Weekly Review

Belgium did not honour Vienna conventions-Mushikiwabo The minister of foreign affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said that the freezing on November 3, of bank accounts belonging to Belgian Embassy was done on the principal of reciprocity. Mushikiwabo said that the Belgian government violated the Vienna conventions and international laws when it failed to protect Rwanda’s property, including its Embassy in Belgium. On October 20, a Belgian court ordered the freezing of Rwanda’s assets, including the embassy accounts in violation of diplomatic inviolability. The court was acting on the basis of lawsuit filed by a Rwandan national, Gaspard Gatera, who claims that he was owed money by the Rwandan government, which the latter strongly contests. Hillary Clinton applauds Rwanda over child rights The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has commended Rwanda for her endeavor to settle vulnerable children in foster families rather than keeping them in childcare institutions. She said this during the inauguration of the Way Forward Project, a congressional summit hosted in the US on the adoption of children. It is a partnership between six African countries; Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi and Ethiopia. Rwanda was represented by James Kimonyo, the ambassador to the US. Present at the summit were Suzan Jacobs, the special Advisor for Children’s Issues. Also present was Brodin Nyanja Nzabamwita, a former foster youth and founder of ISHAMI, a Rwandan organisation that advocates for children’s rights. Gov’t against condoms in school The ministry of health announced its official position on the ongoing debate whether or not secondary school should be availed with condoms to help fight HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases as well as unwanted pregnancies among students. In communiqué published on Wednesday, the Minister of Health, Dr.Agnes Binagwaho, stated that the government is in favour of sexual reproductive health education and not condoms in schools. Three teenage girls jailed over abortion Musanze Intermediate Court, sentenced three teenage girls to a one year jail sentence each after finding them guilty of undergoing abortions.The girls pleaded guilty to the charges, saying the men who had impregnated them swayed them to do so. Court heard that the trio on separate occasions swallowed traditional herbs known as ‘Umuhoko’, mixed with soap, which eventually induced the abortion. The prosecution had sought five-year jail sentences for each of the defendants, but the presiding judge, Izabera Riziki, ruled that a one year jail term was appropriate considering the ages of the accused. Roads in Eastern Province to be rehabilitated The Minister of State in charge of Transport, Dr. Alexis Nzahabwanimana, on Thursday said the Ministry of Infrastructure plans to renovate several kilometres of feeder roads in the Eastern Province.The Minister disclosed this while on a tour of Kayonza-Kagitumba and Kayonza Ngoma highways. He also toured a 34 kilometre asphalt road connecting Rwamagana District and Zaza Sector in Ngoma District, which is in bad shape. Rwamagana Mayor Nehemie Uwimana said that the rehabilitation of Rwamagana-Zaza road was long overdue, as travellers had bemoaned its poor state. WB chief impressed by women empowerment The President of World Bank, Bob Zoellick, has praised Rwanda’s efforts to economically empower women. He made the remarks during the Akilah Fundraising event held in Washington DC-USA. Akilah Institute for Women is a college for young women in Rwanda, which aims at transforming their lives by equipping them with skills, knowledge and confidence to become better leaders and entrepreneurs. Zoellick stated that for countries emerging from conflict such as Rwanda, investing in women can pay even greater dividends, not only for economic development, but for rebuilding the society, and consolidating peace and stability as well. He observed that women are participating at every level of development activities such as delivering basic services, which include security, business management among others. During the event Zoellick also commended Rwanda for being the second best performing country in the world in terms of transforming its business regulations, according to the recently published World Bank doing business report rankings. Rwanda’s reconciliation process inspiring - Soro The Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Guillaume Soro, has said that his country is inspired by Rwanda’s path to reconciliation and noted his intentions to ensure that they draw as many lessons from Rwanda as possible. Soro was in the country to attend the United Nations Post-Conflict Peace building conference that ended Wednesday. He made the remarks after meeting his Rwandan counterpart, Pierre Damien Habumuremyi on Wednesday. He added that Rwanda put in place policies, commissions and various initiatives that paved way for quick recovery which his country intends to adopt. He pointed out that top on his priorities will be to ensure that the Foreign Affairs ministers of both countries work out a cooperation framework. Over 12,000 trees planted in Ngororero At least 12,400 trees were planted in Gishwati forest in Ngororero District as part of the ongoing national tree planting drive.The exercise organised this week by the police with the help of the military attracted hundreds of residents in Muhanda Sector. It covered eight hectares. Each District Police Unit (DPU) is supposed to plant at least 10 hectares, by the end of the year. Chief Supt. Gilbert Rwampungu Gumira, the Western Province regional Police Commander asked residents to protect the trees and promote environmental protection activities. Ngororero residents committed to take care of the trees and protect the environment as one of the development aspects in the community. Ngororero Mayor, Gedeon Ruboneza, hailed the police for its contribution and asked residents to emulate the example in their respective communities. Scribes decry low investments in the media Rwandan journalists marked the African Media day on Monday, with calls for more professionalism among practitioners, and support from the government as well as other stakeholders. It was a day on which the media reviewed their work, both in terms of content and business sense, and raised their concerns with the government, particularly on the issue of accessing public adverts. They also cited low levels of investment in the media industry as a major bottleneck in the quest to turn a new page. Ends