Mediators; locally known as Abunzi will begin handling criminal cases in addition to social conflicts that the volunteers have been handling since 2004.

Johnston Busingye, the Minister for Justice made the revelation on Friday during a press briefing held at National Electoral Commission headquarters. He said involving Abunzi in handling criminal cases is in line with their achievements and long term experiences.

"Since Abunzi started to deal with social conflicts, for the last 10 years, six out of ten of their decisions are not appealed against.

‘‘This means they deliver restorative and equitable justice. We are convinced that they will also manage to handle criminal cases that do not require deep interpretation of laws,” Busingye said.

A survey conducted by Rwanda Governance Board in 2014, Citizen Report Card shows that 67 per cent of Rwandans are pleased with services delivered by Abunzi.

The news briefing was intended to talk about the upcoming elections of Abunzi committees.

Since Abunzi committees were established in 2004, they have been handling cases of social conflicts whose value does not exceed Rwf3 million.

"With the upcoming election of Abunzi committees, new duties will be allocated to them. The number of committee members will drop from 12 to seven whereas the value of property in contention will not exceed Rwf5 million instead of Rwf3 million as it used to be. For criminal cases, the value of the property will not exceed Rwf5 million,” said Prof. Kalisa Mbanda, the president of National Electoral Commission.

Elections at the village level are scheduled for July 25, and July 29, at the cell level and on July 31, at the sector level.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that Abunzi committees have reduced 80 per cent of cases being filed in courts of law, 80.5 per cent of the cases handled by Abunzi committees are not appealed against while over 50 per cent of their verdicts appealed against to courts of laws are upheld by the court.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw