The Gerayo Amahoro campaign will enter the second week this Monday with now focus shifting to cargo trucks and special hire taxi drivers.

The 52 week-long Gerayo Amahoro campaign loosely translated as ‘arrive safely’,  is a road safety campaign launched a week ago as part of the national efforts towards behavioural change to prevent fatalities road.

According to Senior Supt. Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, the spokesperson for Traffic and Road Safety, on Monday, the campaign will be extended to cargo or heavy trucks drivers.

“Heavy trucks are among those that cause or involve in accidents; they fall under the national compulsory policy of use of speed governor,” SSP Ndushabandi said.

“So, we want to highlight to them their varied behaviours that put their lives and those of other road users at risk and thier responsiveness on road usage,” he added.

In most cases, trucks overturn after failing to negotiate corners due to speeding or lead to head-on collision with motorists from the opposite direction after overtaking in dangerous places.

As a policy, cargo and passenger sevice vehicles are subjected to compulsory use of speed governor with maximum speed regulated at 60km/hr.

The compulsory use of speed governor led to the reduction of road accidents by 20 percent, last year.

“On Wednesday, we will meet drivers of taxis (special hires). This is a group of motorists with a very low rate of accidents, nonetheless, as said, even a single loss of a life is many,” the spokesperson observed.

On Friday, Gerayo Amahoro campaign will be extended to pedestrians.

Rwanda Transporters Association chairman, Ndarubogoye Abdoul thanked #RwandaPolice for this road safety sensitization and promised that all truck drivers will continue to maintain good road behavior, help raise awareness and be a good example to other drivers. #GerayoAmahoro pic.twitter.com/jxM5sSEky6

— Rwanda National Police (@Rwandapolice) May 20, 2019

Pedestrians fall under categories of road users with high cases of involvement in accidents, either due to reckless use of the road or hit by vehicles, motorcycles and cyclists that violate traffic rules.

“In all the three categories of road users, there will be specific meetings across the country, on highways, use of social media, talkshows on various radios and TV channels,” SSP Ndushabandi said.

Last week, Rwanda National Police extended the road safety messages to students in various schools located near main roads, across the country.

New pedestrian crossing lines were put in place and old ones repainted.

Series of awareness activities have also been introduced.

The latest social media campaign on the risks of speeding and impaired driving, delivered messages such as ‘Speed Kills. Slow Down’.

The campaign, which includes radio and ambient advertising aims to raise awareness among motorists on the risks and potential consequences of speeding.

‘People need to know that speeding has consequences for all – the driver, passengers, pedestrians and motorcyclists. People’s lives are in the hands of drivers,’ said  SSP Ndushabandi.

VSONE AFRICA, an IT enterprise solution provider launched its operations in Africa on the last day of Transform Africa 2019, May 17, 2019, at Marriott Hotel in Kigali.

With over 10 years of experience, 600 employees and a turnover of about US$35 million in 2018, VSONE is currently providing a variety of products and services in the public sector (E-Government), Banking, Financial and Insurance solutions, E-health and hospitality E-services as well as automation of manufacturing across various countries in Asia.

The company, being a tier one partner of HP and other major IT companies such as Oracle, SAP and others, says it will leverage its parent company’s broad experience, expertise, products and services to create Made in Africa versions, as African Solutions.

“Our strategy is to build an African company using our learning from Asia to boost the continent’s abundant talents through strong local partnerships. I am a strong believer on the continent potential”, said VSONE Chairman, Prabodha Sumanasekera.

He further indicated that VSONE sees Rwanda as a strategic market and location from which the company will cover the continent with plans to expand to Kenya, Mozambique, Angola and DRC are underway.

By the end of 2019, the firm said it will be operational in the South and West of Africa.

Rwanda has been a leader in the deployment of IT solutions for development, education and health.

It is now building a modern regional airport hub and a strong airline with a constant economic growth of over 6%.

Therefore, establishing VSONE Africa Headquarters in Rwanda will enable the company to benefit from all these positive factors.

Nkubito Manzi Bakuramutsa, the Africa CEO, told Taarifa that it is an exciting time for the continent.

“Africa has 1.2 billion population, 60% of which are young, full of creativity and talent. We are inspired by President Kagame views he shared at the Transform Africa 2019 that: “Everything we need for transformation is in the room or represented in the room.”

“VSONE is looking to participate in moving the continent from a consumer of content to a producer of content and a key player in the 4th industrial revolution. We want to align our business strategy, to the AU and Smart Africa visions,” he said.

Rwandans can now brace for a fully cashless international exhibition following a partnership agreement signed between MTN and Private Sector Federation.

The partnership was signed Thursday during the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali.

It aims at accelerating doing business in Rwanda.

Both institutions have agreed this partnership will bring digital user-friendly solutions starting with MoMo Pay and Ticketing solutions.

“Customers can easily transact without necessarily using cash, but rather using their Mobile Money wallets,” the join communiqué reads in part.

The two parties have also agreed that Mobile Money be used to purchase all products during EXPO.

People will be able to buy their EXPO tickets with momo. They will then receive a confirmation message which will be used at the entrance for validation using handsets.

Also businesses will be able to send money to neighbouring countries to enable them to clear their goods without moving from Rwanda and vice versa.

“We want to be part of this journey and we hope with the new partnership with MTN Rwanda will be a great kick-off point to drive this initiative forward,” said Stephen Ruzibiza, the PSF Chief Executive Officer.

MTN and PSF concur with the fact that smart applications and other innovations in the digital economy can improve services and help address business challenges in a wide range of areas, including health, agriculture, food processing, corporate governance, tax, transport, education, entertainment, and the environment, among others.

“The key to success is the adoption of Mobile Money as an alternative to cash by small and medium sized businesses,” says MTN CEO Bart Hofker.

Implementation of this partnership will be preceded by trainings and workshops on the usage of Mobile Money, assistance in acquiring the required technologies, extension of usage of the technology in day to day businesses even after the Expo, as well as providing the advisory services where required.

PSF and MTN will also run an educational campaign countrywide and through different communication channels.