News in brief

Hike in fares cause conflict The increment of transport fares across the country is causing near fights between passengers and conductors.The announcements for the increments were passed over the radios and Rwanda Television on Sunday evening but most commuters had not got wind of this yesterday morning. A commuter who requested anonymity said; “the increase of fares will slowly diminish the strength of the Rwandan currency.” Illiteracy in PWDs Most Persons With Disabilities [PWDs] have not gone to school and therefore don’t know how to read and write. This was revealed in a study carried out by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning [MINECOFIN]. “Many persons with disabilities don’t know how to read or write. Of those who have not gone to school at all, 50.1 percent of them are persons with disabilities. In the remaining portion 84.3 of them have reached primary level,” the document reads. The survey also found out that PWDs prefer vocational training to technical education. RDB to explain fire Rwanda Development Board [RDB] will today hold a press conference following the fire that gutted Volcanoes National Park over the weekend. “There is a need to clarify on the state of fires and also explain to media and general public on the status,” reads an invitation sent to media houses. The fires have since been put out on the Rwandan side but were still raging on the Ugandan side by the time we went to press. Law to curb counterfeit in EAC A law is being drafted to curb counterfeit across the East African Community [EAC].According to 2008 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, the East African region loses$500m annually to counterfeiting. The law has undergone a validation process in all the five member countries and is expected to be finalised by March next year. Genocide suspects on US TV Roger Carson, then in the military in America, was almost deployed to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi but his deployment aborted. He will this time be in Rwanda to find those responsible for the genocide to appear in a TV series. They will be broadcast on NBC, a television network that is viewed across America. The TV series will run in six episodes. Many PWD single A survey carried out by Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons With Disabilities [PWD] found out that most of them are single. “In terms of matrimony, many persons with disabilities are single,” reads the report. It goes on to explain that the reason is because of, “community’s negative attitude towards disability,” the document reads. Ends