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El mandatario afirmó que la agrupación con la que el líder palestino, Mahmud Abás, formó alianza de gobierno mantiene cautivos a los adolescentes. Se desplegaron 2.500 soldados para buscarlos.
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Police officials and local leaders destroy illicit liquors during a campaign against the beverages last year.. File.
The resident of Byimana Sector, Ruhango District, who serves as the in-charge of security in his village, says he has witnessed security raids against producers and traders of illicit brew that stroll on the market across the country.
“What amazes me is that the moment they are arrested you know they will be back the next morning,” he said. “They never spend days [in jail] before they are released and return to their businesses as usual.”
The people Maniraguha is referring to are mainly suspected producers or traders in the common locally-made but banned alcoholic beverages.
The brews have been declared illegal, either because they are suspected to have a high alcoholic percentage or because they pause serious health risks to consumers.
Famous among them are the notorious kanyanga, nyirantare, muriture, igikwangari and many more-with names varying according to area of production, process and raw materials used.
However, although some of the beverages are manufactured in the country, officials warn that a portion of them, particularly the likes of kanyanga, are smuggled in from neighbouring countries through porous border points.
Health experts warn that drug abuse has serious health effects such as mental problems and heart-related difficulties.
The illicit brews particularly are said to be fuelling domestic conflicts, gender-based violence and other criminal acts, including physical assault and in rare cases, murder.
The Police have been working with local leaders, central government officials, non-governmental organisations and the church to organise campaigns against drug abuse, mainly urging the public against engaging in the manufacture or consumption of the ‘risky’ beverages.
But as the business seems to keep flourishing, security organs often resort to ‘iron hand’ strategies to enforce the law and maintain order.
It has become a routine for security operatives, often working on information provided by local leaders and residents, to raid homes where such beverages are suspected to be manufactured and/or sold.
In such security swoops, those involved in the business are arrested and their products confiscated.
Most often, the culprits are detained for a few days before they are released, while the illicit brew is destroyed in public, in what the Police consider as a sensitisation tool against the manufacture and consumption of such brew.
Lenient penalty
But the strategy is proving to be less impacting as the liquors remain present on the market.
Observers blame the lack of a stronger legal framework to severely punish those involved in the making and trade of such brews for the continued flow of the illegal business.
Although Rwanda’s penal code criminalises the unlawful use of narcotics, observers argue the law still has gaps that are being exploited by dealers to evade the wrath of justice.
The law bans the “growing, selling, transformation, transportation, storage and consumption of narcotic drugs except in cases and conditions specified by law” and punishes such offences with “a term of imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of Rwf500,000 to Rwf5 million.
Observers believe the sentence is too lenient to push dealers and manufacturers out of the business which is said to be highly lucrative.
Even Police seem to agree.
Police spokesperson Damas Gatare says the law is less severe to discourage illegal drug makers, traders and consumers.
“It is a big challenge that we face,” Gatare says.
However, he believes awareness should be the first strategy to discourage the making and consumption of illicit brews.
The other measure, he added, is the need for deterrent punishment.
“Laws should be reviewed to include much tougher punishment,” Gatare says, warning that the drugs “pose serious health risks to the population, the country’s growth and destroys the social fabric of the Rwandan community.
But apart from the seeming leniency of the laws, the lack of a comprehensive list of all the liquors classified as illegal is also said to be frustrating efforts to prosecute the offenders and put an end to the problem.
Ministerial order in the offing
The penal code stipulates that a ministerial order of the minister in charge of health should specify substances classified as narcotic drugs.
But the list is yet to be published as the ministerial order is pending approval by the Cabinet, officials say.
According to Spencer Bugingo, a legal expert with the Ministry of Health, a ministerial order determining substances classified as narcotics has been drafted and is set to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
If adopted, the order will stipulate that any drink with more than 45 per cent of alcoholic content will be considered a narcotic and punishable, the official said.
“It goes against the content rather than the various brand names [of the varied illicit brews] that can change any time and make it again more difficult to prosecute,” Bugingo said.
“It will be easy for the Police to crack down on the dealers and for the prosecution to bring them to book.”
In addition Bugingo believes the Rwanda Food and Medicine Authority (RFMA), expected to be set up soon, will play an important role in fighting the production and sale of the illicit beverages to the public.
RFMA will have a mandate to regulate the different food products and pharmaceutical products on the Rwandan market.
In conjunction with the Rwanda Bureau of Standards, RFMA will ensure that all food products and beverages available on the market meet required standards and do not pose any threat to consumers.
“The public should also understand that their role in this struggle is crucial. They should support security organs in their efforts to end the trade and desist from engaging in such unlawful businesses or consuming such products,” he said.
By Jean Pierre Bucyensenge,The New Times
Are our laws too weak to stop the flourishing illicit liquor businesses?
The 39-year-old citizen of South Africa was arrested by immigration officers last Friday for working in Tanzania without a permit and his case was still under investigations when he is reported to have disappeared last weekend, believed to be an attempt at fleeing the country.
Regional Immigration Officer, Mr Daniel Namomba who was handling the case, expressed shock, noting that he was not aware of Mr Beytell’s disappearance and that as far as he was concerned he is still under investigation.
“I am currently in Tanga attending a funeral so reports about his disappearance are news to me,” stated Mr Namomba by phone when contacted for comment.
The mine’s spokesperson, Mr Doto Mwidadi admitted that they have received information that their former sales manager has left the country and he has done so without handing over his office in Arusha.
He, however, did not want to comment on allegations that Mr Beytell was escorted to the airport by some of the company’s officials and that he left with Tanzanite gemstones worth 1 million US dollars (about 1.6bn/-).
Mr Mwidadi was of the view that Mr Beytell followed proper procedures in leaving the country, after all, he was being accused of staying and being employed here without a work permit.
The suspect is reported to have been working in Tanzania since 2008, though some former employees of the mining company noted that Mr Beytell had been here since 2006. Upon his arrest last week, it came to light that Mr Beytell was sacked from the company in 2008 for allegedly being involved in some dubious mineral exporting deals and was chased out of the country.
“We are still interrogating Mr Beytell, therefore further details regarding his arrest and how he managed to work unnoticed for nearly ten years will be released to the press next week,” said Mr Namomba last Friday.
He admitted that Mr Beytell had been in Tanzania since around 2005 and even then, the suspect was working with Tanzanite-One but eventually got sacked in 2008 after allegedly stealing a consignment of gemstones, upon which the sales manager was deported back to Johannesburg.
“We are still not sure how Mr Beytell managed to find his way back into the country, returning to Arusha where until his arrest, was allegedly dealing with illegal export of minerals,” he added.
Further reports indicate that Mr Beytel was also working closely with another Arusha-based mineral dealer of Asian origin, but authorities refused to reveal his name saying it would interfere with investigations.
By MARC NKWAME, Tanzania Daily News
Tanzania: Former manager of local mining firm ‘vanishes’
Bank’s Managing Director, Mrs Margareth Chacha
TWB Managing Director, Ms Margareth Chacha, told a news conference over the weekend that the partnership was meant to support outgrowers and National Service (JKT) projects.
“Since we will partner with JKT in irrigation farming, it is our hope that the outgrowers will also get a ready market for their produce,” Ms Chacha said, adding that “our presence will encourage them produce more and sell them for us.”
According to the bank’s chief, the main crops that will be cultivated under the partnership include maize, sunflower, beans and groundnuts.
“Every thing will be available in communities living around the areas where joint commercial farming will be carried out,” she said. She said all payments or transactions regarding the ambitious project designed to revive agricultural activities in JKT will be made through TWB.
“This partnership will see JKT becoming the food producing giant in the country and sell their produce in both domestic and foreign markets,” he said, praising the partnership.
She said the two partners (SUMA JKT and TWB) were committed to translate the government’s strategy of Agriculture First or “Kilimo Kwanza” into action.
“If Tanzanians engage in serious commercial agriculture it my optimism that Tanzania’s shilling will stabilize against the US dollar,” she stressed.
Source Tanzania Daily News
Women bank, SUMA JKT to boost farming
Guillaume Ancel
In an article published in French newspaper, Le Monde, the officer expresses his disappointment and frustrations after failing to get an audience to testify on his role during Operation Turquoise in attempt to cover up the French role in the Genocide.
“When I returned from this operation, I was puzzled about the role that we played on the ground and the support to the interim government (GIR, whose central role in the Genocide I was not yet aware of) and the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) whose disintegration we witnessed in the face of Paul Kagame’s RPF,” he recalls.
“I had a lot of questions in mind but was not allowed to publicly voice them due to the duty of confidentiality imposed by the military regulations.”
ON 22 June 1994, I was assigned to Operation Turquoise as FAC of a combat company of the 2nd REI (Foreign Infantry Regiment, Nîmes) with which I left on June 23.
I insist on the fact that I was not present during political-military discussions and had no access to the decision-making circles that decided that intervention.
However, I know quite well what I did there, between Zaire and Rwanda, with a few hundred men whose exposure was quite restricted while their actions were specific to say the least.
I returned on August 5, to prepare for the next mission, Sarajevo.
When I returned from this operation, I was very puzzled about the role that we played on the ground and the support to the interim government (GIR, whose central role in the Genocide I was not yet aware of) and the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) whose disintegration we witnessed in the face of Paul Kagame’s RPF.
I had a lot of questions in mind but was not allowed to publicly voice them due to the duty of confidentiality imposed by the military regulations. Armies are often criticized for this culture of silence and this constant pressure exerted by the military environment. In reality, it is mostly a culture of not writing. You have the freedom to speak internally; I do not remember a single military asking me to keep quiet in our “closed” circles. What is forbidden is to speak publicly and thus to write.
For example, my various bosses in operational units have always asked me to delete, of my end of mission reports, any parts that questioned the mission otherwise than on the technical aspects of our work, even though they openly discussed it with me.
Therefore few men in uniform ever write, and their rare attempts are too often tedious autobiographies or a tribute to their ability to stay silent. This is especially true for Rwanda where the few writings of military origin are marked by crocodile tears rather than honor.
Why have I been silent for 20 years?
I never stopped talking during “private discussions”, dinners with friends, who quickly make you understand that they do not necessarily understand this debate. I spoke during academic discussions, during training cycles, where you are listened to with interest but without any interest of follow-up. It was not a lack of interest of those who listened to me, often with attention, but it never went beyond the private sphere and was never taken to a public debate, it remained merely private discussions.
I should also add that a few months after Rwanda, I went for another complicated mission as head of TACP (in charge of air strikes) of the 1st REC (Foreign Regiment of Cavalry, Orange) in Sarajevo. As I went on other missions and Rwanda got further and further…
However I continued to reflect on this topic as I have some Rwandan friends whose wounds will never heal and whose friendship never ceases to remind me of the 1994 tragedy. They are Tutsis and Hutus; they are Rwandans whose common point is not the spirit of revenge, but to have “lived” Genocide. Don’t assume that they have asked me even once to testify; in reality it is impossible for them to even talk about it. When the subject is mentioned, their eyes remain open but seem empty, locked in a world of darkness, of the unspeakable. These Rwandans have never asked me to testify, but they all thanked me for doing so, regardless of their beliefs.
Why was I never heard by the parliamentary commission?
It is 1997, I hear the parliamentary debate in Belgium on the radio, serious investigation on their role and responsibilities. I begin to expect a French debate, which finally begins in 1998 with the creation of the parliamentary commission on Rwanda chaired by Paul Quiles. I think I will finally be questioned and inform our members of parliament of some facts which continued to puzzle me: Combat missions which we went on under the name of “humanitarian” operation; the benevolence which we showed to GIR and FAR whose involvement in the Genocide became clearer each day; and especially the weapons sent to Zaire…
I went to ask to be interviewed when a particularly well-intentioned friend told me that the MIP was not really a commission of inquiry and that my questions would be very unwelcome. And then I read in Le Monde a report on the hearing of Jean Christophe Mitterrand, whom Rwandans spoke of widely…
Can this really be called a hearing?
– Good morning dear Sir how are you?
– Do you have anything to do with the Rwandan tragedy? It would be better if you did not.
– No
– Very well, thank you and goodbye.
My adviser was right, this was not an inquiry mission, it was about protection and covering up the information found.
I swallowed my disappointment and some bitterness. I followed, but with increasing distance the discussions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, few indictments in Belgium and especially in Switzerland, this historic place of refuge that for once refused to be a haven for perpetrators. And I continue to speak about this in the emptiness… I was speaking but I was not heard.
How my novel shattered the official version of Operation Turquoise
February 2014, I publish “Winds dark on Lake Kivu” in, after a year of polite rejections from publishers.
It is the publication of this novel that will trigger my public testimony.
Very quickly, it becomes clear that my story, which I was repeatedly told was already known, is actually incompatible with the official version of Operation Turquoise. This fact became clear when I attended a private symposium in March, bringing together historians, politicians and diplomats specifically to discuss the role of France in the Rwandan tragedy. I was invited because of the publication of my novel and as a direct witness to the French intervention.
I testified on my role, at my humble and vey technical level during Operation Turquoise, before an audience convinced of its own familiarity with the topic… and I saw 24 jaws dropping. I thought I had published nothing new, something already integrated into the work of historians, but I saw their astonishment after hearing my testimony.
Of course, some of them told me later that they “knew” a great deal of what I was saying, but they had never gotten confirmation by an active participant of this intervention, or a coherent narrative. I had to face some surprising reactions. At first, and I think I stayed very polite, one of the speakers, more of a politician than a historian, tried to explain to me in front of a startled assembly that I in fact did not understand the mission that had been assigned to me and that this was only a misunderstanding, since he knew what orders had been given…
The reaction of the Chairman of the symposium was much subtler: “It is a matter of interpretation of facts that must be seen in a broader context of certain aspects you are not aware of.” He naturally concluded that it would be better for me to adapt to the system rather than disrupt its inner workings.
But when I spoke of the first combat missions we were assigned, of the support to the interim government and especially the distribution of arms during a humanitarian mission, his reaction said much more than his words. It showed him the shortcomings of the parliamentary commission he knew better than anyone.
These reactions were shocking to me. How can we understand what happened and ensure that this kind of tragedy never happens again if we do not even know all the pieces of the puzzle? It is an affront to our collective intelligence that I cannot accept: the official version could not be further from the reality, of which I know only a small part. The two narratives are tragically opposed. How can one understand what one doesn’t know?
Why I agreed to testify publicly April 2014, 20 years after the facts.
I wanted to testify publicly on the few pieces of the puzzle that I do have, so that we may stop blinding the French people with an official version that denies the role of our nation in the Rwandan tragedy. This is an affront to the intelligence of our citizens, it tells them to “close their eyes in peace, nothing happened.”
As the whole world commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, I had no trouble finding serious journalists who have been working for years on the subject and often had been published themselves. They were interested in my testimony and in disseminating it to the public.
In 2014, we still do not know what the real role of France was in the Rwandan tragedy. Smoke screens are carefully used to hide serious mistakes.
Why should this debate take place?
My approach is clear: as a citizen, I would like to know what decisions were taken in the intervention of France in Rwanda, who made those decisions, for what purpose and under whose guidance. As a former military, I don’t want this to be about holding accountable my fellow soldiers who carried out this operation in a very professional manner, as expected of them, which is an attitude I stand behind.
I want this debate to take place, and without waiting for the protagonists to disappear as we did so bravely after the war in Algeria.
A final word on all those who “advised” me to stay silent. There are many and they all listed good reasons: I am controversial, it’s not up to me to lead this debate, I could jeopardize my career, I am not respecting the rule of confidentiality that extends even beyond active duty, I have broken the culture of silence, my words could be understood as criticism of my comrades, I am feeding an international controversy, I am questioning the image of France, I am putting (very) influential policymakers in difficulty who will neutralize me, I am drawing attention to financial transactions that should not be disclosed, I am drawing unnecessary attention to myself, I am not protecting myself enough, I am not sparing my loved ones, I should not go on a crusade, I will be alone, I am a thorn in their side.
Well if I needed one reason to speak, it would be exactly because I am being advised to stay silent. I will hold my tongue when those who should speak have began to testify and when we can honor with dignity, the hundreds of thousands of victims, whose death we could have prevented.
The New Times
Why wait for 20 years to testify publicly on Operation Turquoise?
Chairman of Tanzania Chamber of Mines and Minerals, Ambassador Ami Mpungwe, said several regulatory and not-for-profit institutions are tightly following up activities of the mining sector.
“Anyone who says mining companies are cheating in any form is lying and the American institution’s report grossly misrepresents facts and imagines that there is no government here,” Ambassador Mpungwe said.
He however expressed concern that the recent Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report listed irregularities relating to oil marketing companies supplying fuel to mining companies.
“We do not condone wrongdoing and any oil companies found cheating will not work with our members,” Ambassador Mpungwe warned.
He further warned that continued mistrust of the mining sector and multinational corporations investing in the industry, is hurting further investments.
“We need to tone down the rhetoric because it’s hurting more investments in this important sector,” he noted. Among institutions monitoring the mining sector include; Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency, Tanzania Extractive Sector Transparency Initiative and Tanzania Revenue Authority.
In its latest report, GFI said illicit flows and secretive practices are robbing many developing nations, particularly in Africa, of riches that could go towards development and stability.
The Washington-based NGO with a reputation for analyzing large sums, believe developing countries lose about $424 billion each year when importers and exporters mislead governments about the value of goods and services, according to a new report.
The dishonesty – known as trade misinvoicing – accounts for nearly 80 per cent of all the money that developing countries lose each year through illegal means. Trade misinvoicing occurs when companies charge too much (over-invoicing) or too little (under-invoicing) for imports or exports.
Depending on the laws in place, this allows companies to pay less in taxes or receive more generous government assistance. Though wide ranging in scope, GFI fingered Tanzania’s mining sector as a leading player in over-invoicing – which accounts for one slice of the estimated $1.87 billion the country loses each year.
Much of this comes from importers cooking the books to charge too much for goods, like machines or fuel, to take advantage of generous government concessions and help push cash out of the country.
“Mining companies could be over-inflating their import costs to shift capital out of Tanzania illicitly with the added kick-back of lower taxable income due to artificially inflated inputs,” according to GFI.
The report estimates that the Tanzanian government misses out on about $248 million per year in tax revenue from mining companies as a result – a substantial amount for a country in need of funds for development. Weak governance and companies seeking to reduce their taxes are not the only players in this game.
GFI found that most of Tanzania’s misinvoiced trade is with Switzerland and Singapore – two reputed tax havens. Only six per cent of Tanzania’s imports come from Switzerland and Singapore, yet the micro States account for 67 per cent of Tanzania’s total import misinvoicing over ten years.
By FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE, Tanzania Daily News
Minerals chamber warns mining, oil firms
Speaking during the official launching ceremony in Dar es Salaam at the weekend, Barclays Retail Director, Mr Kumaran Pather, said that the service was designed to facilitate much ease in financial transactions.
He said that the bank was proud to be the first bank to introduce such a unique service in the Tanzanian market. Mr Pather underscored that paperless banking was just one of the projects that the bank has embarked on to improve services.
“Paperless banking services are taking the place of traditional paper products including the use of withdrawal and cash deposit forms.
“This is an innovation and a milestone to be proud of as now our customers can now complete their teller banking transactions in less than three minutes with no need fill in forms required for cash and cheque deposits and cash withdrawals,” he said.
He added that the initiative has tremendously cut down the cost to serve the customers but also reduced turnaround time to transact customers.
Source Tanzania Daily News
Barclays launches paperless banking service
During the week, foreign participation decreased by 99 per cent while local stocks represented 260 per cent of the turnover.
According to Zan Securities Limited Weekly Market Wrap-ups, the week saw the Industrial and Allied sector as the most active after making turnovers worth 629m/- followed by banks, finance and investment sector with 618m/-.
As a result, the total turnover appreciated by 109 per cent while volume of shares increased to 2.5 million from 423,000, up by 497 per cent. Total market capitalisation rose by 1.41 per cent during the week, and domestic market capitalization increased by 2.86 per cent.
Most of the major sector indices changed positively except commercial services index that remained unchanged. Three cross-listed companies and four local firms recorded a drop in price.
Inversely, two cross-listed companies and two local companies recorded rise in price during week under review. NMB led the list of top gainers by increase of 180/- per share or 5.36 per cent up followed by TBL that appreciated by 420/- or 4.9 per cent up.
The market is likely to remain volatile as investors are trying to adjust their portfolios as per the budget impacts. However, there is expectation of much impact on stock that relates to local manufacturing companies due increased government measures to protect local producers.
According to Tanzania Securities Limited (TSL) the market indices continued with their upward rally for both DSEI and the TSI.
The DSEI closed 1.41 per cent higher at 2,096.79 points while the TSI ended the week at 3,305.07 points or 2.87 per cent higher.
CRDB maintained its lead in the Bank and Finance sector with a volume of 1,936,246 shares traded at prices of 320/- and 315/-.
The TOL Gases Limited, on the other part was the main active counter TOL was the most active counter in the Industrial and Allied segment this week. TOL traded 452,597 shares at prices of 500/- and 490/- and 495/-.
By SEBASTIAN MRINDOKO, Tanzania Daily News
Dar bourse registers good business
The allocation is set to steer Rwanda close to the government’s ambitious energy production target to see 563MW of energy realised by 2017 in order to reduce the country’s electricity deficit.
The government and its partners have invested in alternative energy sources such as the extraction of methane gas in Lake Kivu and geothermal energy on Mount Karisimbi.
Earlier in the year, a new concessional loan worth $40 million (about Rwf27 billion) was signed to fund the construction of 119 kilometres of transmission line from Rusumo Power Plant to Birembo substation in Kinyinya in Gasabo District.
The ministry of infrastructure projects that at least 25MW will be added to the national grid from methane gas extraction in September once KivuWatt’s first phase is complete.
According to the energy sector strategic plan and roadmap 2013-2017, government plans to increase the country’s capacity mainly from hydro, peat, methane, geothermal and solar.
Twenty-five from Kivuwatt methane project, Gigawatt Global Solar Plant (8.5MW) and Gishoma peat plant (15MW) are among the projects that have been mentioned to achieve the set target.
Combined energy generation
The Energy Water and Sanitation Authority projects that the planned power generation will comprise peat (estimated at 200MW), methane (additional 100MW), hydro (additional 63MW), geothermal (90MW) and solar 18.5MW).
Economists argue that private players and expanding energy sources outside hydropower will see more households connected to the national grid and ease power costs for households and businesses.
Rwanda’s energy deficit has been said to put pressure on the economy, with imports at 14.5MW.
According to World Bank statistics, the cost of energy in the country has risen to $0.22 per kilowatt-hour, compared with $0.08 to $0.10 in the rest of the region.
The World Bank also says connectivity to the national grid in the East African region remains relatively low, at 15 per cent of households, but Rwanda is still among the best performers in the region.
By Collins Mwai,The New Times
How 2014/15 Budget seeks to boost energy targets
online News 