Unvaccinated Eritrea Cyclists Excluded from Tour of Rwanda
The Eritrea cycling team has been excluded from the Tour of Rwanda race because its members have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa region, is the only one of the African Union’s 55 member states that’s yet to vaccinate any of its population.
Rwanda Cycling Federation president Abdallah Murenzi said it was “a requirement” for next month’s race that all competitors are fully vaccinated.
“The cyclists from Eritrea said they cannot meet this condition,” Murenzi said.
Five cyclists from Eritrea were expected to compete. Eritrean cyclists won the race in 2019 and 2020.
Rwanda has strict rules in place to fight the pandemic. Authorities have ordered public sector workers to get vaccinated or resign from their jobs and the government said last week that people must be fully vaccinated to access public spaces and attend public events.
Cycling is highly popular in Rwanda and it has been chosen to host the 2025 Road World Championships, the first African nation to be awarded the event.
Read MoreRwanda to be First African Host of Cycling Road World Champs
Cycling’s 2025 road world championships were awarded to Rwanda on Friday in a first hosting by an African country.
The capital city Kigali “will provide a magnificent backdrop” for the weeklong championships which were first held in 1921, International Cycling Union president David Lappartient said.
It’s the latest international sports project for Rwanda and long-time leader Paul Kagame which have faced criticism for repressive policies and human rights abuses.
Kagame hosted FIFA president Gianni Infantino this year to open a regional development office for soccer’s world body in Kigali.
Rwanda recently renewed a $13 million annual shirt sleeve sponsorship of English Premier League club Arsenal through 2025, and Kagame criticized the team on Twitter after losing the season-opening game.
The Rwandan president was in Belgium on Thursday to meet Lappartient ahead of the hosting decision being made on the sidelines of the road worlds.
The 2025 worlds in Kigali are also scheduled to be the venue for the UCI’s four-yearly elections.
Lappartient was re-elected unopposed Friday for a second term.
Read MoreChess in Rwanda: Why is it on the rise?
Chess, a two-player strategy board game played by millions of people worldwide, is taking root in Rwanda at a pace, perhaps, unseen before the past three years.
A burgeoning thrust especially in the past few years is picking up momentum with local kids, especially loving the game more.
December 2015, Rwanda moved up seven places to 155th in the latest global country rank published by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). A country is ranked according to performances, or average rating, of its top 10 active rated players.
Rwanda’s most recent advance came just weeks after the country, last month, hosted its second ever rated tournament in which five more Rwandans acquired the coveted FIDE rating.
The country now has 20 rated players. It is looking to boost these numbers after hosting its third rated tournament. Rwanda Open – a seven-round event which will begin on January, 29, with one round at Classic Hotel in Kigali.
The first two rated tournaments were held in Rwanda last year. However, they were not as big as the upcoming competition which is sponsored by Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa (KCFA), a non-profit organization founded by 13th World Chess Champion, Russian Grand Master (GM) Garry Kasparov, and has players from countries including Burundi, DR Congo and Kenya, set to vie for the honors.
“This is our third rated tournament, and we are happy to be able to organize such tournaments as they not only benefit individual players but also help the country to progress on the world ranking. We plan to continue in that direction,” Kevin Ganza, Vice President the Rwanda Chess Federation (FERWADE), said in interview.
“This year’s open is special as it will bring together players from four countries from the region DRC, Burundi, Kenya and local players (Rwanda). If all goes well, our global ranking could as well improve, slightly, if all our 20 rated players get active.”
According to Ganza, “expectations are high” ahead of the four-day affair.
Unrated players will be looking to get the coveted FIDE rating. To join the cream, debutants must snatch any draw or win in five matches against rated opponents in a rated tournament. It is always a tough feat.
Ganza also said Rwanda Open will also be a fine opportunity for Rwandans to test their capability against tougher opponents, eight months before games in the next Chess Olympiad, a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete, start.
Come September, the 42nd Chess Olympiad will be held in Baku, the capital and commercial hub of Azerbaijan.
Rwanda is looking to field two men and women teams, of five players each, during the games organized by FIDE in the touristic low-lying city with coastline along the Caspian Sea, famed for its medieval walled old city, containing the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, a vast royal complex, and the iconic stone Maiden Tower.
The road to Baku, however, is not smooth as youngsters including Sandrine Uwase, 13, and Joselyne Uwase, 12, have recently made it clear that they will be a threat to senior lady players when Olympiad pre-qualifiers start in March.
Rwanda rising
Meanwhile, Kenya’s most dominant player in 2015 and winner of Rwanda’s first-ever rated tournament, held last February, CM (Candidate Master) Ben Magana, is among those traveling to play in the upcoming competition.
Magana told this website that: “Chess in Rwanda is on the rise, thanks to the fantastic partnership between FERWADE and KCF-A. Rwanda has an exciting mix of veterans and young players and it is one of the emerging chess nations in this part of Africa, together with Tanzania.”
“The future of chess always lies with the youth and, as such, emphasis must be put in teaching Chess to the kids. Rwanda’s chess federation has introduced the important mini-chess programme in primary schools where young brains are exposed to the game,” Magana said.
“In just a matter of a few years, these boys and girls will be a force to reckon with. This is the beauty of chess: young children anywhere in the world exposed to Chess have no option but to get better, and start beating the seniors at the game! Rwanda will be a force to reckon with in a decade if these basics are taken care of.”
Last February 2015, FERWADE with the help of KCF-A rolled out its coveted Mini-Chess programme in a pilot phase now on track in five pilot primary schools – GS Ste Famille, GS Akumunigo, both in Nyarugenge District; GS Kimisange and GS Masaka I, in Kicukiro District; and EP Mayange B, in Bugesera District.
The MiniChess Programme, developed in South Africa in 2010 as part of the school curriculum, has had greater success in schools in South Africa.
It is essentially not only about teaching chess, but an educational programme – an ingenious and efficient way of teaching mathematics using chess materials.
Read MoreHoward Buffett, Sean Penn to name Baby Gorillas at #KwitaIzina2017
Hollywood star Sean Penn and Howard Buffett – son of American billionaire investor Warren Buffett – are expected to descend on Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park on Friday, September 1, to name baby mountain gorillas during Kwita Izina, the country’s annual baby gorilla naming ceremony.
This year marks the 13th edition of Rwanda’s flagship tourism event, which brings together conservationists from all over the world to celebrate the country’s success in protecting the endangered species. The theme for this year’s event is, “Conservation and sustainable tourism; a foundation for future generations”.
This year will see a total of 19 baby gorillas given names in efforts that are geared towards conserving the critically endangered species.
According to the latest statistics (2010), only 880 mountain gorillas are left in the world, and about half of them reside in the lush Virunga chain of eight volcanic mountains that straddle Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mountain gorillas remain a big-money tourist attraction in the three countries.
Since the initial launch of Kwita Izina in 2005, a total of 239 baby mountain gorillas have been named.
Read MoreRwanda Signs Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Rwanda has joined over 160 countries in signing the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Rwanda was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo.
The Paris Agreement represents the strong global commitment to promote environmental protection and mitigate the impacts of climate change. The agreement provides the framework for all nations to introduce and strengthen policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and respond to a warmer planet. It also includes a commitment by developed nations to support climate vulnerable countries through finance and technology at $100 billion annually until 2025.
The agreement is the result of years of negotiations that began in Durban in 2011 and concluded at the U.N. Climate Talks held in Paris in December (COP21). The talks were held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and concluded with the Paris Agreement, which was adopted by all parties to the UNFCCC – 196 nations.
“The Paris Agreement is a key platform for a global plan of action that will reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, with the lofty goal of keeping temperature increases below 1.5 degrees. This stronger target is what the government called for at the Climate Talks in December 2015 because we know that anything less ambitious places Rwanda and other vulnerable nations at unacceptable risk of climate related disasters,” Natural Resources Minister Vincent Biruta remarked.
Among actions taken by the government with regards to environmental protection are; the ban on plastic bags, conservation of natural heritage through national parks and protected areas, landscape restoration and the planting millions of trees every year.
“A key part of achieving our vision is Rwanda’s Green Fund – a ground-breaking environment and climate change investment fund and the largest of its kind in Africa,”said Minister Mushikiwabo while delivering Rwanda’s national statement in New York. “The fund invests in the best public and private projects that have the potential for trans-formative change and that support Rwanda’s commitment to building a green economy. The fund has mobilized 100 million dollars to date and is a leading example of the impact that well managed climate financing can have.”
She also announced that Rwanda will ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as possible and called on all nations to execute their climate action plans so that the agreement lives up to the expectations of current and future generations. “While the Paris Agreement is a historic step in the right direction, we must not be content with today’s signing alone. The real work now begins to ratify and match our commitments with action,” she said. It has to be noted that the agreement will enter into force on the 30th day after the date on which at least 55 parties to the convention, accounting in total for at least an estimated 55% per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
Read MorePolice warn against violating traffic rules
The Rwanda National Police (RNP) traffic and road safety department has reminded drivers to refrain from bad maneuvers which continue to be the source of road carnage.
Supt. Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, the spokesperson of the traffic department said that some of the public transport vehicles also have mechanical faults and operating on expired mechanical inspection certificates
His reaction followed at least six road accidents that occurred on February that claimed 15 lives and leaving scores injured.
“Most of these accidents are due to speeding and overtaking in hotspots especially public transport vehicles that commute to the countryside scrambling for passengers along the way thus violating traffic rules and regulations and putting the lives of people in danger,” said Supt. Ndushabandi.
“There are many sharp corners along highways and there’s a high risk of involving in an accident if you enter and try to negotiate them while on high speed. There’s also a risk of colliding with another vehicle from the opposite direction or going off the road, after failure to control the vehicle. Drivers should therefore behave and drive responsibly while respecting roadside safety signposts to prevent likely accidents.”
RNP also reminded owners of public transport vehicles to speed up the installation of speed governors before the February 26official deadline.
Article 2 of the Presidential Order that sets February 26, this year as the deadline stipulates that “any public or goods’ transport vehicle must be equipped with speed governors to control maximum road speed.”
Read MoreRwanda eyes AviaDev conference in Kigali to boost aviation, hotels
Rwanda is looking at the forth coming AviaDev, an international conference to be held in Kigali as an opportunity to further boost its Aviation and hospitality sectors.
The country has attained high rankings by World Bank doing business report 2016 as one of the easiest place of doing business on the continent, which the government says would wish to boost and attract more investments into the country.
“We want to showcase Rwanda as a key destination to do business,” said Belise Kariza, Chief Tourism Officer at the Rwanda Development Board –RDB on Thursday.
She says, “A forum focused on aviation developments, AviaDev, provides an important platform for the aviation and hotel sectors to discuss future development projects and forge new relationships.”
The government in a bid to strengthen the hospitality sector embarked on encouraging more investments in Hotels to close the shortage of accommodation in the country.
The AviaDev platform conference which is expected to be held in Kigali on 4 October at the Radisson Hotel and convention centre will come before the prestigious Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) scheduled for 5th and 6th October, 2016.
“AviaDev Africa will be a valuable opportunity for leading executives from aviation and hotel development to have some serious and fruitful discussions on how to develop the future connectivity of the continent.” said
Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of Bench Events organizers of the forum.
He adds, “Leading airlines, airport and hotel executives, alongside government representatives, will be able to explore the crucial link between aviation and hotel investment.”
The AviaDev provides a unique platform bringing together airlines, airports, hotel and hospitality investors for the first time, Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) is the premier hotel investment conference in Africa, attracting over 500 high-calibre executives from 45 countries, as well as key Government representatives.
Read MoreKigali re-introduces cashless bus fare
Commuters in Kigali are now required to use a cashless public transport card to commute within the city.
Public transport passengers with in Kigali will compulsorily begin using cashless system to pay for transport fares starting with March 2016, but some residents have raised concerns over the new development.
Speaking to this website, Charles Ngarambe, executive chairperson of Kigali Bus Services, said using a smart card will help passengers time that was wasted when they would queue up to buy tickets which was only done using cash.
“The cash system was delays the buses. The use of smart card not only saves time, but also protects the environment and keeps the city clean as we will have gotten rid of paper tickets,” he explained.
Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) says that the new system to ease monitoring of the public transport system and ensure efficiency, a move that is expected to enhance Rwanda’s goal of becoming a cashless society.
The use of technology is not reliable and as you may see there are many uneducated adults who would prefer to use tangible money systems…we are afraid this will be too much for citizen consumption” one of the passengers said.
Emmanuel Asaba Katabarwa, the head of transport department at RURA said that the new system will be gradually develop and residents will be educated on its use.
Three more three companies will be contracted to disseminate the services.
The phase out will be gradual and the initial route that will fully embrace the electronic system is the Kanombe route.
Any passenger leaving Kanombe for Remera, Kacyiru or the city center will only be allowed to board the bus if they have a smart card.
This kind of system had earlier on been introduced two years ago within the city dwellers on an individual convenience but slowly died out and the use of hard cash has been the norm of the daily transport, though some use of electronic payments has been acceptable.
KBS has been at the forefront in embracing the cashless system, but the stakeholders are optimistic the other companies will join in once they have appreciated the advantages.
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Construction of Kigali Convention Center likely to be completed in May
If good weather persists, the physical structure of the Kigali Convention Center and Hotel should be completed by May 1, 2016.
The announcement was made by Rwanda’s Finance Minister, Amb. Claver Gatete while appearing before parliament yesterday.
Rwanda had to contract Turkish engineering firm-Summa to complete construction of the multimillion dollar ($300million) Kigali Convention Centre, after kicking out the Chinese company that was initially contracted but delayed the project for more than four years.
“The works that have been done by the Turkish company indicate a progress in the project’s completion. They will hand over the structure mid-April and by May 1, we will be good to go” Gatete said.
The four-year delay increased the cost of the project from the initial estimate of $300 million due to additional costs incurred by government mainly in form of accumulated interest fees as the project has mainly been financed through external borrowing.
The government spent $120 million from the proceeds of its $400 million Eurobond to repay an outstanding loan secured from Citibank, NA London branch.
The Turkish firm was contracted in June, 2015, on condition that the project is completed by the end of March 2016, failing which it will attract penalties.
The new Kigali conventional center, located on Kacyiru Roundabout, along the Kigali International airport road, will house a five star hotel with 292 rooms, entertainment facilities and conference halls with a capacity of handling over 2 500 persons.
Read MorePolice Orders Public Transporters to Install Speed Governors
The Rwanda National Police (RNP) department of Traffic and Road Safety has yet again reminded public transporters to speed up the installation of speed governors to further prevent road traffic carnage especially those that are caused by high speed, and to avoid likely penalties that might arise of defiance.
In an interview, Supt. Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, the spokesperson of the traffic department, said that although some transporters have “honoured their own set deadline,” there are others that have either made no attempt or are yet to programme the installed devices to 60 kilometres-per-hour maximum speed, as per the gazetted of February 26, 2015 Presidential Order.
Article 2 of the Presidential Order, stipulates that “any public or goods’ transport vehicle must be equipped with speed governors to control maximum road speed.”
The same article sets exactly one year from the date of publication of this directive, for all vehicles in question to have installed the device, in this case February 26 being the deadline.
“After several meetings between transporters and other concerned institutions like the ministries of Internal Security and Infrastructure which is also charged with transport, RNP and RURA, including that held last November, the transporters themselves set December 15, 2015 (one month) for all vehicles commuting to the countryside to have fitted these devices while those operating within Kigali take another extra month up to January 15, 2016,” Supt. Ndushabandi explained.
This varied period of installation, he said, was meant not to obstruct the transport sectors or delay movement of people.
“We call upon transporters, who are yet to implement this directive, to do so before the deadline because failure to do so in the set timeframe attracts penalties,” he said.
“This directive was put in place to reduce road carnage and protect people’s lives that otherwise would be lost due to high speed. There was ample time to comply and implement it and we are keen on this deadline because we have to ensure the security of people while on roads.”
Supt. Ndushabandi revealed that a team has been instituted to conduct an inspection exercise to see if all the transporters have “complied with their set target and the Presidential Order.”
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