Featured Stories

As the genocide against the Tutsi unfolded in 1994, the Netherlands minister for development cooperation Jan Pronk was one of the few vocal voices calling for the intervention of the international community. Pronk actually visited Rwanda on May 11-17, 1994. He saw first-hand what was going on. The Netherlands, with…

It is over a year since the COVID-19 virus emerged in Rwanda. Many have contracted the virus and deaths have increased over time. In a bid to face the challenge, the government allowed home-based care for the patients who are not in critical condition, to be monitored by community health…

In Rubavu district, several years ago, the daughter of 51-year-old Kamaliza (not real name) who is blind, could not attend school despite living within walking distance of a free government school. The mother claims that she didn’t have money to buy school materials and uniforms, and they would often go…

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has thousands of pending applications for asylum by Rwandans running away from their country, data from the agency shows, despite vigorous government efforts to end refugee-hood and the ruling RPF’s long declared wish to end causes of refugees. As of the end of 2020, the…

Last Saturday, July 31, 2021, Cabinet, through the Prime Minister, announced the appointment of Mrs. Yolande Makolo as the new Government Spokesperson and Stéphanie Nyombayire as the substantive Press Secretary to the Presidency. Before these appointments, Cabinet had, on July 14, made interesting appointments at the Presidency, where the new…

The reverberations from a scandal in which Kenya’s powerful deputy president William Ruto was blocked from travelling to Uganda, are growing by the day. This time, the target is Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party which leads the opposition block, has come out guns blazing. The…

Death is as natural to all human beings as life itself. Regardless of one’s station in life or nationality, race and geography, it’s common to all. Because it’s inescapable, death tends to unite people in most societies regardless of political or other differences. In some nations it’s even celebrated. In…

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that though supply chains in Burundi’s neighbours and trading partners had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Burundi itself had not experienced a heavy impact. The Burundian economy was moderately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, said the IMF in a statement following consultations with…

Scientists at Cambridge and Leeds Universities have successfully reversed age-related memory loss in mice and say their discovery could lead to the development of treatments to prevent memory loss in people as they age. In a study published today in Molecular Psychiatry, the team show that changes in the extracellular…

Watching a neighbouring country improve its ease of doing business – and then trumpet the achievement on social media – seems to be having a profound effect on African economies, just as the continent ushers in a new era of collaboration. A light moment during a state visit to Kenya…

From Seychelles to Somalia, smaller African nations are rapidly expanding financial inclusion and making huge strides in cashless payment technologies and in the process helping to build Africa as a global centre of fintech excellence, a new report reveals. More and more African countries are joining the top 100 global…

The case of detained former University of Rwanda (UR) computer science lecturer Aimable Karasira has taken a new twist. Appearing today virtually for hearing of his bail application, Karasira made an allegation which will open a new direction for his case, at least in the court of public opinion. Karasira…

When the COVID-19 virus erupted, programs to control the HIV virus came to a halt in nearly all countries. For Rwandan men though, they continued flocking to health centers for circumcision to protect themselves against the HIV/Aids virus. Newly released data by the UN aids agency UNAIDS shows that while…

In what appears to be a deliberate scheme to shield themselves from public scrutiny yet they spend taxpayers money, some key agencies are using hired private auditors and ignoring the country’s Auditor General of state finances. The Auditor General is by law mandated to review the books of accounts of…

The Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement established Wednesday has provoked expected heated emotions with some of President Paul Kagame’s fierce critics wondering why it has taken him 27-years to set up the institution. The new institution was communicated in a communique from the cabinet meeting held on Wednesday…

The cold war between Rwanda and its northern neighbor Uganda is taking on a new shape; who will better deal with the raging COVID-19 pandemic. In the six-member bloc of the East African Community; Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya are undergoing major infection waves that began in May. The neighbours Burundi…

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) announced nearly a month ago that it would send a standby force to Mozambique “to combat terrorism”. However, while the bloc is still discussing the matter, Rwanda this Friday sent 1000 soldiers and police in a surprise deployment. Until today, there was no sign…

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has come out guns blazing against regional neighbors he accuses of helping to foment war in his country. Singling out Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Sudanese leader said had back in 2013 betrayed his trust when Kenyatta backtracked on promise not to help suspects allegedly…

At the beginning of any given financial year, each state institution has a plan of what it will do. They issue tenders going into the billions. Ordinarily, any Rwandan with the requisite competence can seek any of the contracts, at least that is what is on paper. A trend has…

Senior African academics and scientists have positioned a new initiative of African universities and research institutions as an important step forward in accelerating disease and pandemic responses on the continent through research and development. The initiative, The Sisulu Foundation, was announced on 22 June and will offer training, research and…

The Members of the East African Legislative Assembly are demanding that they be paid their allowances or else they may refuse to pass the secretariat’s budget. The lawmakers from Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan say they have not been paid allowances for the sessions they had for…

The biggest test for Rwanda’s economy is coming next financial year 2022-2023, when the repayment of its $400 million Eurobond is due. The bond was issued in 2013, with a 10-year maturity period. Half the proceeds from the issue were used to repay outstanding loans on the Kigali International Convention…

Loans acquired by the government of the former president Juvenal Habyarimana are still reflected in the accounts of the current government – a situation the Auditor General reports that is leading to accumulation of those debts and may also result into government paying the wrong creditors. In his latest report,…

The proposed global treaty banning plastics has run into trouble after Africa’s biggest economy South Africa deciding it will not support the initiative. Since 2017, a treaty has been in the works after the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) established an ‘ad hoc open-ended working group’ on marine plastic and microplastic…

The arrests of flouters of regulations are back in the daily news reports, so have media appearances by officials sending stern warnings. The country is facing a surge of COVID-19 infections never seen since the pandemic started early last year. For Monday alone, the health ministry reported 622 cases, and…

Government of Rwanda has dismissed fresh allegations raised by a UN panel that minerals from DR Congo continue to be smuggled through its territory. The UN Group of Experts on DR Congo in latest report released last week claimed that cross-border smuggling of untagged tantalum and tin into Rwanda continued…

Women aged between 18 and 50 should be stopped from drinking alcohol because it may harm their chances of giving birth, World Health Organisation bosses have claimed. The World Health Organisation’s proposal has been slammed as “idiocy” for suggesting that all women of childbearing age effectively stay teetotal – regardless…

At the end of December 2021 or early January next year, Rwanda will open all aspects of the country that have been closed since March last year. At the moment, bars, entertainment joints and concerts have remained the only sectors of the country which have not opened at all since…

The Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) which is charged with disbursing university student loans doesn’t have full list of who got the money. As par government planning, all people who received a fully paid government scholarship to university, have to start paying back once they start working.  Several years ago, BRD…

The UN refugees agency is appealing for more help for tens of thousands of people displaced by a volcanic eruption last month.  An estimated 450,000 people have fled Goma, about 40% of the city’s population. Around 120,000 of those have arrived in the neighbouring town of Sake in the eastern…