Igihe

Tag: HomeNews

  • Disappointment Reaction to iPhone 4S

    The new iPhone – the 4S – is the first product to be launched since Steve Jobs left his CEO post, and possibly the first to get a luke-warm reception from Apple fans.

    Before he passed on, Jobs was the co-creator, innovator and, largely, the face of the brand with indisputable strength.

    The new phone has disappointed fans anticipating something perhaps more innovative than what many see as just a faster version of the iPhone 4.

    Professor John Naughton of the Open University and Wolfson College, at the University of Cambridge says that the response to the new iPhone has little to do with the product itself.

    “The ‘disappointment’ reaction to the iPhone 4S is a reflection mostly of the idiocy of the stock-market analysts and some parts of the blogosphere,” Naughton said.

    “What did they expect? A phone that could do teleporting? The 4GS seems to me to be an intelligent enhancement of an already superb product: the voice-recognition system is potentially very important; and the improved camera is also significant – the iPhone is now the most popular camera on Flickr, for example. This seems to have bypassed the more excitable – and clueless – parts of the mass media.”

    “Apple’s real problem is that Apple’s competitive advantage is culture – many great technology companies have tried to replicate Apple and failed,” said Stephens, who does not think customers will downgrade the brand after Jobs’s passing.

    Ian Stephens, principal at Saffron Brand Consultants in the UK says,”The thing that frustrates them is that they get smart people, they invest, the do the market research, and yet, time and time again, they fall short of where Apple is, and the difference is culture,” said Stephens, who said Jobs, known as a “tough micro-manager on every level”, was “irreplaceable and an all-encompassing eye-in-the sky”.

    The danger the company faces is that Apple will stop being Apple, and that “over time their invincibility will wane, and the very hungry competitors around them will actually do what they’ve not been able to do for at least the last decade, and match Apple’s ability to somehow create these amazing products that capture people’s imaginations, because those things have come from the Apple culture, and the Apple culture comes from Steve Jobs,” Stephens said.

  • Donating to Orphans on Valentines Day

    This Valentine’s Day the global residents will have a chance to send a little love through donations to the hearts of children at “Urukundo Home for Children” through the Hearts for Rwanda art show and exhibition.

    Urukundo Village of Rwanda is Located in Gitarama. Urukundo Home for Children is a refuge for orphans of genocide and HIV/AIDs. It will be celebrating their opening this Saturday night from 7-9 P.M at a show that will feature pieces of art, created by the children themselves.

    Arlene Brown a 79-year old American, who runs the orphanage and clinic for the children and the surrounding community, says they receive their donations through “Hope Made Real” from the United States as well as other private donors.

    “Hearts for Rwanda and Valentine’s day is the perfect coincidence, for this season is all about one thing—love” said Mrs. Brown, “Valentine’s Day is more than just saying to someone, ‘I love you,’ it’s an expression of love.”

    Each work of art will have a suggested donation of $20 a piece for every purchase.All the funds will go directly to help the children of the Urukundo Home for Children in Rwanda.

    One of the famous pieces is one of twins whom were recently tested for AIDS, while one twin was diagnosed, the other was not.

    “I sent over plain canvas pieces and they drew and colored,” Brown said of the children. “They sent it back to me, and I enhanced the color in some places, and then put it on simple wood.”

    The pieces can be placed anywhere in the homes of the buyers. They include depictions of mixed Hearts, Rwandan flags, African themes and many different fabrics like metal pieces and more are featured in the art.

    “Donations are welcome from all. Visit our website and findout how you can donate or even volunteer, this is not only for those who were not able to get a piece of art but most importantly for the children of Urukundo village.

  • San Francisco DJ Ready To Spin Butare

    DJ Arndt Peltner from San Francisco will be spinning discs from dusk to dawn this Friday night in Butare town in southern part of Rwanda.

    DJ Peltner will be playing music that dates back to the stone ages up to today’s contemporary German music. The music will range from mixing hip hop, electronic pop, electronic body music, dark wave and Gothic.

    When DJ peltner is not busy spinning discs he is the host of the radio show Goethe, which is aired over 40 stations in the USA, Canada, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland, and his native home town Germany. Peltner is also the founder and producer of this great establishment.

    In cooperation with the faculty of arts and drama of the national university of Rwanda, Peltner has also allowed to give a free presentation that will give the audience an insight into the world of German music ranging from hip hop, pop, rock, hard rock, metallica, the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today’s contemporary German music just the way the Germans like it.

    The presentation which is called “free you ear, music without limits” will be held in the halls of the national university where everyone is invited. It will also be aired on Radio Salus, where Peltner will also be talking about his future plans for directing a workshop on the creative way of producing radio features, live broadcasts and community radio.

    The spin off which will be after the presentation will start at 8 PM at the underground disco called “Space Place’ the nights theme which is called “Profound Sound” will be a free entrance and will aim at giving Rwanda a real taste of what it would be like to be on the street of the Hamburg red light district.

  • Protecting Culture Against Modernisation

    Modernisation is threatening the very existence of some of Rwanda’s traditional values and cultural heritage thus the struggle for its survival begins on the 17th of February 2012 in Kigali with an open round table discussion with some of Rwanda’s great minds.

    However, modernisation comes with a price; our responsibility to keep our traditional cultures alive.

    Its upon this background therefore that Rwandan great minds; Kalisa Rugano a writer and a cultural activist, Thomas Bazatsinda the chief of the national ballet of Rwanda and Dr. Amiable Mugarwa a senior lecturer and founder of the cultural lab “Umurage” will be present at this month’s round table discussion sharing with the public their knowledge on how to preserve cultural heritage while living in a modern society.

    IGIHE.com talked to Miss. Angella a Rwandan author that will be present at the discussion, “Right now modernization is not a way of life in the contemporary Rwanda, but the changes are very visible.”

    She added, “If you are to compare the past traditional values and cultural lifestyle to today, you will notice changes through the behaviour of present society. For example; the influx of newly created Kinyarwanda words are common. One doesn’t know the difference between the original and slang version which is threatening the original and rich texts into oblivion.”

    She explains that what was once a group of a few university students trying to break in the music industry in Rwanda has become an industry with rich talent every other hour. On the contrary all this new modernization of our music is drowning traditional music.

  • Sensitisation Campaign on Land Taxation Intensifies

    Stakeholders involved in settling landrelated challenges have shown interests in strengthening a campaign aimed at educating the public on land taxation and lease fees reducing confusion among the public on the matter.

    Addressing participants at the opening of a two day meeting on land lease and land taxation, Annie Kayiraba the LandNet Rwanda Chapter Coordinator, stressed that her organization intends to start a nationwide awareness program training both local leaders and the public on land tax/ lease fee.

    “Our experts will soon start the trainings especially in rural areas and also train local leaders on how to educate their people on land matters,” she said.

    Emmanuel Nkurunziza, the director general of Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) commended Kayiraba’s initiative and urged other stakeholders to step up the campaign.

    “We cannot do the sensitization alone since there’re many issues over the matter and I think most of them resulted from poor communication from our employees that conducted land registration process. They didn’t communicate fully about tax and lease fees for those holding title deeds,” he remarked.

    Also district advisory councils mandated to set the tax fees, impose fees in unclear manner. NKurunziza admitted that they are given a certain range of fees to tax but most often the advisory councils tend to impose the higher fees.

    Kayiraba argued that the district management should explain clearly to the public how tax rates are fixed since there’re cases of people who are taxed low rates due to favoritism from the advisory councils.

    Briefly explaining how the land lease and tax fees are allocated, Nkurunziza noted that the amount is charged in two forms, one is the lease hold which requires an yearly payment of land tax while the second is free hold which exempts the land owner from tax after paying tax for ten years.

    He added that in order for one to acquire a free hold for instance they need to prove to the district management that they are going to construct a building or start an activity which is in line with the master plan.

    Then later pay the land tax for 10 years, having fulfilled the two one will only be paying the property tax fee of the house they have constructed for example.

    “The amount isn’t much since a tax of 0.01% is charged according to the value of the house,” he said.

    On the part of land hold, Frw 1000 is charged to land over 2 hectare, this amount is common in the rural but in urban areas the fee can rise according to location of the land.

  • Cabinet Approves New 50FRW Coin

    Cabinet on 8th February 2012 approved the Presidential order confirming the new 50 FRW coin. The cabinet meeting was convened at village Urugwiro and chaired by President Paul Kagame.

    Also approved include; Ministerial Order governing the extent and modalities of compensation for people attacked by Wild animals, the ministerial Order governing the population of wild animals in national parks and protected areas.

    Cabinet Meeting also approved; The National Policy on the cooperation with the East African Community. The National Policy on the management of water resources.

    Also Cabinet Meeting approved the Draft law governing the services provided by experts in Rwanda and Draft law approving the trade treaty between Rwanda and Congo Brazaville.

    The Rwanda Electronic Single Window system was presented to cabinet which recognized present achievements and appealed for fast tracking of remaining aspects.

    A report on the refurbishment of SOPYRWA Pyrethrum Company was presented to the cabinet meeting and recognized achievements made and called for increased production.

    Cabinet was presented with a report on the construction of a cassava processing plant in Kinazi, Ruhango district. The cabinet meeting recognized the progress made and called for speedy finalization of remaining phases so that the plant can begin operations beginning of March.

    The Cabinet Meeting appointed Mrs. UWIMBABAZI Espérance, The Director in charge of Ubudehe program In the Rwanda Local Development Support Fund, Mr. GAHAMANYI Vincent was appointed- The director in Charge of Umurenge Vision 2020 program and Mr. BUTERA Eric appointed Chief Advisor to the CEO.

    Meanwhile In the national Unity and Reconciliation commission, Mr. Richard KANANGA was appointed-The director in charge of peace and conflict resolution.

    In the diplomatic domain, Cabinet approved the following envoys to represent their countries in Rwanda:

    – Mrs Antila SINIKKA representing Finland with residence in Dar Es Salaam;

    – Mr. Eleftherios KOUVARITAKIS representing Greece with residence in Nairobi;

    – Mr. Thambirajah RAVEENTHIRAN, representing Sri Lanka with residence in Nairobi;

    – Mr Andrew GBEBAY BANGALI, representing Sierra Leone with residence in Addis Ababa;

    – Mr. DEGEFE Bula Wakjera representing Ethiopia, with residence in Kampala;

    – Mr Stefano Antonio DEJAK representing Italy, with residence i Kampala;

    – Mgr. Luciano RUSSO as the Pope’s Apostolic nuncio to Rwanda with residence in Kigali.

    The Cabinet Meeting approved the following Honorary Consuls.

    – Mr. Sundvoll STEINER, Rwanda’s Honorary Consul in Norway.
    – Mr. William DELUCE, Rwanda’s Honorary Consul in Toronto-Canada
    – Mr. Bill SMITH, Rwanda’s Honorary Consul in Edmonton -Canada
    – Mr. Van Es Christian Edouard KAREL, Rwanda’s Honorary Consul in the island ofWest Indies, with residence in Aruba.

  • Mbazi Mutuelle Defaulters’ Property Seized

    Residents of Rusagara, Mbazi in Huye district are bitter with the manner in which their properties are being seized as collateral when found lacking health insurance commonly known as Mutuelle.

    Residents further claim that local leaders in the area always confisticate livestock and farm produce whenever they find out that a local resident has defaulted on Mutuelle.

    However, the leader of Mbazi sector disputes the claims saying if any of local leader got involved in such illegal actions against residents, they would be published.

    Normally every citizen is placed in a specific level of abilty to pay for health insurence (Mutuelle.However, residents also are unhappy with how their grading was conduted.

    Mbazi executive secretary Claudine Mukamudenge however, notes that the grading of residents was conducted in a general assembly that consisted of all area residents.

    Residents are always aware and knowledgeable about ability of fellow members and thus during the grading sessions,information provided is always considered correct incase there is no objection from residents.

  • Mrs. Kagame gives US$10,000 to Ugandan Cultural Center

    Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame has funded the upkeep of Igongo Cultural Centre to the tune of $10,000; the museum is located in Uganda’s Mbarara district.

    While handing over the cheque to to the executive director of Igongo Cultural Centre, James Tumusiime, Rwandan High Commissioner to Uganda, Maj.Gen Frank Mugambage noted that the support intends to promote cultural values between Uganda and Rwanda.

    “The First Lady was highly impressed by what the Centre does in contributing to cultural values of humanity,” Mugambage said.

    He said the contribution was also meant to inspire others in making the cultures of the two countries known.

    Tumusiime, noted that the Centre will send local crafts makers and local artiste to Rwanda to expose Ugandan culture in the aspects of crafts and music.

    He added that the exchange of culture will also help in promoting political integration, education and vibrant economies between the two countries and in the region.

  • Regional Police Urged to Combat Cross-Border Crimes

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    The Inspector General of Police Emmanuel Gasana has advised regional police officers to fight cross-border crimes and those related to computer technology.

    Gasana was speaking at the launch of a two -day East African Police Chief Cooperation Organizations (EAPCCO) subcommittee meeting, which he also chairs.

    He noted that police force ought to equip themselves with skills on latest technology since the majority of crimes emerge from use of ICT.

    Francis Rwego, the head of Interpol in the region, agreed with Gasana that the use of ICT would facilitate information sharing among the police forces in the region in fighting crimes.

    “Nowadays people with ill intentions are using technology to conduct cyber crimes, duplication money, human trafficking and terrorism that’s why we need to cooperate to curb these offences.

    The EAPCCO subcommittees include Permanent Coordination Committees made up of the heads of Criminal Investigation Departments and heads of National Central Bureaus (NCBs), legal, training, and Gender subcommittees.

    These committees are set to discuss the progress in the implementation of the 13th EAPCCO Annual General Meeting resolutions, challenges and way forward. The outcome of the two day meeting will be forwarded to the Committee of Police Chiefs.

    EAPCCO was formed in 1998, as follow up to regionalization policy, adopted by the INTERPOL executive committee in 1985. It was confirmed by the Interpol General Assembly in 1995 as an effective way of improving international Police cooperation in combating transnational crime and criminals.

    EAPCCO objectives are stipulated in article 3 of its constitution as primarily combating cross border crime though cooperation and collaboration, adoption of joint strategies, monitoring, information exchange and training.

    It is also responsible for crime situation reviews and meetings, legal and mutual assistance and legal harmonization and other activities that would enhance combating cross border crime.

    Currently EAPCCO is composed of twelve member countries and they include Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eretria, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan Tanzania and Uganda.

  • EWSA Boss Explains Frequent Power Cuts

    Yves Muyange the director general of Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) has noted that frequent power rationing in the city is due to the ongoing repairs of some equipment in various power plants.

    He noted that repair works at the Gikondo power plant and Jabana are scheduled for completion soon, “most of the machines were old causing periodical technical faults, hence we’re fixing new spare parts,” he explained.

    However, Muyange disclosed that power shortages wouldn’t end over night since even after the repair process is over; water levels at Rusizi power plant have reduced a fact that has led to the reduction of electricity production from 12 to 8 mega watts.

    “This is very common during dry seasons but no need to panic since we’re trying to come up with alternatives. That’s why we’re fixing our mega generators,” he remarked.