Serena Kigali Hotel and Dubai World Nyungwe Forest Lodge are the only facilities rated as Five Star hospitality establishments in the country. Their status was announced at the first-ever Hotel Star Awarding Ceremony conducted by Rwanda Development Board (RDB). The grading, which cost in the region of Rwf 120 million, was based on East African standard certifications, in a move designed to help raise the quality of hotel services to meet customer expectations. Four hotels were rated as Four Star, including Lake Kivu Serena, Hotel Mille Collines, Lemigo Hotel and the Manor Hotel. Top Tower and seven other hotels were recognized as Three Star, sixteen as Two Stars whereas only Gorilla Hotel in Musanze District fell in the One Star category.Umubano Hotel was not classified.The classification exercise was conducted by a team of experts from Rwanda and other East African countries. Rwanda is only second to Tanzania in the East African Community (EAC) region to have her facilities rated.

Remittances for Mutuelle premiums hit 80 percent

As the deadline towards payment of premiums for communal health insurance, Mutuelle de Sante draws nearer; the number of subscribers has hit 80 percent across the country, according to the Ministry of Health. The deadline is January 31, while those categorized as living in abject poverty are supposed to have their premiums met by government. Addressing a news conference to highlight key achievements and challenges in the course of 2011, the Minister of Health Dr Agnes Binagwaho attributed the quick response to the value and contribution that Rwandans have seen in this health insurance scheme. Only 24.81 percent of Rwandans fall under category 1 of Mutuelle policy and their contributions will be catered for by the government since they fall largely within the abject poverty category. The remaining percentage of population is within categories 2 and 3 and is obliged to make their own contribution, at least not later than January 31, 2012. Those in category two pay Rwf 3,000 while people in the third category ar
e supposed to pay Rwf7, 000, according to the new mutuelle policy.

PM extends deadline for land lease fees

Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, on Thursday, moved to clear the confusion surrounding the new land lease tax levied by the government, issuing new directives to clear all the irregularities cited by land owners. The Premier convened a meeting with all concerned ministries and government institutions involved in the implementation of the new policy, which will see land owners in their respective categories, pay an annual lease fee on their land. The new tax levied on land under the new tenure system enacted in 2005 whose implementation began last month has been a subject of controversy with landowners crying foul over the disparities involved in the payment and the limited time given to pay up. The meeting at the Prime Ministers Office brought together Kigali City authorities, ministries of Environment and Natural Resources and Local Government, Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) as well as the Military and Police.The PM directed concerned authorities to extend the deadline from December 31 to January 31
to allow people who haven’t completed registration of their land more time. All land owners were to face a fine after the expiry of the deadline.

Musanze records highest crime rate in North

The district registered the highest crime incidences this year, compared to other districts in the Northern Province, according to latest police reports. It recorded 618 cases, followed by Gicumbi District with 424 cases. At least 34 rape cases were registered in the entire province in 2011, with most crimes attributed to alcohol. Other crimes cited include domestic violence, with 310 cases.  According to statistics, the province registered 192 road accidents in which 48 people died. The report was presented at a security meeting held in Gicumbi District, which brought together district leaders and security officials in the province.The meeting resolved that district authorities should introduce night patrols to help fight crime. Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Internal Security, Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana, directed local leaders to urgently identify grassroots leaders dealing in illicit brew, ‘kanyanga’. Harelimana gave one month deadline for the districts leaders to compile a report about local a
uthorities implicated in the sale of the banned liquor.

Rwanda to file Genocide charges against Mbarushimana

Prosecutors will file genocide charges against Calixet Mbarushiman, leader of the FDRL militia, even though he was released last week by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC was trying Mbarushimana for crimes committed under his command by the FDRL in the volatile east of Congo (DRC), in 2009, and not his alleged participation in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Rwanda has in the past issued an indictment for his arrest but French authorities paid no heed. Mbarushimana is believed to have played a role in organizing  and executing killings during the 1994  Genocide, where he was a computer technician in the UNDP office in Kigali. Despite ICC charges being dropped, the AFP says he is under investigation in France for his alleged role in the 1994 Genocide; Mbarushimana stays in France, where he has political refugee status.

160 police officers departs for Haiti

A contingent of 160 police officers under the Formed Protection Unit (FPU) early this week departed for Haiti to serve under the UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The officers left kanombe international airport at about 10: pm aboard Rwandair, the national carrier. They will replace the first contingent of another 160 officers deployed in Haiti nine months ago, whose mission has ended. The mission in Haiti serves as a protection force for the UN staffs, crowd control and help in aid distribution in internally displaced camps. The officers who will be deployed in Jeremie town, South of Haiti, will be under the command of chief superintendent,

Toussaint Muzezayo.