Rwanda's Amavubi out to sting Stars in penultimate tie

Tanzania’s Mrisho Ngasa celebrates his goal against Eritrea during their Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup quarter-final match at the Nyayo National Stadium on Tuesday. Tanzania won 4-0. The Kilimanjaro Stars lock horns with Rwanda in the second semi-final today. Photo/MOHAMMED AMIN

By SAMMY KITULAPosted Wednesday, December 9 2009 at 19:14

Rwanda lock horns with Tanzania in the second semi-final of the Orange Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup at the Nyayo National Stadium Wednesday evening.

Tanzania began their campaign poorly when they lost their first match 1-0 to the defending champions Uganda Cranes in Mumias before squeezing a narrow 1-0 win over Burundi. A sterling showing against Zanzibar and a 4-0 hiding of Eritrea proved enough for the Tanzanians to advance to the semis.

Rwanda, on the other hand, is the only team in this year’s tournament who are yet to lose a match so far. In fact, their defence has been so mean that the only goal they’ve conceded was in their 4-1 drubbing of Cosafa champions Zimbabwe.

Rwanda is as dominant as can be and will look to get on top of the Tanzanians early as most superior teams have when they’ve taken on the Kilimanjaro Stars. All the pressure is off the Rwandans as the Tanzanians are expected to record their fourth victory in a row.

“Rwanda’s a big test, one of the best teams in the tournament right now, so it’s definitely easier for us to go into the game knowing that maybe it’s their time to lose,” surmised Tanzania head coach, Marcio Maximo.

Extremely difficult

Though the Tanzanians cruised through the group play, they know the semis are where the true tests come, and they are not taking the Amavubi Stars for granted.

“All the matches now will be extremely difficult as we know there is no easy rival at this point,” said Maximo. “The Rwandans have a very aggressive midfield. All four midfielders can have an offensive effect, and Yusuf Ndayishime is very dangerous when given space.”

Maximo is aware his squad is not only up against one of the best teams at this point, but also that his players have faced a very difficult logistical schedule as well.

“It’s a short turnaround and they have many of the same players; their ability to play in and out of little spaces and keep the game moving. It’s exciting. We know we have our work cut out for us.”

More competitive

As of now, Rwanda is aiming at bagging their second title and victory today; it would give them a massive injection of confidence before the final on Sunday.

These two teams did face off in the recent past in July, as Tanzania squeezed a 2-1 victory in Kigali, which could give the Kilimanjaro Stars some confidence today.

“We lost 2-1, but there were chances in that game,” said Rwanda head coach, Eric Nshimiyimana. “You play them in the semi-final of a big competition like this and you know it’s going to be that much more competitive, that much harder.

“We’re very excited. This is why you play. When you get to the semi-final of a big competition like this you tend to feel very happy.”

Source:nation.co.ke/

Rwandan genocide film aims to promote reconciliation abroad

KIGALI — "My Neighbour My Killer", a film about the slow reconciliation in a post-genocide Rwandan community, was screened in Kigali this week and is to be shown in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday.

The feature-length documentary chronicles life on a hill in the centre of Rwanda, focusing on relations between the survivors of the 1994 genocide and their neighbours, in many cases the very people who destroyed their lives.

Director Anne Aghion told AFP that the film -- which won a Human Rights Watch 2009 Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking -- might help other post-conflict societies to reconcile by encouraging dialogue.

"The Rwandan experiment cannot necessarily be exported as such, but what I've learned over time showing my work in other post-conflict societies, is that it is important to talk, and this film allows people to talk," she said.

"Seeing people of this community who have undergone such cataclysmic conflict start to talk is a very strong incentive for people all over to start to talk as well. Also, it is easier to reflect on your own problems when seeing other people's problems," added the director, who has also won an Emmy Award.

The film is the culmination of a decade's work filming relations between genocide survivors and perpetrators, with the impact on both groups of Rwanda's semi-traditional gacaca courts, which render citizen-based justice.

"In 1999 I met several Rwandan justice officials visiting the US. The very first night I met them they spoke about what they were trying to do with the gacaca. I remember thinking at that very moment - wow, that's a film!" Aghion told AFP Wednesday.

The Kigali screening on Monday was at the invitation of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission and the Gacaca department (National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions).

The Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis left, according to UN estimates, more than 800,000 people dead.

In attendance were several of the villagers who featured in the film. In a question and answer session, one of the villagers, a Hutu whose Tutsi husband was killed by Hutu neighbours in 1994, said the film had taken her out of her solitude.

It "enabled me to speak to the other Hutus... who had put me in this isolation by killing my husband. I never thought I would be able to speak to them, but Anne made it possible," Faissa Mukabazimya said.

"The genocide was very terrible on our hill. What you saw is very real and now we are talking. And I am very proud that this film is making it possible for our story to be seen widely in Rwanda and in the world," said Jerome Kabalisa, another villager who featured.

"This film should be seen around the world and also outside this screening room elsewhere in Rwanda," said Rwandan Culture and Sports Minister Joseph Habineza, speaking at the Kigali screening.

Aghion, who has dual American and French nationality, takes the film Thursday on to Kenya, where tribal violence left more than 1,500 people dead following the disputed December 2007 elections.

"The Kenya Human Rights Commission and I are working to put together a larger programme to show the film widely in the rural areas of the country," said Aghion, who added she was planning something similar in Cambodia.

"I'm interested in how people live together in extreme situations," Aghion told AFP in an interview at this year's Cannes Film Festival, comparing the difficulty of reconciliation in Rwanda with Cambodia, Bosnia or Darfur. "I wanted to see how neighbours live together again after a cataclysm."

Aghion is also the author of "Ice People", a feature-length documentary exploring what pushes scientists to undertake research in Antartica.

Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ispxO2H9OSG-GxyPvopRkyy2t9TA

Cranes must take caution

A decade ago, an encounter between the Amavubi Stars and the Cranes was always a foregone conclusion.

As veteran coach Polly Ouma once put it, the issue would only be how many goals would be fired into the Rwandans’ net.

But vast investment in the sport, thanks to President Paul Kagame’s passion, has seen Rwanda grow into a major CECAFA force.

So, when Uganda faces Rwanda in the 33rd CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup final on Sunday, they will be well aware of the steep mountain they have to climb.
Rwanda made a bold statement with a quarterfinal dismissal of COSAFA champions Zimbabwe before ejecting Tanzania yesterday.

Cranes coach Bobby Williamson, knowing the kind of trouble Rwanda could pose, was in Nyayo stadium last night busy taking notes.

Still fresh in Ugandans’ memories is a painful 2003 qualifier. The Amavubi edged the Cranes 1-0 at Namboole to qualify for their first Nations Cup finals.

It was a night when superstition overshadowed football as the Cranes got engrossed in juju to hand Rwanda a priceless win.
But Uganda’s confidence was boosted at the last CECAFA edition when the Cranes beat Rwanda 4-0.

Uganda could still draw more confidence from history, having won the annual event a record ten times.

Source:newvision.co.ug/

Belgian professor and Africa expert speaks on situation in DRC and Rwanda

(WMR) -- Noted Belgian expert on the history and politics of central Africa’s Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dr. Filip Reyntjens of the Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB) in Antwerp, spoke at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University in Washington on December 3 and leveled a broadside on the policies of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame in his nation’s looting of the DRC’s natural resources.

Reyntjens said that in 1997 and 1998, Kagame, a Rwandan Tutsi who grew up in Uganda, decided that the only way to deal with Hutus exiled to Zaire from Rwanda was to “exterminate them.”

Kagame is now lauded around the world by uninformed “human rights” groups and governments for the “suffering” he and his comrades endured after the mass killings of Rwandan Tutsis in the aftermath of the aerial assassinations of the Hutu presidents of Rwanda and Burundi by Kagame’s forces on April 6, 1994.

Eventually, Kagame became such a regional military threat by 2001 that his old ally, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, asked British overseas development minister Clare Short for permission to spend development aid from Britain on defense in order to protect against what Museveni believed was a Rwandan military threat. Rwandan troops began to appear in force in DRC’s Ituri province, which has a border with Uganda but not Rwanda. Rwanda also began supporting a rebel militia in Ituri, composed largely of Hema tribal members, that was originally allied with Uganda but turned against it with aid from Rwanda. Reyntjens believes that such “shifting alliances” are rampant in the DRC and are making it difficult for the central government to reassert its authority over the vast nation.

Essentially, Rwandan and Ugandan forces were competing against one another over the lion’s share of DRC’s rich natural resources, which were and continue to be looted by both countries from the DRC. In fact, Reyntjens pointed out that the expensive villas and office blocks now being constructed in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, are being paid with the profits from the looted natural resources from the DRC.

Reyntjens, like any journalist or academic who criticized Kagame and his dictatorship, stands accused by Kagame’s supporters of having a relationship with the former Rwandan government of assassinated President Juvenal Habyarimana. Reyntjens points out that such was not always the case with Kagame and his government, “I was a hero until I started criticizing Kagame.” Reyntjens says the Rwandan government engages in character assassination when dealing with its critics.

Rwanda is also involved in the illegal exploitation of resources in the DRC, according to Reyntjens. While admitting that Zimbabwe was also exploiting the DRC for its resources, the major difference, according to Reyntjens, is that Zimbabwe was dealing directly with the DRC central government -- a sovereign power -- while Rwanda was not.

Reyntjens cited a recent UN report that stated that in the DRC illegal aircraft movements are the rule rather than the exception. He also said Rwanda used prisoners from Rwandan jails to mine diamonds in the DRC, a clear violation of international law. Reyntjens called what is happening in the DRC the “Luxembourg Effect,” comparing the situation to what the German people would think if tiny Luxembourg wielded control over a large portion of German land and resources.

One of the biggest problems for the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) is the presence of Rwandan-backed Congolese Tutsis in the FARDC command structure in eastern Congo. Reyntjens says the situation on the ground in eastern Congo is that Congolese Tutsis integrated into the FARDC are fighting Rwandan Hutu rebels within the DRC’s borders. Reyntjens does not believe the Rwandan armed forces should be allowed to operate in the DRC in any respect. He believes what the DRC needs is a real army and a real state.

However, since Kagame and his government constantly and astutely use the “Genocide Credit” with international donors, the aggression and interference of Rwanda in the internal affairs of DRC is never discussed. Moreover, Reyntjens said there are now “dozens of American” researchers now operating inside Rwanda and that this is a new development.

Summing up the problems for all of Africa, Reyntjens said that while the DRC must re-establish central control over its territory, including preventing Rwanda from unrestricted border crossings between it and the DRC, many Congolese, like most Africans, are suspicious of central state governments. Most Africans associate “the state” with police, rackets, and prisons, said Reyntjens. Ironically, the United States, through its military incursion into Africa with the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), is trying to extend the control of state military structures over the nations of Africa, except, of course, where U.S. and certain foreign economic interests do not find such state control advantageous, as in DRC and Sudan.

Reyntjens is hopeful that a federal DRC will be able to reassert Congolese authority over its territory and cited the 25 new provinces of the DRC where revenues from each province will be distributed as follows: 50 percent to the central government in Kinshasa, 40 percent to the provincial governments, and 10 percent to an equalization fund that will be used to balance the financial disparities between rich and poor provinces.

Source:onlinejournal.com/

Rwanda: Kigali City Wibro Network Launched

Kigali — Kigali Wireless Broadband (WiBro) Network and the Kigali Metropolitan Network (KMN) were officially launched on Wednesday after two years of work on the infrastructure development.

With the two projects, which were deployed by Korea Telecom (KT), Internet users in Kigali city will be able to enjoy data connectivity and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

WiBro is a wireless broadband Internet technology which allows people on the move to remain connected to the Web.

KMN (Fibre Optic cable) is a large computer network that spans a metropolitan area. It also provides Internet connectivity for Local Area Networks (LANs) in a metropolitan region, and connects them to wider area networks like the Internet.

The two projects are in line with Rwanda's strategy to promote, expand and upgrade the Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure.

During the projects unveiling ceremony, Rwanda Development Board's (RDB) new CEO, John Gara, said that a total of 46 government institutions are already enjoying the connectivity.

"This technology will cater for data, voice and video transmission plus other value added services that the market may require," Gara explained.

He also added that with this type of modern technology, connection to homes, businesses as well as the private sector will lead to access of affordable and reliable services.

Government is targeting to have over 4 million Rwandans gain access to high speed Internet within the next two to three years, partly facilitated by the Rwf4.5 billion WiBro project.

The KMN will increase broadband availability to more than 700 Rwandan institutions including schools, health-care centres and local government administrative centres.

Korean Telecom was also contracted by the government in a related project to lay the national fibre-optic cable that will be linked to the undersea cable.

RDB's Deputy CEO in charge of IT, Patrick Nyirishema, revealed that the project will be completed next year.

"We are going to have a trial period for three months as we monitor the stability of the connection then we will go commercial," Nyirishema explained.

The national backbone is expected to consist of a high-speed fibre-optic network that will link 36 main points in Rwanda's 30 districts, with a 2,300-kilometre cable running across the country.


The Rwf22.7 billion project also includes training and managing the cable installation.

KT was also contracted by the government to build one of Africa's safest storage facilities, the National Data Centre (NDC).

First of its kind in Africa, the NDC will connect and allow secure access to information from government offices, health and education sectors as well as the socio-economic data of the country.

The centre has capacity to back up the institutions' data on the Rwanda system and the commercial area will be provided for companies and NGOs that would wish to back up their information.

The project had been expected be complete by December this year but the finalising time was extended and it not yet clear when it will be complete.

According to the officials, the centre has the capacity to keep enough loads as it was planned with plans to upgrade in future.

Source:allafrica.com/

Rwanda inflation dips to 5.59 pct y/y in Oct

KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's year-on-year inflation rate dipped to 5.59 percent in October, down from a revised 5.92 percent the previous month, the statistics office said.

Consumer prices rose 0.90 percent in October from the previous month, driven by an increase in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and transport, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) said in a statement.

NISR said the underlying inflation rate -- excluding fresh food and energy -- rose 0.52 percent to 3.2 percent in September compared to the previous month.

NISR had initially reported that inflation in September was 5.7 percent.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Zimbabwe go down to Rwanda

Mrisho Ngassa (centre) scored a hat trick for Tanzania against Eritrea






Guest entrants Zimbabwe have been knocked out of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup by Rwanda.

The Warriors were beaten 4-1 in the quarter-final of the East and Central African regional tournament.

Zimbabwe had been favourites to win the game after claiming the Southern African regional title, the Cosafa Senior Challenge, last month.

Rwanda will go on to meet Tanzania in the semi-finals on Thursday after the Taifa Stars beat Eritrea earlier.

Marcio Maximo's team secured a 4-0 win over the East African minnows to make it through to the last four.

Tanzania striker Mrisho Ngassa scored three times in the game.

The semi-final between the Taifa Stars and the Amavubi of Rwanda will take place in Nairobi on Thursday.

Source:news.bbc.co.uk/