RWANDA: Lockdown Support

Abstract

Government ministers forgo one month's pay. Politicians and top civil servants in Rwanda will have their salaries for April redirected to welfare programmes to help the poor cope with the economic impact of coronavirus. Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said the salary sacrifice would show “solidarity” with the people, who have been under a tough lockdown and strict curbs on freedoms to contain the spread of coronavirus. “The government of Rwanda has decided, over and above ongoing social protection initiatives, that all cabinet members, permanent secretaries, heads of public institutions and other senior officials shall forfeit one month's salary (April),” he said in a statement on April 5th. The government has been providing basic foodstuffs to around 20,000 of Kigali's most vulnerable citizens but the need is great in a country of 12m where one‐third live in poverty. It was not immediately clear how much Rwanda will collect through the forfeited monthly salaries of its top officials. Rwanda imposed a strict shutdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak, closing all but the most essential shops, suspending public transport and banning all “unnecessary movements” outside the home on March 21st. The country's poor have been especially hard hit as food prices have risen and unemployment soared following the measures. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has authorised a loan to Rwanda of nearly $110m to address the pandemic's economic fallout. (© AFP, The New Times 6/4 2020) See p. 22941 On April 4th Rwanda revised down its economic growth forecast for 2020 due to the Covid‐19 pandemic. “Due to the Covid‐19 pandemic which is having a negative impact on our economy, the Rwanda government and the International Monetary Fund have revised the economic growth forecast for 2020 to 5.1% compared to the initial forecast of 8%,” said the minister of finance and economic planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana, on state television. Ndagijimana said the revision was necessary given the impact of Covid‐19 on the national, regional and global economy. He said that domestic revenues and revenues from imported products have been disrupted by the pandemic. RwandAir has stopped its commercial passenger flights, which had affected the airline's revenues. The Rwandan airline is currently working on operating cargo flights to meet growing demand. Regional and international trade has also suffered enormously due to the fact that some supply chains have come to a standstill as well as logistical problems with lockdown measures in several parts of the world. (RNA 4/4) Meanwhile, Rwanda is set to receive medical assistance worth $1m from the United States (US) to respond to the Covid‐19 pandemic. The funds will be used to help with surveillance and case management efforts. Rwanda also recently received medical support involving testing kits from the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation, which health officials said will render a huge boost to the country's efforts to contain the virus by testing and treating confirmed cases among other things. (The New Times 28/3) Adverse Weather: The New Times (10/4) reported that strong winds and heavy rains had destroyed a number of buildings in Ruhango and Muhanga districts. Several hectares of farmland were also destroyed. This followed another incident a week earlier when more than 100 houses were damaged in Nyabihu district in heavy storms. (The New Times 10/4) In March, floodlist.com reported that severe weather since the start of the month had caused at least 10 fatalities. The overflowing Sebeya River caused material damage in Rubavu district, Western Province in early March and floods were reported in Kigali and Southern provinces as a result of heavy rain and thunderstorms. The Ministry of Emergency Management said that over 50 people had died and 84 others had been injured as a result of severe weather since January. Most of the deaths were caused by lightning, floods and rainstorms. As many as 858 houses and 196 hectares of crops were also destroyed. (floodlist.com 10/3)