Libyans involved in the sale of Umubano HotelAs the evaluation of the market value of Umubano Hotel nears completion, the Libyan government-affiliated Laico Group might participate in the re-sell of the hotel, according to a senior member on the hotel board.

Government, last year, repossessed Umubano Hotel, after Laico, which was managing it, failed to live up to their investment plan. The Libyan government, through Laico, owns 60 per cent of the hotel’s shares while the rest is owned by government. All companies that applied to buy 100 per cent shares had their bids rejected on the basis that their offers were not attractive. The company to buy 100 per cent shares of the hotel must be experienced in the hotel industry with a clear and strong investment plan that will bring something new in the market. During the recently conducted first-ever star classification of all hospitality facilities in the country, Umubano was left out because it was pending renovation.More Congolese flee into RwandaCongolese nationals this week continued to cross into Rwanda through La Corniche border post in Gisenyi Sector, Rubavu District in Western Province. A joint team of UNHCR and officials from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs is stationed there to register those seeking asylum. Refugees who spoke to The New Times said they were escaping fighting between the DRC army and rebels who broke away from the national army. Sources indicate that those fleeing could also be escaping from various terror groups including the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by the Ugandan fugitive, Joseph Kony.Over 20 genocide ideology cases reportedSince the beginning of this year, at least 22 people have been arrested for promoting or exhibiting the genocide ideology. According to police statistics, 19 of the cases were registered in April, the beginning of the commemoration period in remembrance of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Police spokesperson, Theos Badege, said the recent and most notorious case involves a man who threatened and attempted to behead a Genocide survivor in Ngoma District. Armed with a machete, the suspect is alleged to have told his victim that "we executed the Genocide, and given another chance, we can finish you off.”Badege explained that the incident started as a land wrangle between two brothers, but the survivor faced the wrath of the suspect when she tried to intervene. Police added that the suspect was a Genocide convict who had served an eight-year jail term between 1995 and 2003. Cabinet approves SA, Nigeria envoysThe newly designated South African and Nigerian high commissioners are among six diplomats approved by cabinet mid this week to represent their respective countries in Rwanda. George Nkosinati Twala, the new South African envoy, replaces Gladstone Dumisani Gwadiso, who was recalled by his government last August "for consultations”, according to Pretoria. The South African embassy in Kigali has, however, been operating. The cabinet also endorsed Peter O.Ogidi-Oke as the new Nigerian high commissioner to Rwanda, becoming the first West African country’s envoy resident in Kigali. Previous Nigerian ambassadors to Rwanda were based in Kampala; Uganda. The development follows last October’s announcement by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, during a state visit to Kigali, that his country would soon open an embassy in the Rwandan capital.Rwanda, DRC military chiefs meet over clashesThe Chief of Defence Staff of the Rwanda Defence Forces, Lt Gen Charles Kayonga and his Congolese counterpart, Lt Gen Didier Etumba, Wednesday met at the border district of Rubavu as Kigali sought a peaceful resolution to the escalating security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A reliable source, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, intimated to this newspaper that the two military chiefs discussed the deepening conflict situation in eastern DRC between FARDC (the Congolese army) and renegade FARDC, ex-members of the former CNDP and PARECO rebels. The source said the meeting was organised as a swift response to last week’s flare-up of clashes between the Congolese army and the renegade fighters, adding that it was part of broader Rwandan efforts to find peaceful resolution to the situation, which has displaced thousands of civilians, with many fleeing to Rubavu.EAC protocol to strengthen defence tiesThe recently signed East African Community (EAC) protocol on defence co-operation by the bloc’s Heads of State, will cement the defence pact in the region, a top official in the EAC Ministry said this week.  This was said Wednesday by Amb. George William Kayonga, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, during a news conference at the ministry’s premises. He was briefing the media on the outcomes of the joint communiqué of the 10th extraordinary summit of EAC Heads of State.

Kayonga said the defence protocol is in line with article 17 of the EAC constitution which stipulates that partner states shall negotiate and conclude a mutual defence pact which is a new undertaking to intervene and be aware of sovereignty of the territorial integrity of the EAC bloc. During the just concluded summit held over the weekend in Arusha, Tanzania the EAC Heads of State signed the protocol on co-operation in defence.