Bahoneza – Kinyarwanda, Rwanda Welfare, Social Welfare, Rwanda People, Nutrition and Diet, Rwanda Habitat, Living in Kigali

About 7800 families that reside on steep mountains on under the mountains and who are at the risk of being affected by natural disasters are to evacuate and to be settled in settlement villages.

According to Mr. Gideon Ruboneza the mayor of Ngororero district, this district has a great number of its inhabitants affected by this problem in all districts of Rwanda. The district has a plan of evacuating people living in dangerous places before rainy period so as to protect people and their properties form natural disasters.

Though leaders are ready to help evacuate these people, some people delay the process hoping that the government will build for them even when they are capable of doing so as Pascal Ntawuryiha a resident of Gatumba district said.

The district mayor said that this program has to be well respected because when people die, it is the government’s loss. He said that those who are capable of building for themselves will be followed and those who are cannot be supported and to settle them in villages as soon as possible.

In the last rainy season, houses, farms, animals, people’s properties were destroyed and even 4 people lost their lives and 36 people in all over Rwanda were killed by natural disasters and that is why solutions must be reached before to avoid the occurrence of other tragedies.

Rwandans from the Twa community in Busanze sector- Nyaruguru District say they are poor because government development programs like agricultural development are not well communicated in their place.

On the issue that Girinka program as one of agricultural programmes in the country has not yet benefited the Twa, Fabien Niyitegeka, vice mayor for economic affairs in the District remarks that government programs do not discriminate but meant for all vulnerable residents of Rwanda.

Niyitegeka adds that Twa community are being prepared and trained to handle other better projects for their environment like piggery and chicken farming.

Nyaruguru district authorities say they are organizing projects that will promote social development among the Twa.

Some residents of Gatunda in Busanze sector reveal they depend on pottery which is not earning much in this generation.

Asiteriya Mukankusi explains pottery is heredity and they cannot quit doing it without another activity to give them small money for home use.

Mukankusi adds: “We are very poor and in need to develop but pot making can never get us anywhere. If we get land for cultivation and animal keeping, we can be better.”

Nyaruguru vice mayor stresses that most of the problems Twa people have are based on negative attitude. Its in that order that a health worker will be assigned to care for their social affairs and to help change their mindset.

Augustin Kampayana, Chairman of Rural Settlement Task Force in the Ministry of Local Government

Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) has urged district mayors in Western Province to start using roof tiles and bricks in village settlement program.

Augustin Kampayana, Chairman of Rural Settlement Task Force in the Ministry of Local Government during the national meeting on village settlement program asserted that the government has started the program of using roof tiles because iron sheets are expensive and not durable. 

Kampayana emphasizes the use of roof tiles and bricks in village settlement program because they are cheap and available in Rwanda.

Kampayana adds that if roof tiles are made in Rwanda, employment will be created especially for youth in job creation program.

Minaloc official narrates: “Youth, women and girls earn money when they make roof tiles in their cooperatives. In addition, roof tiles are durable, they can be painted for a new look when old and can be reused after shifting to another place.”

“The government of Rwanda plans to reduce on the money on building materials imported like iron sheets since they cannot be used in roofing twice due to nail holes,” he adds.

Augustin Kampayana explains thatching with roof tiles is not a law but a measure taken by the government in order to improve village settlement program using permanent, local and cheap building materials.

It is on the same purpose that every district was given machines that make roof tiles and bricks although there is no soil for such activity in some places like district near Lake Kivu in Western Province.

Kampayana says the above problem should not stop the implementation of the village settlements because materials can be imported if necessary or use wood and roof houses.

Congolese Refugees at Kigeme camp received non-food items in donation, from world vision which include bars of soap, hygienic pads and clothes.

Around 4,000 refugees gathered on site at Kigeme Refugee camp in Nyamagabe district to receive the hygiene and sanitation supplies.

“World Vision could have waited to gather more items and food for the camp, but felt the need to intervene sooner because health is a crucial and sensitive issue in camp life” Jimmy Gahima, World Division employee says.

However the area mayor Philbert Mugisha asked the refugees to properly use the supplies given for their health, and not to try to sell them.

“While the non-food items from World Vision are appreciated, many children in the camp still don’t have the right food for a proper diet and we need more help for refugees” Emmanuel Niyibaho, Kigeme camp manager says.

Currently Kigeme camp boosts more than 11,000 refugees in Kigeme camp and on Saturday, the camp stopped receiving more people because it had hit its capacity.

The camp manager disclosed that between four and five hundred refugees were arriving in the camp daily.

However, he said government is now trying to find more land in order to expand Kigeme camp, so it can resume receiving refugees from Nkamira transit camp on the Rwanda-Congo border.

The refugee’s influx started increasing in last 2months when the M23 rebels and government forces tightened fights in Eastern DR Congo forcing locals to free their homes to Rwanda.

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The Director General of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), Yusuf Murangwa,

has revealed that the upcoming National census, scheduled for August this year, will cost Rwf16.5 billion.

Murangwa said that 50 per cent of the funding will come from government, and the rest is expected from development partners like the UNFPA, World Bank and European Union among others.

The population of Rwanda has been said to be increasing from 8 million people since the last census conducted in 2002. This National Census will enable the government to lay down its development policies based on the available statistics.

The censor officers will be mainly comprised of teachers and the NISR has launched Training of Trainers (TOT) sessions for those who will conduct the census, while institutions like the National Police have been earmarked to offer logistical support in the process.

Over 270 officials will be trained in the TOT sessions and will be expected to share the knowledge and skills with at least 24,000 more people, who will be involved in the process that is schedule for to be conducted around the country.

The government has called on Rwandans to participate fully in the census through providing accurate information required.

Residents of Bugesera District have been pursued to dedicate their valuable time in helping disabled children among others according to the District MayorLouis Rwagaju, during recent celebrations of African child.

Louis Rwagaju asked those who had attended these celebrations to respect and protect all children’s rights and especially the handicapped whether in education, entertainment and in anything else they would like to do as the government usually calls them to do.

“This is the reason that the government puts in place infrastructure that favours handicapped people whether in school they are given chairs that support them and their special toilets and the law that states every storied building should have a way for the disabled people.” He explained.

This function was opened with sports of the disabled children, plays, poetry and dances that all tackle the theme of the day which stated “Children with disabilities, the duty to protect, respect, promote and fulfil”

Vestine Ntirenganya one of the children with disabilities from Ririma sector in Bugesera district said that though the leaders usually teach and advise people about children rights there is a long way to go.

She said “some parents don’t yet understand children’s rights especially the handicapped ones and that’s why leaders should always remind people and parents take a responsibility to attend those teachings.”

Children who presented dances, poems and plays that were talking about the theme of the day were awarded and all children who attended these celebrations were given some of the scholastic materials.

The Eastern Province of Rwanda has launched a campaign that will see all people living in properly planned village settlements, commonly known as Imidugudu.

The campaign kicked off with the launch of a new modern village in Gatore sector, this June 2012, in Kirehe district. The event was attended by the State Minister in charge of Social Affairs, Dr. Alvera Mukabaramba, provincial Governor Odette Uwamariya and Red Cross officials.

Denise Uwera, the head of special programmes at the Province said that at least 85 houses were constructed in the Gatore settlement, with the support of Rwanda Red-cross.

The policy of planned village settlement is a government initiative aimed at ensuring easy rollout of infrastructure facilities like water, energy, health and education to all Rwandans. According to the National Human Settlement Policy, every citizen is expected to settle in planned villages. Reports from the ministry of local government ranked Eastern Province as number one in proper settlement with 87.2%.
Uwera said the people would be settled quickly in safe locations that paves way for “meaningful agricultural activities and the first focus group would be people living in potentially hazardous environment- who urgently need to be relocated to planned villages.

Provincial officials hailed Red Cross for its support in promoting the campaign of eradication of grass thatched houses (commonly known as ‘Nyakatsi’). Officials also said that the implementation level has been on the mark and some areas like, Ngoma district, we have reached a record high percentage of 96.4%.

Protais Murayire, the Mayor of Kirehe district said that issues related to proper housing should be complete in three years time and so far 4 model villages, which accommodate needy people, have been constructed.

The local mediators that work in Ruhango sector in Ruhango district asked the government to increase the number of cards for their medical insurance (Mituelle de santé) .

These mediators say that the government had agreed to give them the insurance for 5 people and now they find that 5 arent enough because sometimes one mediator has a family of more than 5 people as Yohana Nyaminani a mediator in Gikoma cell said.

They say that sometimes when their family members fall sick, they fail to go to the health centers yet the government had agreed to give them medical insurance. They spend the whole time solving people’s cases which are many and especially about inheritance and land and fail to work for themselves.

“we don’t get enough time to care our for our family issues and much less to work for money to buy medical insurances for our our families.” said yo Bahoneza

Innocent Habimana a worker in the Ministry of Justice that connects mediators and the local people in Ruhango district said that mediators are given cards for 3 children and their parents and they usually come on time.

He promised to advocate for these mediators so as to be given more medical insurance cards so that they continue doing their work which is as i9mportant in solving people’s problems.

The government of Rwanda has on Thursday 14^th June 2012 presented the 2012/2013 fiscal year budget to the Parliament.

The budget emphasizes scaling up of infrastructure projects to enhance growth and poverty reduction strategies.

While presenting the national budget John Rwangombwa, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, mentioned that this year’s budget would see infrastructure receive 23percent of the entire budget compared to the share of 21percent in the previous fiscal year 2011/12.

Reiterating the importance of infrastructure to the development of the country the Minister said, “Infrastructure is the backbone of the economy. To encourage the investment that will create more employment for our people, therefore we need to remove the physical infrastructure bottlenecks that exist.

We need to have our entire population connected to steady supply of electricity, good roads and access to clean water and high speed internet among others. This will accelerate the progress that has seen one million Rwandans pull themselves out of poverty in the last five years.”

This development will see the construction and rehabilitation of over 460 kilometers of roads, adding 30MW to the national grid, and scaling up investment projects in local governments to Rwf 79 billion compared with Rwf 25 billion in the previous year.

The budget speech reflects a significant decrease in the Government of Rwanda’s dependence on donor aid from development partners. The 2012/13 budget’s share funded by aid is 46percent compared with 85percent in 2000. The Government remains determined to progressively reduce its level of dependency.

Noting this the Minister said, “While we appreciate all the indispensable help we received from each of our development partners over the last 18 years, we have always focused on using each development project to address current concerns and create a concrete change so that future generations would not be dependent on aid.”

People who make up the land commission in all districts in Rwanda say that polygamy is one of the reasons that hinder land registration in many districts in the country.

As many people come to register land and even claim rights on certain land and it delays the process as some are even not known in such places.

Eng. Didier Giscard Sagashya the deputy director for the department that is in charge of land and land registering gave an example in Nyamagabe district where 10 women claimed rights on one man’s land saying that they all gave birth to children with him and they all wanted their children to have a rights to this plot of land.

According to the rights of land, a land can be registered on one person but includes all people that have direct influence and rights to it so as to avoid conflicts And injustices.

Sagashya also said that a problem of relatives who don’t trust and misunderstand each other is also a hindrance to land registration and it causes problems of inheritance.

Another problem that has been solved is of islands if which during the regime of Gikoloni, all islands were for the government and not privately owned and it was a problem because many people were settled on them.

It was later solved and lands on islands were registered on people that had settled there and lands from small islands are counted on the government.

The natural forest of Gishwati also caused problems in land registration as they were given to people to settle in long time ago but now it must be turned back to the government.