Death Penalty not an effective deterrent to crime - Kagame President Paul Kagame has called on African countries to scrap the death penalty as it not only denies victims the fundamental right to life but is also not an effective form of punishment.

The President was speaking at the opening of the Regional Conference on the Abolition or Moratorium on the Execution of the Death Penalty on Thursday. The conference was co- organised by the government and Hands off Cain, an International NGO that advocates for the abolition of the death penalty .

The Head of State said that Rwanda’s experience has demonstrated that abolishing the death penalty gave people a new lease on life – and this contributed to the healing of the society especially after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

He pointed out that Rwandans have achieved an unimaginable degree of unity and reconciliation because a culture of forgiveness – not vengeance – has taken root.

Rwanda to send back minerals to the DRC

Rwanda will soon send back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 70 tonnes (70,000Kgs) of untagged minerals that were smuggled into the country, The New Times has learnt. Dr Michael Biryabarema, the Director General for Mines and Geology in the Ministry of Natural Resources, confirmed the development, but said the handover date was yet to be determined by the relevant ministers from both countries.

The minerals were seized by Revenue Protection Department’s anti-smuggling unit as they were sneaked into the country, from DRC, through the western corridors of Rusizi and Rubavu, over the last five months. They include cassitarite and wolframite, tungsten and tantalum.

270 Police officers demobilised

The Rwanda National Police, on Wednesday, held its first demobilisation exercise involving 272 police officers.

The officers were mostly discharged on retirement and medical grounds. According to the National Police statute, 146 officers, who retired are entitled to 36 months salary payment, while another lot of 105, who were laid off will receive six months pay.

Those discharged due to medical reasons will receive 18 months salary. The discharged officers hold rank from police constable to chief sergeant.The Minster of Internal Security, Sheik Musa Fazil Harerimana, who officiated the exercise at the National Police Academy in Musanze, urged the former police officers to maintain a high-level of discipline, and encouraged them to form cooperatives to start up income-generating activities.

Kanombe School gets free IT equipment

In a move aimed at facilitating schools to incorporate ICT into the curriculum, mobile telephone operator, MTN, has once more donated 36 computers to Kigali city’s Kanombe Secondary School. As part of giving back to the community, the telecom firm, through its corporate social responsibility arm, MTN Foundation has, so far, donated ICT equipment to five schools countrywide. The equipment includes one-year free internet connection. The head of MTN Foundation, Yvonne Mubiligi said that the selection of beneficiary schools depends on the student population, performance in national examination and the girl-boy ratio in order to support the girl child education.

Nyagatare co-ops raise Rwf60m in savings

About 250 women groups in Gishuro cell, Tabagwe sector in Nyagatare District have collected Rwf60million under local credit and savings schemes. Speaking to The New Times, some beneficiaries said that the new savings schemes have enabled them to fight against poverty in their families. According to beneficiaries, they set targets every year by collecting savings from all members, every week, in order to successfully meet their targets.Sperata Kankindi, an employee with Care International’s SAFI project that supports rural women in Tabagwe Sector of the district said that they mainly train women in credit and savings.With only four months remaining to the project’s close, Edward Karangwa, the project consultant on credit and savings in the six districts of Eastern Province expressed confidence that the scheme would not collapse.

Eastern Province bids farewell to Governor Kirabo

Residents and local leaders in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts welcomed the news of the appointment of Eastern Provincial Governor, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, to a United Nations job.On Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed Kirabo as Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-General for UN-HABITAT. Dr. Kirabo was appointed the Governor of the Eastern Province in February, 2011, after serving as the mayor of the City of Kigali. Under her leadership, Kigali became the first African city to win the prestigious UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honour Award "in recognition of the high level of cleanliness, greenness, safety and the sustainable, affordable housing initiatives combined with pro-poor urban employment opportunities.”

UNAMID pays tribute to fallen peacekeepers

The African Union–United Nations hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Wednesday, paid tribute to the three fallen peacekeepers – two Rwandans and a Senegalese – who died on Monday in an ambush in the volatile Sudanese region.The UNAMID leadership paid their last respects to the fallen peacekeepers during a ceremony held at UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher, Darfur, prior to the transportation of the dead to Khartoum for "further management,” says a statement from UNAMID headquarters. At the ceremony, UNAMID Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, called upon the present peacekeepers to work even harder to complete the work left behind by the fallen peacekeepers. UNAMID says the peacekeepers were attacked by a "yet unknown armed group” in the vicinity of Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons camp on Monday.  A UN team is conducting investigations to ascertain the attackers and the motive of attack.

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