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About 31 senior police officers from thirteen African countries are in Rwanda attending the first ever training dubbed, ‘Senior Command and Staff Course’ due this year in Rwanda.

he course attracted senior officers from Zambia, Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, Djibouti, Seychelles, Sudan and hosts Rwanda.

The one year course will be officially launched in January next year at National Police Academy (NPA) in Musanze District.

The International Academy Bramshill and the Center for Conflict Management of the National University of Rwanda is set to provide lecturers for the course.

In a briefing presentation ceremony held on Monday at Rwanda National Police (RNP) headquarters in Kacyiru, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Stanley Nsabimana noted that the course is in line with the current Rwanda National Police (RNP) and East African Police Chief Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) training policies, whose aim is to produce highly qualified officers who are able to face policing challenges and exploit available opportunities in a professional manner.

DIGP Nsabimana added that the course will enrich participants with contemporary policing skills in terms of emerging crimes and strategies of dealing with them.

He said that at the end of the course, participants will have acquired enough skills that will help them to take strategic decisions in challenging situations, and apply leadership and managerial skills to ensure strategic goals are achieved.

Tanzania Assistant Commissioner of Police Maulid Mabakila who attended the briefing presentation ceremony believes the course will help to find solutions which will address some of the security challenges faced by the African continent.

Senior Superintendent Ireen K. Ngwira, from Zambia Police Force also noted that, the course portrays good cooperation among regional Police Forces.

“There is a lot of conflicts in the region, it is important that the region comes up with a concrete strategy to address cross border crimes such as human trafficking and many others,” said Ngwira.

Police in Ngoma district is holding seven men suspected of illegally engaging in distillation of illicit brew.

During an operation Police seized distillation tools and fermentation products. Over 240 litres of by-products used to distil kanyanga were destroyed.

The suspects whose names have been withheld are being detained at Sake Police station pending Investigation.

They were arrested on Sunday and are being held at Sake Police Station.

They are said to have distilled about 45 Litres of potent gin locally known as Kanyanga.

Supt Benoit Nsengiyumva, Eastern Region police spokesman, said the suspects were arrested after a joint operation by Police, Rwanda Defence Forces and local council leaders of Kigesi and Shyembe cells.

Thirty Teacher Training College (TTC) students read their own original stories to neighboring primary school students at Academie de la Salle in Byumba on Friday afternoon.

They also encouraged the primary students to read and write their own stories.

At the event, organized by VSO volunteer Dorothy Nelson, primary school students crowded together in small circles to listen to the TTC students’ stories.

TTC students asked the children questions about the story before, during, and after reading to engage them in the story.

“It is my hope that these stories will inspire these primary students to write their own stories,” says Nelson.

TTC students wrote these stories in July at a writer’s workshop facilitated by VSO as part of the USAID-funded Literacy, Language, and Learning (L3) Initiative. For some, it was the first time they had ever written a story.

“This writer’s workshop can stimulate our hidden talents,” says TTC student Themistocles Abayisaba, who has continued writing stories after the workshop’s completion.

According to L3’s Technical Director Norma Evans, TTC students should be encouraged to use stories in their classrooms when they become teachers.

“Children need constant exposure to written content to learn to read,” she says. “Stories show students that reading is meaningful, that it has a purpose, and it gets students interested in reading.”

Not only is reading in the classroom essential, but so is writing. Evans also says that even from Primary 1 students should have opportunities for authentic writing—not merely copying from the board, but writing to express themselves.

“Writing helps students figure out which letters represent the individual sounds they hear in words.” Evans says. “This helps them to be better readers.”

The Kigali Institute of Education, with support from the L3 initiative, is revising TTC curricula to include a focus on writing and the importance of story in the classroom.

VSO volunteers with specialization in literacy will support the implementation of the new curricula and will also organize activities such as writer’s workshops and writing competitions at the TTCs to encourage a culture of reading and writing.

Jean Bosco Bigirimana, principal of TTC Byumba, is pleased with this focus on story. “This is the beginning. This is your first story,” he told the TTC students at Friday’s event.

“Write many stories. Use the stories to teach your pupils when you leave school to be teachers.”

The DRC government has instituted new changes that will regulate the opening and closing of its borders with Rwanda.

The Borders have been open 24hrs daily. But with the new changes, the Borders will always open at 6AM and close at 6PM.

In a statement released Sunday, October 21, the governor of North Kivu, Julien Paluku evokes a “redevelopment” opening hours and closing the borders between Goma and Gisenyi.

The border of the Great and Little gates open now 06hoo morning and close at 18hoo local.

However,the statement does not explain the reasons for the decision, merely indicating that the measure is “in pursuance of instructions from the Government dated 19 October 2012”.

Congolese Civil society in North Kivu welcomed the decision. Their spokesman, Omar Kavota, considers that the measure could help to further secure the city of Goma.

Rwandan authorities have not yet responded to this measure.