BSC joins Connect Rwanda Challenge

Broadband Systems Corporation (BSC) has handed out smartphones to 100 Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) ex-combatants living with disabilities in Nyagatare and Kicukiro districts. The smartphones had SIM cards and free WI-FI internet for 12 months installed in their model villages came as the companys support to the Connect Rwanda initiative. BSC is one of the leading IT companies in the country. In order to limit human contact due to the novel coronavirus, a few ex-soldiers represented their colleagues during the ceremonies held Friday at Nyagatare district office and Nyarugunga in Kicukiro district. In attendance were MP Eugène Mussolini, representative for persons with disabilities, district officials and partners such as the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, RDF and MTN Rwanda. The Chairperson of Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) Valerie Nyirahabineza was also present. Nyagatare Vice Mayor in Charge of Economic Development Stephen Rurangwa said he was optimistic about the value the gadgets will add to the beneficiaries. Were in times when we are pushed to work from home and the means to do so are the Information and Communication Technologies, Rurangwa said, urging the beneficiaries to use the devices to share information with leaders. The handover of Mara X smartphones kick-started in Nyagatare because of the areas significance to the liberation war in which many of the ex-soldiers got disabilities, said the company. On October 1st, 1990, the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) made up of exiled Rwandans started the four-year-long struggle in Kagitumba, Nyagatare District. Speaking on behalf of BSC, CEO Christian Muhirwa said that the company is giving back to the community by driving digital penetration. We want to thank these army men. For what they did for this country. If it hadnt been them, we wouldnt be here as a company running operations in peace, said Muhirwa. We want ex-combatants living with disabilities to be digitally included in the countrys journey to become knowledge-based. We want their children to study online and connect with family and friends far away. Christophe Kinanira, 49, is one of the beneficiaries. He dwells in Karangazi, Nyagatare. Born from parents exiled in Uganda, the 49-year old fought in the RPA. He left RDF in 2001, after suffering a mental breakdown caused by war experience. Holding his device in his hands, Kinanira said I was reintegrated in 2001, but this country still makes me feel like a soldier. And every time I remember what I gave up in the past, I am reassured of what Rwanda has become today. Connect Rwanda is an initiative by MINICT and MTN Rwanda aimed at mobilizing people and corporations to contribute smartphones to households without one. According to the 2019 GSMA report on the state of mobile connectivity, Rwanda ranks 8th in Sub-Saharan Africa with a 42 percent score. Smartphone penetration is 26 percent. Gaetan Kayitare, 57, also received a smartphone in Nyarugunga, Kicukiro. This device can take me around the world while I sit here in my wheelchair, he said, adding I no longer need to go to the bank or the market. I just have to check out the prices and order what I want. Mussolini, having inspired BSC to help the disabled ex-combatants, commended the soldiers who he called heroes for liberating the country and also hailed the President Kagame who boosted the Connect Rwanda challenge last December. This is to honor our heroes. Rwanda looks how it looks now because of them, Musolini said. He added that Connect Rwanda is one of many more success stories President Kagame spearheaded, adding that other success stories include the one laptop per child program.

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BSC joins Connect Rwanda Challenge