Government officials hold retreat

Top government officials early this week begun the sixth annual leadership retreat in the western district of Rubavu. The retreat was held at the Kivu Serena Hotel. President Paul Kagame chaired the proceedings of the retreat that ended on Friday. The retreat brought together about 200 top leading government officials like Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors representing Rwanda in foreign countries and heads of government agencies. According to press reports, discussions were centred on “unblocking the key barriers to development in order to enable Rwanda to escape aid dependency”. Transparency and the fight against corruption were at the centre of discussions during the retreat. Steps in the fight against corruption, and ensuring accountability, were outlined during the retreat. Security cameras to be installed countrywide It was reported early in the week that the President’s office in partnership with the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA), have drafted a project to install security cameras along the country’s major highways. Press reports suggested that the project is slated to begin mid this year. The project that is being piloted by the Ministry in the President’s office in charge of Research, Science and Technology will be carried out by RITA. Officials in RITA confirmed the development to the press, saying that that the technology to put in place Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTV) will be one of the most advanced in the country. FDLR Commander on the run The commander of the FDLR Sylvester Mudacumura was reported to be on the run in the jungles of eastern DR Congo. Capt. Olivier Hamuli, the spokesman of Operation “Umoja Wetu” told journalists that Mudacumura has nowhere to hide.He is reported saying that Mudacumura’s militia have been pummeled and put in a state of disarray. The rebel commander is reported to be fleeing towards Orientale province probably heading to the Maiko National Park. Hamuli also said that the Congolese army will continue the operations against Mudacumura’s militia when the Rwanda army returns home when the deadline to leave Congo at the end of February approaches. Media reports further suggested that the hunt for FDLR elements has been extended to the streets of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. FDLR’s intelligence network on the streets of Goma, was reportedly being rolled up mid this week. Operatives of the militia were seized in camps for Internally Displaced Persons. Meanwhile, it emerged that the recently captured FDLR spin doctor Michel Habimana alias Edmond Ngarambe, was in November last year handed a life sentence in absentia by a Gacaca court for complicity in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis. Still on the FDLR, the United Nations Mission in the Congo (MONUC) came out to condemn the massacre of civilians in DR Congo by the rag tag rebel militia FDLR. MONUC accused the rebels of employing “cowardly terror tactics”. Ban Ki-Moon expected in Rwanda The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is expected to visit Rwanda this month. It was reported that the UN top diplomat, will hold talks with Kagame and other high ranking government officials. He is also expected to visit other African countries including Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This will be the second visit of the UN chief to Rwanda. Recently, he appointed Joseph Mutaboba, hitherto Kagames, special envoy to the Great Lakes region as his special envoy to the West African state of Guinea-Bissau. Ends