Over 80 families in Nyagatare left homeless by heavy rains
More than 85 families in Rukomo Sector, Nyagatare District are homeless after heavy rains on Wednesday destroyed their houses.

The most affected area was in Gashenyi cell in the sector’s trading centre. Over 85 houses and hectares of banana plantations were destroyed.

Residents told The New Times that the downpour was characterized by strong winds that tore off roofs and electrical poles were pulled down. More than 37 people who sustained injuries from their destroyed houses were taken to Rukomo Health Centre.

Apart from homes, a kitchen and dinning hall at SOPEM Rukomo Secondary School, a nursery school and petrol station were also destroyed by the heavy downpour. The most affected residents sought refuge with neighbours and friends.

Cuban medics end two-year tour of duty
Twenty nine Cuban volunteer specialist doctors, Tuesday, ended their two-year tour of duty in Rwanda where they treated over 500,000 patients from various hospitals across the country. The doctors also trained Rwandan medical practitioners.

The Minister of Health, Dr Richard Sezibera acknowledged the work done by the Cubans and  noted that the agreement Rwanda had with South Africa and Cuba has expired but the government is in talks with the two countries to renew it.

Dr. David Lazarus, a Cuban oncologist hailed the partnership his country has with Rwanda and said that during their stay in Rwanda the team worked with commitment and had left a significant impact to many lives.
 
Over 200 to undergo cleft lips surgeries
A team of   medical experts from the South African foundation; Operation Smile, is in the country to perform free cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries on over 200 patients.

According to Dr. Bonavature Nizeyimana, an official from the Ministry of Health, the operations will begin on Friday March 11 and run for nine days up to 20, at CHU-K.
The team is scheduled to start screening patients and listing the most critical cases.

The U.S government is partly sponsoring the operations, and according to Ambassador Stuart Symington, the surgeries cannot easily be valued in terms of money considering the impact they make on people’s lives.

School inspectors to serve at the Sector level
The Ministry of Education is set to introduce inspectors at Sector level. They are currently based at the district.

The move is expected to boost the information flow and monitoring at grassroots level. Speaking to The New Times, The Inspector General of Schools, Narcisse Musabyeyezu, said that a district was big for a single person to supervise.
"It is overwhelming for one person to monitor and ensure quality in a whole district. We inspect all schools from nursery to secondary,” he said. He explained that with the inspectors in place, information will flow easily. The trend is expected to spread to other districts in accordance to their budgets.

Public opinion divided over legal marital age
Young Rwandans want the legal age for marriage to be lowered to 18 from 21, while older Rwandans want it even higher, a new study has revealed.

The study, conducted in various districts, was carried out by a special parliamentary team working on the amendment of the bill determining the legal age for marriage.
Legal experts from the Ministry of Justice said the amendment is aimed at harmonizing various legal sections that contradict the age at which one is considered an adult.

Such sections include those related to criminal liability, stipulating at what age one is considered a minor or an adult, and the legal voting age. 42.7 percent of the Rwandan population is below 14 years, while 54 percent are between 15 to 64 years.

Regional blocs intensify fight against corruption
As the three regional blocs (COMESA, EAC and SADC) continue to integrate their economies, countries have been advised to emulate Rwanda’s mechanism of fighting corruption. The call was made, in Kigali on Tuesday, by Helen Kenani a trade expert from COMESA during a two-day meeting of sensitizing nationals on mechanisms of eradicating Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) in the region. The trade expert said that regional economic integration cannot be fully realized if some tripartite member states have to deal with corruption.

The Tripartite comprises 26 member countries from the three regional blocs.

Ex-Rutsiro Mayor appears in court
 Jean Ndimubahire, the former Mayor of Rutsiro district on Thursday appeared in court on charges of corruption in which a former district official is accused of swindling public funds.

Jean Pierre Nsabimana, the former Executive Secretary of The National Youth Council at the district is under trial for allegedly mismanaging over Rwf3million and using forged documents to justify fake expenditures.

Last month, Nsabimana confessed to committing the crimes in June 2007 and identified the former mayor as an accomplice, but Ndimubahire vehemently denied the accusations while appearing before Karongi Intermediate Court, on Thursday.

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