Local varsities adopt EA academic calendar

The School of Finance and Banking (SFB) is one of the first local Universities to align its curriculum to the East African Community University Callender.

The universities agreed to gradually adjust to the EAC system. In this respect, SFB started their 2011-2012 academic year this Monday after a brief holiday that started on 18th August.

Dr. Papias Musafiri, the vice rector for academics at SFB, confirmed the development to The New Times.

Tripartite to meet over Rwanda refugees
Rwanda is set to host a tripartite meeting with Uganda and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to discuss the issue of Rwandan refugees still residing in Uganda.

According to statistics, there are about 16,000 Rwandan refugees in several camps in Uganda, the majority of them housed at Nyakivale camp, in southern Uganda.

Over 34,000 graduate in adult literacy classes

As the world celebrates the International Literacy day on September 8, the Minister of education has announced that 34,829 people recently graduated from adult classes. The literacy program that started last year, targets an estimated 178,591 people.

The Ministry employed the service of senior six leavers to teach adults in their respective communities’. Over 8,600 youths were trained and equipped with the necessary teaching aids.

According to the head of literacy program in the ministry, Mile Uwamahoro, the program was set up with the intention of training many people in the shortest time possible.

He added that besides learning how to read write and arithmetic’s, they were also taught health, agricultural, family planning and upholding peace in their communities.

Airtel joins Rwanda’s mobile telecom market
Rwanda will soon get a third mobile phone operator following the entry of India’s Bharti Airtel, which was awarded its operating license, on Friday.

Bharti Airtel, the world’s fifth largest telecommunication company, disclosed that it will invest US$100 million in rolling-out 2G and 3G GSM network technology over the next three years in Rwanda.The multi-million investment package includes US$30 million to purchase the operating licence.

Rwanda becomes Bharti Airtel’s 17th operation across Africa. Bharti Airtel’s becomes the third operator after MTN Rwanda, which has 2,824,874 subscribers.

Rwanda free of Yellow Fever - official
There has been no case of yellow fever in Rwanda since the 1950s.This was disclosed by Dr. Thierry Nyatanyi, the Head of Division; Epidemic Infectious Diseases at Rwanda Biomedical Centre.

He was reacting to a recent 2011 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which said that Rwanda was one of the countries with a risk of yellow fever transmission.

The 2011 WHO report indicates that in East Africa; only Tanzania and part of Kenya are classified as low risk zones. But the whole of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi remain high-risk areas.

In an interview with The New Times, Nyatanyi said Rwanda has not encountered any problem with the disease, revealing that it had requested WHO to conduct an evaluation.

Prosecution presents more damning evidence against Ingabire
On the fourth day of the trial in the case involving Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and her co-accused, prosecution tabled evidence alleging that the four suspects had formed an armed group in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the time of their arrest.

The quartet include Lt. Colonels Tharcisse Nditurende and Noel Habiyaremye, Major Vital Uwumuremyi and Capt. Jean Marie Vianney Karuta. They are charged with forming a terrorist group, conspiracy to wage war and conduct terror activities as well as forming an armed group with the aim of destabilising the country.

The four have pleaded guilty. Presenting the evidence before the High Court on Thursday, prosecutor Bonaventure Ruberwa said that the statements obtained from the four men by both prosecution and the judicial police confirm that they had formed an armed group.

Road maintenance to be decentralised
The Ministry of Infrastructure is in the process of decentralising road maintenance, handing over the responsibility to districts.The Minister of State in charge of transportation, Dr. Alexis Nzahabwanimana, made the announcement during a consultative meeting with local leaders in the Eastern Province.

He told the leaders that it was practically impossible for engineers in his ministry to identify the right roads for repair or construction at the district level.

Nzahabwanimana lamented that the ministry spends a lot of money constructing and rehabilitating roads, which are not durable. He noted that it was imperative for road maintenance to be owned by the local population, who are the prime beneficiaries of the infrastructure.

The minister challenged local leaders to handle roads as one of their priorities, stressing their importance to development.

Ends