts to address them collectively will make the region more stable.

In regard to the constitutionalism and administration of justice in the regional context, Sskendi added that it was a manifestation of EAC partner states and determination to take the integration process to its logical conclusion literally meaning the EAC Political Federation.

“We cannot go there unless certain principles, policies and legislations are harmonized,” the Vice President stressed.

Commenting on the issues raised, Rwanda’s justice minister Tharcise Karugarama noted that there was a need to harmonize policies and laws but only at a regional level.

He further pointed out that not all laws can be harmonized since member states have different systems of governance and history.

“Tanzania for instance is a federal state which shares power with Zanzibar, you see their background wouldn’t allow them to harmonize all their laws, Rwanda too has its own history and way of doing things,” he emphasised.

“This isn’t an issue of Rwanda against East Africa all countries have different systems and it would be hard to harmonize all laws to have East Africa as one country with uniform laws,” he remarked.

Karugarama further noted that there was progress in the country’s good governance despite a few that criticize the representative voting process whereby citizens vote political parties as opposed to individuals.

“It’s not only Rwanda that uses this style even other countries have similar voting processes, and we also have direct elections too, the criticism is not right,” he remarked.

The objective of the annual conference is to promote continuous debate and advocacy at the highest levels of political leadership to underscore good governance if regional integration is to be strong and sustainable.

At the end of the conference, the delegates will make some resolutions and recommendations to the EAC decision-making organs.

The program on Good Governance bases on Article 6(d) of the Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community which provides for upholding the fundamental principles of good governance including adherence to the rule of law, accountability, transparency and respect for human rights, gender equality and equal opportunities.

A draft Protocol is in the process of being finalized according to reliable sources of the Arusha-based EAC Secretiariat.

The three day annual conference which began wednesday is organized by EAC Secretariat and will build on the momentum from the two previous conferences.