City mayor pledges to support basket weavers

The Mayor of the City of Kigali, Fidele Ndayisaba, has pledged support to basket (Agaseke) weavers associations. He made the pledge on Sunday while officiating at the closing of a one-week civic education training of basket weavers at Nkumba Peace and Leadership Centre in Burera District, Northern Province.So far, 857 weavers have undergone civic training within a period of two weeks.Ndayisaba said that city authorities would help the weavers improve the quality of baskets by expanding their market. “You have demonstrated that your products (baskets) are very valuable, both in the country and overseas ,thus the need to support this innovation since it is a possible solution to achieve the desired development goals,” he said.The Mayor pointed out the need to continuously empower such groups as they strive to earn a living since they contribute to the economic growth of the country.William Ntidendereza, the National Vice Chairman of the Itorero Taskforce, observed that creating forums or associations in various categories and taking them through sessions of civic training was gradually paying off.“This has also helped Rwandans to come together and discuss their roles in finding solutions to the problems affecting the country in general,” he said.He stressed that the process was meant to inform and refresh the minds on current issues in the country.Ntidendereza said that sessions had been conducted on important issues, including mindset change based on national values, genocide ideology and how to fight it.