week review

Zimbabwe admits to Mpiranya’s presenceAfter years of denial, the Zimbabwean government has finally admitted that one of the most wanted Genocide fugitives, Protais Mpiranya, could be hiding in the southern African country. The Zimbabwean Police Commander for CID Homicide, Chief Superintendent Peter Magwenzi said on Monday. He said Mpiranya is believed to be using various names that include Theophase Mahuku and James Kakule to evade arrest.The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Boubakar Jallow, has repeatedly said that there were signs that the former commander of the notorious ex-Rwandan Presidential Guard was in Zimbabwe. Mpiranya is wanted on a warrant issued by the Tanzania-based UN tribunal, and is one of the subjects of the US Reward for Justice Program, with a US$5 million bounty on his head. Mpiranya, a Major in the ex-Rwandan armed forces, commanded the Presidential Guard, a unit believed to have taken immediate charge, after the death of former President Juvenal Habyarimana on the night of April 6, 1994, and is blamed for the slaughter of top politicians as the Genocide against the Tutsi unfolded.Gov’t to set new deadline for digital broadcastingIt was reported this week that cabinet will soon determine deadline for Rwanda’s migration to digital transmission from analogue broadcasting, according to the Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana.The strategy to meet the EAC target is under consideration and expected to be approved by the cabinet soon. Nsengimana stated that the strategy includes acquisition of digital television sets and Set Top Boxes (STBs) or decoders to allow existing analogue TVs to access digital signal.Local book publisher wins global literacy awardA Rwandan book publisher, Drakkar Ltd, has been recognised for its efforts towards improving reading and writing in primary schools. The award was handed over in the United States during celebrations to mark the International Literacy Day.According to Lydie Hakizimana, Managing Director of Drakkar Ltd; the firm was bestowed with the award owing to its competitiveness and hard work. She noted that her firm’s agenda is to develop the reading culture especially in Kinyarwanda, adding that building literacy is critical if the country is to achieve the Vision 2020. Agaciro contribution rises to Rwf18bnThe Minister of Finance and Economic Planning has revealed that contributions to the Agaciro Development Fund (AgDF) have hit Rwf18bn in less than a month. AgDF is a solidarity fund that was initiated by Rwandans to improve the level of financial autonomy of Rwanda as a nation. Contributing to the Fund is voluntary. Addressing a news conference mid this week; John Rwangombwa said that no one is obliged to contribute to the Fund. The minister urged local leaders and institutions not to force and decide for people the amount to contribute. Rwangombwa told reporters that the money will be used in various developmental activities to reduce poverty especially in rural development. ADF gets nod from donors, stakeholdersThis week, the Mid-Term Review of the African Development Fund (ADF-12) implementation concluded in Praia, Cape Verde on September 14, with donors and stakeholders encouraging the African Development Bank (AfDB) to continue working to achieve results in its development projects and institutional reforms. Particularly, the bank’s support for fragile states, its regional operations and improvements in fiscal governance was singled out as satisfactory. The Bank’s President, Donald Kaberuka, said; “The AfDB…has produced good results during the financial crisis and remains a reliable partner, particularly for regional integration projects and assistance to fragile states.” District hospitals to be accredited The Ministry of Health has set up performance standards that all the country’s 42 district hospitals have to meet in order to be certified. According to Health minister, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, accreditation is a quality assurance process under which services and operations of hospitals are evaluated thereby filling in the missing aspects to ultimately improve health quality and service delivery.She noted that the process is also about saving lives, interaction with patients and good service delivery in general. Binagwaho stated that this is more of protocol, tools and guidelines for the health facilities to adhere to in order to improve delivery of quality healthcare.The minister explained that assessment for accreditation will be carried out on a minute-by-minute basis and not over a long period of time.She called on the public to demand for proper healthcare, adding that they are entitled to it.MTN fined Rwf3m every day for poor serviceTelecom sector regulator, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) has fined MTN Rwanda, the country’s largest telecom operator by market share, Rwf3 million per day due to poor services and network failure.RURA says the financial penalty is effective September 14, and will be applicable until the problem is fixed which is normally one month.MTN subscribers, both mobile and internet users, have constantly appealed to the regulator, expressing their frustration at the operator’s network, which many say affected their daily businesses. Some of the poor services reported by subscribers include network failures, dropped calls, unclear calls and slow internet. The regulator warned that should MTN fail to fix the network in the period of one month, further regulatory measure will be taken accordingly.