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US-Rwanda health project to produce 500 specialistsRwanda is expected to have at least 500 specialists in several medical fields after the end of the seven-year Human Resources for Health Programme that was launched this week. Rwanda currently has 130 medical specialists, 633 general practitioners, 7,286 nurses and 45,000 community health workers. This follows the commitment by 13 educational institutions from the US which will partner with the Ministry of Health under the HRH programme to improve the healthcare system in Rwanda. Speaking at the launch, Dr Vincent Biruta, the Minister of Education, said that with this programme, referral cases in Rwanda will reduce since the country will be having a big number of medical specialists. He noted the US teams will be teaching and mentoring Rwandan medics thus equipping them with medical skills and strengthening their expertise.According to the official, the country currently has about 130 medical specialists.The HRH programme, which is supported by the Clinton Health Access Initiative, will help address Rwanda’s skills shortage in dental services, nursing and general medical services. Global Fund and the US government are among the other partners helping with the programme.Senate president’s son stabbed in BelgiumA son to Senate president Dr Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo was reported this week to have been stabbed in the stomach in Brussels as he was in transit back to school in the US. Roger Ntawukuriryayo, a university student, left Rwanda last Thursday after a two month holiday before making a stopover in Brussels on Saturday to pick some documents that he needed, according to his family. Reports indicate that Roger, in his early 20s, was ambushed by a gang of about eight black men, in the company of two Rwandans and one Congolese friend. He was stabbed in the abdomen and later rushed to a hospital where he was admitted in the intensive care unit. No suspects have been arrested yet but it is believed that those who attacked Roger are linked to a ring of Congolese gangs, who have been accused of carrying out violent attacks on Rwandans living in Brussels in recent months. The attacks came in the wake of eruption of fighting in eastern Congo between government troops and the M23 rebels, who mutinied in April following the collapse of a 2009 peace deal under which they had been integrated into the army.UN Security Council backs ICGLR on CongoThe UN Security Council has voiced its support of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in its efforts to find a lasting solution to the violence in eastern. Democratic Republic of Congo. The members backed the regional peace plan following a briefing by Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo at the UN Headquarters in New York, on Wednesday. The briefing dwelt on the recent developments in the region, especially ICGLR-led efforts to pacify the restive eastern DRC, in the wake of the conflict between the government army and the newly formed M23 rebels. Minister Mushikiwabo asked the UNSC to move away from blame and instead support a political solution, through ICGLR.Rwanda wins prestigious C’wealth education awardOne of Rwanda’s home-grown initiatives, dubbed as the Nine Year Basic Education (9YBE) Wednesday scooped the 2012 Commonwealth Education Good Practice Award. Under the initiative, Rwandan children are offered free and compulsory education which consists of six years of primary education and the first three years of secondary school. The award was presented to Emmanuel Muvunyi, the Deputy Director-General of the Rwanda Education Board, at the opening ceremony of the 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Mauritius. It was handed to him by Dr Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun, the Mauritian Deputy Prime Minister. The main rationale behind Rwanda’s recognition, according to officials, was the role the 9YBE played in the acceleration of universal access to education. It emerged winner out of 123 applications from 27 countries submitted for the third round of the awards. 9YBE was initiated in 2009 as a response to a heightened demand for secondary education in Rwanda after successfully implementing the Universal Education, intitiated six years earlier.Medic held over forged academic papersA medical doctor, working with the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB), has been arrested over alleged forgery of academic transcripts. Police said it got ‘water-tight’ evidence attesting to the fact that the doctor’s masters’ degree was forged. Dr Jean Bagula Safari, a Congolese national, was arrested on Monday at his workplace and by press time, he was being held at Ngoma Police station. Police Spokesperson, Supt Theos Badege, confirmed the arrest.According to Police, Bagula was using a degree he allegedly obtained from a Belgium-based Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). But the university’s management confirmed that the man never studied there nor did the university award him any certificate. The medic, aged 33, has been working at the Huye-based referral hospital since March this year, where he worked as an expert in dialysis and transplants. Prior to his employment at CHUB, Bagula had been practicing at La Croix du Sud Hospital, a Kigali-based private health facility, since 2010, Police said. If convicted, the suspect faces between 5-7 years of imprisonment and a fine ranging between Rwf300, 000 and Rwf 3 million, according to the article 609 of the Rwandan Penal Code.Musoni upbeat over districts’ performance Local Government Minister, James Musoni has described the recent districts ranking in the execution of last year’s performance contracts (imihigo) as “very impressive.”Districts scored an average of over 80 per cent in the last annual evaluation of the performance contracts for fiscal year 2011/2012.The minister who was speaking during a news briefing at the ministry’s boardroom mid this week said district’s performance creates ground for sustained support for them to maintain momentum. At the event, heads of the ministry’s affiliated institutions signed performance contracts with the minister and he emphasised the role of evaluation based on performance targets.RURA to set taxi cab faresThe country’s utility regulator is moving in to fix standard charges for special hire taxis as one way of harmonising the transport fare. Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) said this week that having standard taxi cab fares will facilitate many to access the services especially where public transport is not available. The proposed tariff indicates that, taxi cabs working at the airport will be charging Rwf 509 per kilometer, taxis operating in Kigali will charge Rwf 433 per kilometer while to hire a taxi for a day will be Rwf 42,000 Value Added Tax-VAT exclusive.