Rwandans in UK.com

Queen welcomes Rwanda to C’wealth

In a congratulatory message to President Paul Kagame and the people of Rwanda, Queen Elizabeth said that Rwanda has made significant progress in the last 15 years, and the admission to the Commonwealth is reflection of what the Rwandan people have achieved during this period.

“I send the people of Rwanda congratulations on the occasion of their accession to the Commonwealth. Rwanda has made much progress since the terrible events of 1994, and its accession to the Commonwealth is an indication of this.”

“Both Rwanda and the Commonwealth will gain greatly from this new relationship, and I welcome Rwanda as the 54th Member State.” the Queen’s message reads.

Rwanda was unanimously admitted into the Commonwealth as a 54th Member on the 29th of November by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Following an assessment by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Rwanda’s admission merited on grounds of having good democratic processes such as free and fair elections, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary.

Rwanda was equally commended for good governance, protection of human rights, freedom of expression and having a transparent system in place.

Rwanda’s was backed by some of the prominent members of the group including Britain, Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago.

Rwanda became the second member of the commonwealth without any historical British colonial links after Mozambique.

The Commonwealth accounts for a population of more than two billion and $2.8 trillion in annual trade. Its main focus is promoting trade, education and good governance among its member countries.

Reported by the New Times

This was announced Tuesday after members of the Diaspora toured rural communities in the district at the end of the just concluded fourth Diaspora Global Convention in Kigali.

“We don’t have a concept plan for it yet but, in the course of this week, we will meet with Bugesera officials and work on it. We have agreed with them to sign a partnership on all other poverty alleviation initiatives and, we will bring in investors from abroad,” Gustave Karara, the head of the Rwanda Diaspora Global Network (RDGN) told The New Times on phone yesterday.

The delegation said it would build the houses in Rilima sector, Bugesera district.

Former Miss France 2000, Sonia Rolland, born to a Rwandan mother, recently promised to be the country’s ambassador and also announced plans to set up a vocational school for orphans of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Rolland said her charity organization ‘Maisha Africa’ will look for sponsors in France to bankroll the project.

Rolland’s organization has already constructed 12 houses for orphans of the Genocide in Kimironko.  She has also flown in a medical team to study the country’s health situation and see how they can help as well as train Rwandan surgeons.

On Monday, RDGN also officially handed over the One Dollar Campaign money and files to the project beneficiaries – the Association of Student Survivors of the Genocide (AERG), after a eight-month fundraising campaign that managed to raise over Rwf 1 billion.

Reported by The New Times

• Three State Ministers under Infrastructure

• Environment Ministry divided

KIGALI – President Paul Kagame yesterday evening reshuffled his cabinet that saw a few Ministers transferred to different ministries and others dropped from the new cabinet line up.

In statement released last evening by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, Louise Mushikwabo moves from the Ministry of Information to that of Foreign Affairs replacing Rosemary Museminali.

Vincent Karega was elevated from State Minister in charges of Mines and Environment to full cabinet Minister of Infrastructure.

Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic and Secretary to the Treasury, John Rwangombwa got the biggest promotion taking over from his former boss, James Musoni as the new Finance and Economic Planning Minister.

James Musoni moves to the Ministry of Local Government as full cabinet Minister. 

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources was split into two; that of Lands and Environment and Forestry and Mines.

Christophe Bazivamo will head Forestry and Mines portfolio while Stanislas Kamanzi took over the new Environment and Lands ministry.

The statement also indicated that three State Ministers will be appointed under the Ministry of Infrastructure to head the portfolios of Energy and Water, Transport, Housing and Human resettlement.

No minister was named to replace Louise Mushikiwabo at the Information ministry.

Former Ministers Rosemary Museminali (Foreign Affairs), Eng. Linda Bihire (Infrastructure) and State Minister Albert Butare (Energy) did not feature on the new cabinet line up announced last night.

This is the third cabinet reshuffle Kagame has announced in 2009, the first was announced in May followed by that of July.

Reported by the New Times

BY BERNA NAMATA

This follows an increase by 24 percent in the first half of 2009, beating earlier forecasts that remittances will drop by 15 percent at the end of the year. 

In the first six months of this year statistics indicate that $85.69 million (Rwf48.39 billion) was remitted into the economy compared to $69.13 million (Rwf38.9 billion) in the same period last year.

“Rwandans abroad have been transferring significant amounts of money to their relatives and families. The   large amount of this money goes mainly to social assistance,” Francois Kanimba, the Governor Central Bank told Business Times in an interview recently.

Kanimba attributed the growth in remitances to government government progammes that have facilitated diaspora Rwandan to invest in the country.

This year the Central Bank  established an investment fund known as the Rwandan Diaspora Mutual Fund to facilitate citizens abroad to invest in their home country through remittances as a way of contributing to national development.

Kigali City Council is also developing a framework that will facilitate and make it easy for the Diaspora to acquire land and housing.

According to the World Bank remittance inflows to developing countries could fall by between one percent and six percent this year from last year, as a result of the global recession.

Central Bank says that Western Union, which is the major avenue through which Rwandans in Diaspora remit the money into the economy, transferred around $20.59 million (Rwf11.6 billion) compared to $19.43 million (Rwf10.9 billion) last year.

Transfers through commercial banks reduced to $18.56 million from $19.43 million last year as the informal channel  transfers increased $44,66m compared to $3114m last year.

The remittances into Rwanda from abroad have been increasing over years, becoming a major foreign exchange revenue source.

According to the World Bank, Rwandans in the Diaspora remitted over $60 million in 2006 while in 2007 remittances almost doubled to over $110 million

Reported by the New Times

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) taking place in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday evening confirmed Rwanda’s entry into the 53-nation group mainly composed of former British colonies.

“We haven’t received all the details, but it is confirmed that the Heads of State summit admitted Rwanda into the Commonwealth,” Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Claver Gatete, told The Sunday Times from Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago.

Rwanda’s admission was based on 4 grounds including democracy and democratic processes such as free and fair elections, rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, good governance including a well trained public service, and transparency.

The other aspects were the protection of human rights, freedom of expression and equal opportunity.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Louise Mushikiwabo, the government spokesperson, said that Rwanda ‘is pleased’ and welcomes the country’s admission into the elite group.

“My government sees this accession as recognition of the tremendous progress this country has made in the last 15 years,”

“Rwandans are ready to seize economic, political, cultural and other opportunities offered by the Commonwealth network,” said Mushikiwabo who also doubles as the Information Minister.

Rwanda becomes the second member to be admitted into the Commonwealth without any direct British colonial connection or constitutional link. The other country is Mozambique.

Rwanda’s bid to join the group had overwhelming support from Britain, Australia, Canada and India-the most influential countries in the group.

It also had the backing of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and the host country Trinidad and Tobago, among others.

The Commonwealth is a club of nations with a population of more than two billion and $2.8 trillion in annual trade. Its main focus is promoting trade, education and good governance among member countries.

Mushikiwabo said that Rwanda will equally have a lot to offer to the member states upon joining.

“They (Commonwealth) are also poised to share some of the lessons learned in rebuilding a nation such as consensus building, advancement of women and tolerance.”
There will be a press conference today to officially announce the country’s entry into the group.

The upcoming Diaspora convention slated for December 13-15 in Kigali will see Diaspora members elect their leaders and come up with strategies on mobilisation of savings for investing back home.

The convention is organized jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Diaspora General Directorate (DGD) and Rwanda Diaspora Global Network (RDGN).

The convention will focus on electing new leaders since RDGN has been under an interim and transitional leadership since December 2008.

The convention is supposed to meet every two years to receive reports, conduct elections and carryout any other activities proposed by the Global council.

The Diaspora has been an instrumental network to mobilize financial resources, skills, knowledge transfer, image building and promotion of culture.

The event will be organized under the theme;  “Integrating the Rwandan Diaspora into national development strategies for the benefit of all.”

“Special attention will be attached to mobilizing savings in the Diaspora for investment promotion in Rwanda – it will be the right opportunity to launch the Rwandan Diaspora Mutual Fund (RDMF),” reads part of the memo issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

RDMF is a newly established initiative by the Diaspora that will be a driving arm for mobilizing savings from abroad.

“It will also be  an opportunity for DGD to discuss with Rwandan Diaspora future operational plans and strategies targeted to mobilize, coordinate and integrate Rwandan Diaspora in the national development of Rwanda .”

Rwandans living abroad will also be mobilized and sensitized on national unity and security, in addition to being briefed on the progress of preparing for 2010 Presidential elections.

Reported by the New Times