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Source : https://www.instagram.com/p/CFSf1MoBlhA

Minisiteri y'Ubuzima yatangaje ko kuri uyu wa Gatatu abantu babiri bishwe na COVID-19 bituma umubare w'abamaze guhitanwa n'iki cyorezo mu Rwanda ugera kuri 25.

Source : https://igihe.com/ubuzima/coronavirus/article/abantu-babiri-barimo-uw-imyaka-29-bahitanywe-na-coronavirus-mu-rwanda

Banyangiriki Isaac ukomoka mu Murenge wa Save mu Karere ka Gisagara yakatiwe igifungo cy'imyaka 30 n'Inkiko Gacaca ahamijwe ibyaha bya Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi mu 1994, ariko ntiyafungwa kuko yahise aburirwa irengero.

Source : https://igihe.com/amakuru/u-rwanda/article/gisagara-uwakatiwe-n-inkiko-gacaca-gufungwa-imyaka-30-akaburirwa-irengero

Ikigo cy'Igihugu cy'Ibarurishamibare (NISR) muri raporo ngarukagihembwe igaragaraza imiterere y'umusaruro mbumbe w'igihugu (GDP), cyagaragaje ko muri rusange wagabanutse ku kigero cya 12.4% mu gihembwe cya kabiri cy'uyu mwaka, ugereranyije n'igihe nk’icyo mu 2019.

Source : https://igihe.com/amakuru/u-rwanda/article/umusaruro-mbumbe-w-igihugu-wamanutseho-12-4-kubera-ingamba-zo-guhangana-na

Dr Thomas Kurz, the Germany Ambassador to Rwanda, has already entered the second year since the beginning of his tour on September 2, 2019.
Taarifa Team held an exclusive interview with the envoy at the embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Several issues were explored, ranging from diplomacy, politics, development cooperation and history. Ambassador Kurz explains that there is a long-standing relationship between Germany and Rwanda, dating back over a century ago when Rwanda was part of the German East Africa.

German was the first country to reopen its embassy and full-scale operations in 1994 after the genocide against the Tutsi that claimed over a million lives. In the political field, Germany's interest is to have Rwanda as a strong partner for stability in the region, he said. 'Rwanda has difficult neighbours [it means mainly to the east]. They don't have as much stability as Rwanda has reached and this influences security stability in Rwanda,' says Ambassador Kurz.

Considering Germany's handling of the issue of hosting Rwandan fugitives wanted for genocide crimes back home, Dr Kurz says his country has strong judicial cooperation with Rwanda and, 'the reason is that we do follow up cases of suspected genocidaires in Germany. In 2017, we extradited a suspect [Jean Twagiramungu] and is in Rwandan prison.' 'We have trailed and sentenced several others back in Germany. According to our constitution, we are not allowed to extradite German citizens,' Ambassador Kurz told Taarifa, adding that he was not aware of any international arrest warrant issued by Rwanda without German responding; 'besides there are not many Rwandan fugitives in Germany except neighbouring countries.'

Meanwhile, as the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the global economy including a substantial rollback effect on the Rwandan economy, this has prompted the German government to issue a grant funding of €10.7 million with the aim of supporting the preservation of employment by SMEs in Rwanda against the effects of the pandemic. 'Both our countries have been dealing with this pandemic very well. Rwanda has a good reputation as the only country in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa that is not on the list of Covid-19 risk countries. We have been partnering even before the first COVID-19 infection. We provided the first testing kits and training,' says Dr Kurz.

According to the ambassador, a delegation from Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is expected in Kigali this weekend to deepen this cooperation. This is Germany's top institute for infectious diseases conducting research and development of vaccines. Earlier today [Friday], Christian Drosten, a German virologist warned of an aggravated Covid-19 situation indicating that there were new infections.

Several other countries around the globe are being cautioned. 'In some countries, we have noticed that infections are increasing including Germany. We see a danger that things may get out of control again. However, Rwanda is not experiencing this,' the ambassador cautioned.
This conversation also captured Rwanda's energy deficit and the efforts in place to meet the country's energy demands. Rwanda currently generates 226.7 MW of electricity from more than 40 power plants, mainly hydro. However, the energy capacity is still low compared to a required demand above 600MW. 'We have a Germany company building a dam to generate hydro energy. We are also working with Rwandan companies to produce environmental friendly clean energy,' the Ambassador explained.

Does Volkswagen investment in Rwanda present a strategic interest for German?…'Volkswagen made its own choice that Rwanda was the right place to invest but It is our job to help German or European companies access this market,' the envoy said.

With a long historical relationship with Rwanda, why does German remain in the background?
'Back home there is an ongoing discussion on Germany's responsibility and there are several initiatives already being implemented. For Rwanda, we have established the Kandt House Museum of Natural History. It is an obvious link of Germany to the colonial times here [in Rwanda],' he says, adding there are other projects through German development agency (GIZ) such as the Kandt trail.

It should be remembered that Richard Kandt was the first German colonial resident of Rwanda during the colonial era. The Kandt trail established last year aims at rediscovering the exploration tracks leading to different sites that mark important stages of Kandt's life.
Ambassador Kurz also explains that his government is in talks with Rwanda on the issue of human remains. 'We are in talks with the Rwandan government on human remains. During the colonial period, people collected these human remains to conduct scientific studies. About 100 human remains have been identified in Germany to have originated from Rwanda especially on returning them to Rwanda.'

One of the lowest moments between the two countries resulted from an implementation of the 2006 arrest warrant for nine Rwandans. It had been issued by a French judge seeking to inquire about the downing of the Falcon50 jet in which former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana was travelling. In 2008 when Rtd Rosa Kabuye, a Rwandan government official, was subsequently arrested in Germany, and relations between the two countries were strained. Both countries recalled their envoys but a year later relations were restored and new envoys posted back again on each country's capitals.

'Circumstances at the time were totally different from the situation today. Diplomatic immunity only works for somebody accredited to a country. For example, as an ambassador, I have immunity in Rwanda but when travelling to Uganda on a diplomatic passport, I wouldn't have such immunity. Only heads of state enjoy this immunity,' he explains. However, at a time of her arrest, Rose Kabuye, a retired Lieutenant Colonel was serving in the capacity as chief of protocol for Rwanda's President. German police arrested her in response to an indictment by a French judge about the 1994 attack on the plane of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. 'We immediately sent a protest note (to the German embassy in Kigali) … we emphasized that Rose Kabuye holds a diplomatic passport … therefore the German government shouldn't have arrested her,' the Rwandan foreign ministry said after Kabuye's arrest.

Almost a decade later, Rwanda and German have excellent relations on economic, political, and social fronts. Ambassador Dr Kurz said after arriving in Kigali that, 'shaping and intensifying the relationship between Germany and Rwanda is a great opportunity and challenge. I am excited to take up this assignment
As of September last year, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) reported that it had registered 17 German investments (totalling above $257 million) with interests in a wide spectrum of sectors. Also, the German development cooperation between 2017-2020 is about 103 million euros and, there will be virtual bilateral talks coming up in November on how to expedite further cooperation.

Source : https://taarifa.rw/germany-envoy-to-rwanda-explains-status-of-cooperation/

Abanyarwanda baba mu mahanga bishyize hamwe bakusanya inkunga yo gufasha Uwihagurukiye Sylivia ukora mu rwego rwunganira uturere mu by'umutekano rwa Dasso watoraguye umwana wari umaze iminsi ine avutse akamurera, kuri ubu akaba yarongeye kumera neza.

Source : https://igihe.com/amakuru/u-rwanda/article/abanyarwanda-baba-mu-mahanga-bari-gufasha-dasso-watoye-umwana-akamurera

More than 7.5million Rwandans currently have National IDs. It is an exciting step because for it has been 26 years that the Genocide against the Tutsi was stopped, and Rwandans are proud to have documents that do not contain racial discrimination.

Rwandan history shows that during the colonial era, what was once a wealthy class of Rwandans was transformed into ethnics and the colonists began to include it in Rwandan documents called 'books' which later came out of the paper identity card.

In an interview with RBA, Antoine Mugesera, an expert in Rwandan culture and history, said that the “Book” consisted of about 10 pages.

'It was a little booklet, they called it a book. They used the book to segregate indegenous Rwandans from the twenty families, the Singas, the Zigabas, the Geseras among others,' he said.

The identity card was widely used in the Genocide against the Tutsi, where at various barriers they were set up, the Interahamwe asked for it looking for who to kill.

Mugesera says that in the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi, things have changed and ethnicity has been removed from identity cards.

'I was one of the founders of the project, I was raised by the commission that issued it in 1995/96; Arusha had confirmed that the identities containing the so-called ethnicities would be removed, and that Habyarimana wanted to do so and changed his mind. It was not an easy thing to do for him'.

A 16-year-old Rwandan is currently allowed to obtain an identity card, as a proof of identity.

Mukesha Josephine, director general of the National Identification Agency, said the study of identity thesis was in line with modern technology.

'There is a program called 'digital ID’ which means that you still have your physical ID, and can present it to access your digital information. You can even place your signature on it and there are no gaps allowing for it to be used by another person,,' she said.

In 2016, the agency announced that the digital ID would be combined with up to seven other documents including identity card itself, driver’s license, RSSB number, insurance, tin number and family members among others. It will cost Rwf15,000.

Currently, 7,586,813 Rwandans have IDs, of which about four women.

Mukesha Josephine said the study of identity thesis was in line with modern technology

Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/digital-id-project-study-to-be-completed-by-of-year

Perezida Paul Kagame yavuze ko mu myaka 10 iri imbere, Isi ikwiye gukoresha amahirwe y'ikoranabuhanga ifite uyu munsi mu guhangana n'ingaruka zizasigwa n'icyorezo cya COVID-19, kandi ko rikwiye kwifashishwa mu kubaka inzego z'ubuzima ziteye imbere.

Source : https://igihe.com/amakuru/u-rwanda/article/perezida-kagame-yagaragaje-ko-ikorabuhanga-ari-inzira-izafasha-isi-kwigobotora

A very good day to everybody, whatever time zone you may find yourself in. I am happy to welcome you to this tenth-anniversary meeting of the Broadband Commission.

I want to thank you all for taking the time to join us today, to share your knowledge and experience. Indeed, I thank you for your dedication throughout our time serving together on this Commission.

The first decade of the Broadband Commission has made a real impact by highlighting the transformational power of universal access to high-speed internet connectivity and smartphones. Ideas that seemed futuristic ten years ago are now mainstream.

The next decade will be about using digital tools to speed up the recovery from the COVID pandemic and make up some of the lost ground on the SDGs. We must become better prepared for future global health crises. Equal access to education has been very uneven due to the remaining digital divide.

Earlier this year, the United Nations Secretary-General launched a roadmap for an ambitious digital cooperation agenda. This initiative promises to further elevate the important work of the Broadband Commission, which has been made possible by the productive partnerships embodied within our diverse membership.

We stand ready to support the Secretary-General's vision for digital inclusion as a cornerstone of the Sustainable Development Goals.

I want to take a moment to recognise ten new Commissioners by name:

• Erik Ekudden, Ericsson
• Filippo Grandi, UNHCR
• Lacina Koné, Smart Africa
• Hyeonmo Ku, KT Corporation
• Pekka Lundmark, Nokia
• Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Government of Ghana
• Dongyu Qu, FAO
• Andrew Sullivan, Internet Society
• Mohammed Al-Tamimi, Government of Saudi Arabia
• Makiko Yamada, Government of Japan

I also thank Doreen Bogdan for her usual good work leading us through today's agenda.

Once again, you are most welcome, and I am looking forward to our discussion and happy to participate with you

Source : https://taarifa.rw/kagames-message-to-broadband-commission-for-sustainable-development/