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The popular ‘One Dollar Campaign’ which was aimed at fundraising money to solve shelter problems of genocide orphans wants Frw$4billion to complete its work whose deadline is december. It’s now two years since the campaign kicked off.

The campaign was launched by members of the Rwandan Diaspora to source funds with an aim of solving the issue of homeless orphans of the 1994 Genocide.

December this year is the deadline set by One Dollar Campaign officials to complete the first phase of constructing homes for genocide orphans.

The campaigns director Apollinaire Sayinzoga Nkongoli has been quoted saying there is still a deficit of 4 billion to complete the work.

The first phase of buildings is composed of a four storey house with rooms, a dining hall and kitchen.

It is expected that by December this year, 192 orphans will move into the new building after all the necessary amenities are installed inside.

The completion of the whole phase of construction will see the accommodation of 600 children many of whom do not have a place to call home especially during school holidays.

The one dollar campaign was initiated by the Rwandan Diaspora to contribute funds mainly to construct houses for orphans of the genocide against the Tutsi and Igihe.com had an interview with One Dollar Campaign Director Apollinaire Sayinzoga Nkongoli and the following are the excerpts.

How did One Dollar Campaign Project develop?

One Dollar Campaign is a project that emerged from discussions in 2009 among the Rwandan Diaspora through their forum Rwanda Diaspora Global Network (RDGN).

Léonie Rutanga the vice president of the forum told IGIHE.com that during the Diaspora meeting in 2008, suggestions of how we can help genocide orphans who had no where to stay especially during the holidays which would often lead to isolation of children and self neglect.

We then thought of collecting money which would be used to construct houses for the children.

Parfait Gahamanyi the commissioner in charge of Diaspora in the ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation said that the Diaspora quickly without hesitation agreed to start the process of fundraising.

The government of Rwanda also supported the initiative by sensitizing all Rwandans in the country on the project.

What has been achieved?

Sayinzoga Nkongoli the head of “One Dollar Campaign Project” says there was a delay in implementation but now there is what can make someone to smile since 2009 when we the fundraising begun, getting the construction site and securing the necessary documents for the work to begin.

The real construction process kicked off in January this year and now the first block is almost getting completed at an average of 70%. When completed this single complex will accommodate up to 192 children.

How much work is left?

As narrated by the Diaspora committee and “One Dollar Campaign organizers, this complex is one of the three complexes that have to be completed and all together will accommodate about 600 children.

The second phase of the construction phase is soon starting. One Dollar Campaign authorities are still calling upon Rwandans for their support which is most needed especially at this crucial stage of the construction.

This first phase is projected to cost about 812million Francs, while the whole complex which will be constructed in three phases will cost almost 5billion Francs. Since the project kicked off, 985 million Francs has been collected meaning that this will only complete the first phase.
Two hands are better than One

This comment came from Parfait Gahamanyi the commission of Diaspora in the ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation MINAFFET, who was expressing on the achievement made so far noting that since every Diaspora agreed to contribute at least $1 and today we are registering such achievements.

The remaining phases require much support and effort. The executive secretary of RDGN Aimable Rwamucyo told Igihe.com that whoever wishes to know the progress of the construction in detail and who ever wishes to give his contribution no matter the location to visit

“http://www.rwandandiaspora.gov.rw/” for more information.

The Minister of Health Dr. Agnes Binagwaho has re-emphasized that delivery and access to quality health services is a national priority.

The Minister was referring to the government’s commitment to invest more in health sector upon handover health tools worth over Rwf 200 million to health workers.

In partnership with Global fund, the Ministry of Health donated 4 cars and 101 motorcycles to facilitate District health workers across the countries.

“We are aware that investing in health infrastructure is an engine to making provision of quality of care a national priority,” Binagwaho said adding that the donation of the motorcycles and cars was an indication of the government’s commitment to invest in health.

The Minister also said that an increased investment in health infrastructure has put Rwanda on track towards attaining the MDGs and the government’s vision 2020.

Binagwabo added that Ministry of Health has put extra efforts to develop health infrastructure and bridge the geographical access gap through construction of new health facilities.

Other efforts include rehabilitation of the health facilities, purchasing of new ambulances for Health Centers, generators to rural health centers, improvement of the laboratory system and the development of Telemedicine.

According to the minister motorcycles will be distributed to District Hospital Technicians, Community Health workers Supervisors and Health Centers for HIV services integration.

At Lemigo Hotel, Justice stakeholders held a meeting with different donors for an in-depth analysis of performance during the past fiscal year 2010/11 in the implementation of EDPRS results and policy matrix and an assessment of the CPAF targets and policy actions in order to come up with policy recommendations for the coming year.

The meeting is held annually bringing together justice sector stakeholders including the ministry of justice, security organs, the Supreme Court, reconciliation commission and civil society organization and donor partners focusing on human rights.

“This annual meeting is mainly oriented towards review and evaluates the past set objective and what was achieved. We develop strategies so that the coming year they can realize. For instance last year we had four major objectives; decentralization of justice, fight against genocidal ideology, enhancement of laws in the country and consolidating peace and security in the country.” Pascal Bizimana Ruganintwari the permanent secretary in the ministry of justice told igihe.com.

Stakeholders present at the meeting included representatives of the lead sector ministry (MINIJUST), representatives from other concerned ministries and government institutions, representatives from the National Budget, National Development Planning and Research and External Finance Units of MINECOFIN, representatives from donor organizations, Civil society representatives and other delegates from government institutions as deemed by the lead ministry.

According to Jolke Oppewal the head of cooperation at the Netherlands embassy and the co-chair for the Justice and Reconciliation Sector told igihe.com that the objective of the meeting was to look at the sectors performance in the year 2010/11 that ended 30th June.

“Currently the sector is getting much better as institutions work together, they have much better planning and monitoring and they have well set targets and indicators on what they want to achieve related to a number of issues that are very important; what is the capacity of prisons compared to the number of prisoners, access to justice houses at the district level; are they there, how long do people have to wait before their trail? All these are indicators in this framework and the present conclusion of this morning is that a big majority of these targets has been achieved.” Jolke Oppewal

According to the coordinator of the Legal Aid Forum Mr. Andrews Kananga “Much has been achieved not only in 2010/11 even before because we have a framework that we are working in called EDPRS.

For the past three years, we have been working in that strategy and a lot has been achieved in terms to access to justice, we have a lot of achievement as far as decentralization of justice is concerned where by the government has put in place access to justice houses, equipment and trained officers working in those houses to be able to assist people in legal matters”

The United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda based in Arusha Tanzania, has upheld 25-year jail terms imposed on a former Rwanda military officer and a landowner for Tutsi genocide in 1994.

The appeals chamber of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) dismissed the appeal by Lieutenant Colonel Ephrem Setako(photo above), who was also head of the defence ministry’s division of legal affairs, upholding his conviction for genocide for ordering the killings on 25 April 1994, of 30 to 40 ethnic Tutsis at Mukamira military camp and some 10 other Tutsis there on 11 May.

It also confirmed his convictions for extermination as a crime against humanity and for violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons as a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions that govern the treatment of prisoners of war.

The chamber also upheld the 25-year jail term imposed on Yussuf Munyakazi, a former farmer and landowner, for genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity based on his role in the killings of ethnic Tutsi at Shangi and Mibilizi parishes on 29 and 30 April 1994, respectively.

Rwanda’s telecom company Tigo has launched an in-house HIV/AIDS program aimed at promoting the pandemic awareness amongst its employees and partners.

The program will involve providing and encouraging voluntary HIV testing, treatment, care and support at the workplace.

Four years program will be conducted by the support of Swedish Workplace HIV/AIDS Program (SWAHAP), an NGO that aims at contributing to the private sector response towards awareness of the virus and medical support.

Tigo’s acting CEO Diego Camberos encouraged his staff to utilize the services which he believes would help them to know their health status.

“Most of you are young and we’re building the future hence a need to fight and achieve our goals so this pandemic shouldn’t let us down.” Camberos said at the launch of the program one hour ago.

Nina-Claudia Ndabaneze the company’s marketing manager was quick to point out that, “the impact of HIV/AIDS on any business and its employees is patent in many ways.

“Sometimes it leads to absenteeism of workers seeking health services which reduces productivity, high medical bills due to health conditions, increased costs due to terminal benefits and many more,” Ndabaneze remarked.

According to reactions from various employees, the program is essential especially to those who might be infected since they will get medical support at work hence improving their productivity.

“Indeed this program is interesting but my fear is a need for privacy for those affected, really this is an issue to consider or else people will be hesitant to go for the services,” noted Alpha Bundu.

Reacting on the matter Daniel Mwaura the SWAHAP regional coordinator assured the staff that confidentiality will be highly considered and that Tigo will only be given numbers of people infected but not their names.

“We have a contract with Tigo and among our terms is not to disclose the names of people infected. What we will disclose is the number of people they should support financially, the funds will be channeled through our organization in order to assist those who are in need of help,” said Mwaura.

He also added that there will be a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) tent in the company’s compound which will offer services related to testing HIV/AIDS, counseling and awareness of the pandemic.

Rwandan peace activist Edouard Bamporiki, 27 is attending a Crimes and Punishment film festival in Istanbul, Turkey where he has delivered a message of peace at the festival.

Bamporiki,a filmmaker award winner received national and international attention for his stories of hope, unity and reconciliation.

The festival, that opened in Istanbul last Friday is screening about 100 films from 40 countries dealing with all kinds of crimes and punishments but focusing especially on coups d’état, the inaugural year’s main festival theme.

Speaking to igihe.com, Bamporiki said that he was invited to present and deliver a message of peace at the event together with other renowned peace activist, filmmakers and actors around the globe.

During his presentation at the event Bamporiki said, “If we want long lasting peace, there should be a journey to inbuilt peace and reconciliation within our own hearts because no one can deliver and give out what he doesn’t have personally.”

He said that the film called Kinyarwanda where he prominently acted together with Cassandra freeman of Hollywood won international attention and that it can be used to fight against related war crimes and genocide ideologies around the world as the main objective of the festival.

Bamporiki also told the gathering how Rwanda passed via worst history of horror in 1994 and how the nation has regained national pride today which gives hope to the sustainable development.

Yesterday evening, Bamporiki visited Qwiyq city in Asia. He has also visited different cities and countries including Congo Kinshasa, Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya.

Others include Holland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Pologne, Istanbul Turkey, New York, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Boston among others all speaking out and delivering the message of unity, peace, reconciliation and hope.

After a weeklong at the festival, the Rwandan Bamporiki is expected back in the country tomorrow on Friday.

The festival is a theme with a special resonance in Turkey, which has seen four elected governments pushed out by the military since 1960 and has just started to overcome taboos surrounding that history.

The focus of the Istanbul festival is also significant for those nations in the region facing the question of how to deal with crimes committed by dictatorial regimes toppled in the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring this year.

The distinguishing feature of the Crime and Punishment Festival are the legal panels, presentations and debates accompanying the screenings that try to cross-pollinate artistic and academic exploration of the concept of justice.

Experts sent by Nile Basin Discourse Forum (NBDF) are currently carrying on assessment study on impact of the regional Rusumo Hydro power project to the population.

The study is expected to unearth general impact of the project from environment, area affected, people affected and how they will be compensated up to benefits it largely bring to member countries.

Nile Basin Discourse Forum is a network of civil society organizations from the 10 countries of the Nile Basin that aims to promote sustainable and equitable development, poverty reduction, and cooperation between all countries in the Nile Basin.

“We have sent experts to report possible ways of making the project successful without harming anyone and causing any problem,” said Jean Batiste Habiyaremye the chairman of NBDF-Rwanda who also doubles as a treasurer of the same forum at the regional level based in Entebbe, Uganda.

According to Habiyaremye, one expert from Rwandan side is expected to file in a report late this week and the findings of the study expected are documented importance of the project and how it will affect families residing near Rusumo falls where the hydro power plant will be constructed.

Rusumo hydro power project is expected to increase hydro power production by 90 MW in three countries including Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.

Other experts from the Nile Basin member countries are also said to be conducting the same study and one over all report will be compiled to be thoroughly discussed in order to also compare it with other stakeholders’s report to come up with one report to be tabled in the infrastructure Ministers from the member countries late this year.

Nile Basin Discourse Forum also seeks to maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits available to poor people within Nile river countries and to ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of these benefits across the Nile basin area.

The National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Karangwa Chrysologue
Has released provisional senatorial results for all candidates who were contesting from Kigali City Council, higher institutions of learning and 4 provinces.

Prof. Karangwa says ¾ of the Electoral College for varsities and 2/3 of Kigali and Provincial candidates were the major criteria to open doors for the voting college and this gave access to voting lecturers from all universities compared to 2003

Prof. Laurent Nkusi the Vice Rector in charge of Academic Affairs at the Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Education of Kibungo (INATEK) won with 335 votes equivalent to 98.53% and the people that voted were 362 standing for private universities., while 923/1138 voted for Public universities.

Prof. Emmanuel Bajyana emerged the winner of the senatorial seat reserved for public institutions of higher learning. He teaches Bio-Technology and Genetic engineering at the National University of Rwanda

Northern Province three winners are Mr. Bizimana Evariste who won with 396 votes equivalent to 92.30% while Mr. Musabyeyezu Narcisse won with 390 meaning 90.90%.

In western province, three candidates with victory are Bishagara Kagoyire Thérèse who won with 412 votes equivalent to 89.95%, Mr. Mushinzimana Appolinaire got 396 equivalent 86.46% and Mr. Sindikubwabo Jean Népomuscene got 373 81.44%

In southern province, Mukasine Marie Claire got 416 which is 84.21%, Bizimana Jean Damascéne won with 411 that’s 83.19% and Niyongana Gallican won with 345 votes that’s 69.83%.

The Eastern province out of 12 candidates, Mukabalisa Donatille, Rugema Micheal and Sebuhoro Célèstin won the elections.

In Kigali city only one candidate who was elected is the Ex-city mayor Gakuba Jeanne

The general elections of senators started on Monday for candidates to represent Kigali city and four provinces while on Tuesday they elected University representatives.

Prof. Karangwa said, as the law states, the provisional results of the candidates comes after the general elections but if there’s any objection of any candidate, this should be carried out within 48 hours.

He further said, this year’s elections had 292 observers while in 2003 they were many due to lack of trust and bad image the general world had to Rwanda.

Google has updated its maps to include the newly independent nation of South Sudan.

The move follows a campaign by a South Sudanese journalist, who posted an online petition calling for the new nation to be marked on web maps.

The absence of South Sudan on Google Maps, and the majority of Internet maps, has frustrated citizens of the new country.

As early as July 14, Google answered questions about the missing border with assurances that it was in the process of making the update.

“That’s nice,” John Tanza Mabusu(photo above), a broadcast journalist who fled Sudan in 1991 and now lives in Washington, D.C, said that 47 days after South Sudan became a country.

“But I would still argue that it’s too late to start talking about that because since the 9th of July, if they were serious, we would have seen the signs of their work.”
Mabusu started a Change.org petition urging Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and National Geographic to update their maps.

The petition collected more than 1,600 signatures.

Google is the first of those companies to update its maps.

Spokespeople from Yahoo and Mapquest have pointed to map data providers such as NAVTEQ, which has said that it is “currently assessing plans” and cited time-consuming detailed planning.

“I’m hoping that now that Google has officially recognized South Sudan on their maps, the other major online mapping services will quickly follow suit,” Mabusu said in a statement.

He added. “The people of South Sudan fought long and hard for their independence and suffered greatly. It’s time these maps reflect their efforts and catch up.”