KENYA has joined Rwanda and Tanzania in clamouring for a review of the quota system in the recruitment of East African Community staff on grounds that the formula is unfair.Last year, ministers concerned with East African Community (EAC) affairs from the five partner states approved a method in which states share community jobs equally irrespective of their population and contribution to the bloc’s finances.Documents from a recent Council of Ministers meeting in Nairobi show that Kenya has questioned the manner in which the quotas are calculated and asked for a review.Kenya is not the only country protesting against the formula. Tanzania and Rwanda have also raised concerns, noting that barely a year after its creation, the EAC’s employee recruitment formula may be on the brink of collapse.*****************************Country’s tourism vision THE International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) has lauded Rwanda following its move to issue entry visas to nationals from all African countries travelling to or transiting through the country upon arrival at any entry point effective January 1, 2013, saying this would promote tourism. It further singled out the country’s adoption of online visas for all foreign visitors as well as its existing biometric-based entry for citizens, saying this illustrates the country’s overall commitment to promoting e-government and smart visa policies.ICTP President Professor Geoffrey Lipman said this is clearly part of the country’s leadership vision in which tourism is a central element in the socio-economic development of the country. *****************************Insurance support to farmersFARMERS under Duterembere, a local micro-finance institution will soon benefit from the institution`s programme aimed at minimising losses due to bad weather, pests and various crop diseases.Delphin Ngamije, the Managing Director of Duterembere, told The New Times that the programme will initially benefit farmers in districts the institution has identified as the most affected by various crop diseases.The districts include Kayonza and Gatsibo in the Eastern Province while those in the Southern Province are Kamonyi, Huye, Ruhango, and Rusizi in the Western Province.*****************************Airtel, Tigo enter Blackberry fray Airtel Rwanda and Tigo Rwanda last week both launched Blackberry services joining the coutnry’s largest service provider MTN Rwanda in offering the services.Airtel Rwanda assured its subscribers that the service is part of its array of its affordable products in the country’s telecom sector. Its country director, Marcelline Paluku, said the service is part of the company’s commitment to innovative products for public use, a move that has triggered the two other telecoms-MTN and Tigo to slash their voice and data tariffs.“Despite the high required standards, we know that Rwandans deserve the best.” On its part, Tigo Rwanda CEO, Diego Camberos, said the launch of the services is a response to the telecom’s recent move to diversify its services to offer subscribers choice.“Rwandans now have no excuse not to join Tigo,” he said, during the launch of the services in Kigali on Thursday.Airtel’s services will got for Rwf2,500 a week and Rwf10,000 a month compared to weekly and monthly charges of Rwf4,000 and Rwf12,000 for both Tigo and MTN, respectively.*****************************Mombasa’s Axle load crisisTRANSPORT at the port of Mombasa was late last week crippled after the Mariakani Weigh Bridge became a no-go zone for trucks. The port is now relying on private Container Freight Stations (CFSs) as a breather for high volumes of imported cargo.Trucks are being impounded at Mariakani Weigh Bridge after the Government reverted to the controversial axle load weighing of vehicles instead of gross vehicle weight. Truck owners have since shunned the Mariakani weigh bridge to avoid huge fines for noncompliance with the axle load limits.There are fears that the crisis would hurt the economies of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Burundi which are served by trucks.More than 400 trucks were parked by the roadside on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway near the weigh bridge in protest. Others have parked along the road from Mazeras to Mariakani for fear of being impounded at the Mariakani weigh bridge. Kenya allows a maximum of 48 tonnes for vehicles, Rwanda and Burundi 53 tonnes while Tanzania and Uganda allow 56 tonnes.*****************************VISA’s mobile money solutions With its ability to provide an interactable network in the mobile payment system, mVisa will scale up mobile money solutions currently needed by the country to bank the unbanked mainly the rural folks.Ginger Baker, Visa Country Director for Rwanda believes that the mVisa has the ability to share infrastructure and share cost amongst players in mobile payment systems which will help boost access to financial services in the country.“The power and ability to share cost amongst players in the systems and share agent network is something that will help to scale up mobile money solutions.”*****************************Local engineers locked outLack of a legally-binding professional body has been cited as the reason why local engineers missed out on the regional mutual recognition agreement signed between the East African Community countries of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.The agreement, which left out Rwanda and Burundi for lack of ‘professional conformity, seeks to help regional engineers by facilitating them to freely move and operate from any of the countries that signed the deal.If Rwanda signs the agreement it means that local engineers will be allowed to explore the regional market and engineers from the member countries will have the rights to operate in Kigali without scrutinising of their academic credentials.“We did not sign the agreement because we lacked the legal professional body. However, we will soon launch it, to enable us be party to the regional body,” Dismas Nkubana, the executive secretary of the association of engineers in Rwanda said. Nkubana said that the law regulating the establishment of such bodies was recently passed adding that they are now in the process of registering members who will form the body with the deadline set for December 14.
