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With the increasing number of traffic police check points on city roads, bus drivers are complaining of being fined for passengers who ignorantly don’t wear seat-belts.

The commander of traffic Chief Supt Céléstin Twahirwa noted that up to now there’s no law that punishes passengers who don’t wear safety belts. “The driver is in charge of everything in his car which means he has the right to refuse to carry or kick-out an ignorant traveler,” he recommended.

According to a bus driver in the city Cassien Kamanzi, “I’ve been paying a fine of Frw 10,000 each to several commuters especially ladies who claim that the safety-belt will leave dirt on their cloths, just imagine that’s a mere excuse, they’ve forgotten the advantages of being safe in a vehicle,” he argued.

His counterpart Matayo Demokarasi agreed that drivers shouldn’t continue to suffer over a few passengers who are ignorant; instead the police should fine them in order for passengers to abide by road safety rules.

Passengers agree that commuters shouldn’t refuse to wear safety belts in order to punish the driver but rather wear the belt since it might protect them in case of an accident.

“To be realistic the belts are not that dirty, most of them are in good shape,” said a passenger on board towards Nyamirambo.

Louise Bamage a Rwandan driver residing in German told Igihe that in Frankfurt for instance a driver caught in a comparable offence is fined Euros 80, but if the passenger has a driving license they pay the fine instead of the driver.

A group of women leaders from the grass-roots level have vowed to fight with any abusive man oppressing women or his family members in their respective areas.

According to them, “fighting” means sensitizing women on their rights apprehend guilty men and more so financially empower oppressed women.

The unanimous decision was made in a meeting that involved officials of the Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum headed by Alphosine Mukarugema who is also a member of parliament.

She urged the women leaders to step up their efforts in discouraging the culture of silence since it allows impunity to perpetrators.

“How can you be brutally beaten by your husband and you continue keeping quiet, and because you don’t react he will never learn from his mistake and instead the harassment goes on. Stop sympathizing , report them to authorities and you will live a happy life,” she advised.

The law stipulates that those found guilty of gender violence, this time including women who hurt men also face a jail term of 10 to 15 years or a fine of Frw100,000 to Frw 500,000.

Marie Grace Mukashema (above), who is divorced with four children gives a brief testimony of how she shaped her life after parting with her husband who had become a nuisance.

“Being beaten and insulted were normal things I faced every time my husband came home drunk, after prolonged days of torture I couldn’t bear his habits and I left him despite family pressure encouraging me to persevere,” Mukashema further added.

“While out with my kids I camped at a church where I got trained by experts from ActionAid Rwanda on vocational skills, now I head a bee cooperative and I have a hybrid cow, and even my children are studying well.”

Josephine Uwamariya the country director of ActionAid Rwanda urged the leaders to emphasize more on economic empowerment since it reduces dependence of women on spouses.

Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) with affiliated Colleges of Education; Kavumu and Rukara have today conducted their seventh graduation ceremony.

In 1980 graduands included thirty pioneers of the Professional Police Studies (PPS) program being awarded a bachelors degree of social sciences in police studies, and people with disabilities who were announced to be among the best students.

Prof. Gorge K. Njoroge the institution’s Rector remarked, “You have worked and not laboured. This is all the more reason that you, your parents and guardians as well as ourselves are in celebratory mood.”

“Your lectures, technical, administrative and support staff are ecstatic because they have been part of your struggle to be. As you go, look into the horizon and act with the best interest of all who have the right to be as you. When you look back you will be proud of what you have done.”

Dr. Mathias Harebamungu, the Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary schools and the KIE Chancellor said, “When seeds are sawn on fertile ground, they germinate.”

“But for seedlings to grow mature and finally bear fruits, tender care is required. We are here today because of all those involved to make today happen partook their responsibilities with dedication and seedlings, today’s graduands are being rewarded for their efforts.”

KIE is a public institution of higher learning in Rwanda, which was founded in 1999. The establishment and operation of KIE was made possible by combined efforts of the Rwandan government as major stakeholder, and assistance from various donors including the World Bank, African Development Bank, Swiss Co-operation, Belgian Co-operation, DFID, USAID, German Cooperation, the French Co-operation and the Netherlands.

In its ten years of existence, KIE has made significant strides. It has evolved into a dual mode institution offering distance and pre-service programs in various disciplinary areas ranging from diploma to Honors degree.

At Master Level, as MSc/MRes in Social and Educational Research Methods has been on offer since 2007. Today, KIE in partnership with UNISA offers program that range from certificate to PhD.

Reports reaching Igihe.com confirm that Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has concluded special deposition hearings in all the three cases earmarked for these proceedings.

The cases involved businessman Félicien Kabuga, former Defence Minister Augustin Bizimana and Major Protais Mpiranya, ex-commandant of late President Juvénal Habyarimana’s Guard.

‘We have concluded presenting witnesses in all the three cases”, Chief of Prosecutions, Richard Karegyesa told press on Monday, declining to give more details.

Kabuga is accused of 11 counts, including conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in genocide and direct and public incitement to commit genocide whereas Mpiranya is charged with conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide or complicity in genocide, as alternative count, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The third fugitive, Bizimana is facing charges of conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in genocide, as alternative count, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Such special hearings were being conducted to preserve the prosecution’s evidence for future use in case the fugitives were to be arrested.

According to Karegyesa, ‘’the defence teams have not requested anything yet”.

Today, December 1, Rwanda has been ranked fourth after scoring a 5.0 on the chart that ranks countries from sleazy zeroes to virtuous 10s. The country has joined the thin ranks of African nations seen as fairly free of graft, in a closely watched global list of countries perceived to be the most corrupt.

The rankings have been made by transparency international.

Rwanda is recovering from the effects of the 1994 Tutsi genocide, but in recent years has made strides in rebuilding its economy and promoting itself as a regional business hub.

The government four years ago began a campaign against economic crimes and when that campaign started in 2007, Rwanda ranked 111th on the Transparency list, with a dismal score of 2.8.

Botswana, Cape Verde and Mauritius are still top among African nations on the list compiled by global watchdog Transparency International.

Over the same period, South Africa has made a steady slide downward. In 2007, Africa’s largest economy ranked 43rd, with a tidy score of 5.1. This year it rated 64th, with a score of 4.1.

The country has been roiled by a series of high-profile corruption cases. Former police Chief Jackie Selebi was found guilty last year of taking bribes from a convicted drug trafficker.

His successor Bheki Cele was suspended last month over questionable leases, while two ministers were sacked as President Jacob Zuma launched his own anti-corruption drive.

Zuma, who has himself survived criminal and corruption investigations, also launched a new probe into a $5-billion arms deal that has tainted South African politics for more than a decade.

Africa’s two largest oil producers, Nigeria and Angola, are still mired among the nations seen as the worlds’ most corrupt, ranking 143rd and 168th little changed from past showings.

Thirty pioneers of the Professional Police Studies (PPS) program will graduate at the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) campus. They will be awarded a bachelors degree of social sciences in police studies.

Police reports that 30 corps studied among others; criminology, forensic sciences, criminal law both general and special, and criminal procedures.

According to Chief Superintendent Elias Mwesigye, the acting director of the Human Resource Commissioner at Rwanda National Police, apart from police officers who will be graduating tomorrow, more police officers are undergoing the PPS program and would graduate in coming years.

He noted that PPS undergraduate program is cross cutting as it infuses law and police studies and that it will greatly facilitate Police officers in their policing duties.

PPS is a tripartite partnership between KIE, Teesside University in United Kingdom and Rwanda National Police to professionalize and build the capacity of the Police force.

Rwanda National Police also has partnerships with other higher institutions of learning in the land. They include National University of Rwanda and Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) where these institutions will provide lectures to Police officers in law and ICT respectively.

These universities have also designed the curriculum and provided lecturers who will teach at the National Police Academy in Musanze.

Rwanda National Police has prioritized capacity building for its Police force to enable them undertake their policing duties professionally.

Today early morning the high court held hearings of 30 men suspected to be working with FDRL (Rwandan rebels based in eastern Congo) in enforcing terror activities in the country.

Froduard Rwandanga who was on the spotlight today admitted being a member of FDLR and that he took part in throwing grenades in the city. The ringleader is accused of six crimes including terror, liaising with FDLR, tampering with national security, forming a terror group amongst others.

He further confessed that he was personally involved in a grenade explosion at Gisozi genocide memorial park and Kinamba, but he denied targeting the public but rather security personnel, he later sat down without giving a clear reason for his actions of attacking policemen and soldiers.

He commanded several other FDRL combatants who were responsible of grenade explosions at Muhima ,Chez Venant bus stop and Rubangura in the city centre. In these particular incidents he denied authorizing the attacks.

The prosecution had recommended life sentence to 25 of the suspects while the remaining gets 5 year jail terms. Final hearing is expected on Thursday this week

MTN Rwanda today announced the launch of its customer loyalty promotion dubbed “Izihize”.

For the whole of December, all MTN customers will be entered into the promotion automatically if they stay connected to the MTN network and use any of the MTN services.

The weekly prizes in the promotion include; 50 LG Phones, 10 Gitego (ZTE F160) phones, 5 Huawei IDEOS phones, 2 Blackberry Torch with free one month subscription, 3 Samsung Galaxy Tabs with 1GB of data, leather casing & 16 GB Memory card, and 2 Laptops + Modem + 30 Days of unlimited internet access.

In a press statement, Yvonne Manzi Makolo MTN Rwanda Chief Marketing Officer explained the promotion mechanics saying, “Our customers only need to have made a call, sent an SMS, used data, bought a caller tune, or used MTN Mobile Money to stand a chance to win any of the prizes on offer.”

Over the next month MTN shall load 500 Rwf worth of airtime everyday on the phones of 400 customers and weekly draws will be held every Thursday where customers will stand a chance to win the above mentioned prizes.

The first draw is scheduled for 8th December 2011 at 10:00. Winners will receive a verification call from MTN.

According to Makolo, the Izihize promotion has been launched in appreciation of customer loyalty and to give some lucky winners a memorable festive season.

“We shall be rewarding a total of 2,872 winners each week and a total of 11, 488 winners by the end of the promotion on 28th December,” she said.