In the summer of 2008, the Rwandan authorities bought up and bulldozed the capital's remaining city-centre slum, which sat right next to the "rich town". Last week, one of our Observers there went to photograph the deserted area. What he found, was a group of families, still waiting to be compensated and moved out. Due to heavy rain, their homes have been destroyed, but they're still living in them. The authorities tell them simply "to wait".
KIGALI, Rwanda – Rwandan Defense Force recently welcomed senior medical officer from U.S. Army Africa and Combined Joint Task – Horn of Africa to Rwanda’s military hospital.
Irish potatoes have increased from Rwf100 at the end of 2009 to the current market price of Rwf130 per Kg while Matooke rose to Rwf160 from Rwf130. Cassava is selling at Rwf200 from Rwf150. Other commodities like rice, ground nuts and sugar increased from Rwf600 to Rwf750, Rwf500 to Rwf1,000 and Rwf600 to Rwf800 per Kg respectively. Harriet Mukaruringo, a vendor in Kimironko market who is commonly know as mama Yves attributes the hike in food prices to the heavy rains the country has experienced in the last months.
Kigali city council has put on hold the much-awaited issuance of the municipal bond, the city's Mayor, Aisha Kairabo Kacyira.
Kacyira said no new timeframe for issuing the bond, which has been postponed three times since September 2008 has been set. Also the city council has halted expropriation of the residents in slum areas until next year. Analysts have viewed this move as an indication that the city does not have the money to compensate families it would relocate.
A publisher and former president of the Rwanda Journalists Association, Deo Mushayidi, was over the weekend arrested in connection with recent grenade attacks in Kigali that killed two people and injured scores.
Despite once drunkenly claiming it to be 'the best restaurant in Kigali', I don't go to New Cactus often enough. I think this is mainly because I can never find it in the dark.
The view here rivals the best of Kigali views, so it is a shame that it is hidden from most of the tables.
And there you have it: a former Kagame stalwart, now teaming with FDLR rebels and RPF cast-offs, conspiring to disrupt the president’s cakewalk this August through a series of attacks – coordinated, it seems, from three separate countries.
Oddly, it seems no less plausible than any of the other theories I’ve heard lately.
So what on earth has happened in Rwanda to allow five grenade attacks to happen in the country's capital city in just under two weeks? I can think of a few possible explanations:
The FDLR or extremist Hutus who tacitly support their efforts have managed to cross into Rwanda, sneak in illegal weapons or bribe officials to look the other way, and infiltrate Kigali, where they are using terrorist techniques to intimidate or harass the population.
Another, non-FDLR-affiliated organization has formed to create instability in the country in the lead up to the August 10 presidential elections.
The rifts between the RPF's current and former leadership are nastier than we thought.
The RPF or someone in it has an interest in seeing Kigali mildly destabilized so as to justify repressing political dissent and is somehow behind these attacks.
Sixteen people were injured in two simultaneous grenade attacks in Kigali last night at around 7pm. The attacks happened in Kimironko, close to the taxi rank, and in Kinamba, near the Gisozi Genocide memorial. The bombings occur less than one month after similar attacks in central Kigali. Only on Wednesday, President Paul Kagame blamed the earlier attacks on former chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Kayumba Nyamwasa, who has fled to South Africa,
Two synchronised grenade blasts injured 16 people in the Rwandan capital, and a third unrelated explosion killed one person in the west of the country, police said on Friday.
At least 16 people were yesterday evening wounded in two simultaneous grenade attacks in the city. One of the attacks took place in Kimironko close to the taxi park, while the other occurred at Kinamba on the way to Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre. The grenades exploded during the heavy rain Thursday evening at around 19 hrs.
We offer fantastic savings on Kigali flights. Search and compare prices on cheap flights to Kigali and get the latest Rwanda flight deals from all major airlines and travel agents.
Some 26 years after Mitterand, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Kigali today for a total of around three hours.
It must be said, however, that for the survivors of genocide, this sends a strong message. I can never forget how utterly dismayed I felt when, while he was visiting Kigali on 13 August 2001, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hubert Védrine, refused to pay his respects at a genocide memorial site because he did not want to be drawn into the ‘exploitation of the tragedy by the regime in place.’
Support Us
Add a Travel Gem
