A new study by the Legal Aid Forum on the implementation of the expropriation law has revealed that the process still has loopholes that include corruption and delays in compensating expropriated people, among others.

The research was conducted on over 1,800 randomly-selected households from 15 districts between October 2014 and July this year.

"Laws governing expropriation are very clear; however, implementation was not done well. For instance, in some areas, people remain unpaid long after valuation and are not allowed to develop their land or plant long lasting crops,” Andrews Kananga, the executive director of Legal Aid Forum, said during presentation the findings last week.

"A typical example is in Rubavu where people around the Aerodrome have now spent about five years without being paid,” Kananga said.

The study revealed that 20 per cent of expropriated households experienced corruption; 51 per cent of the cases were from local leaders, 26 per cent by valuators, while 20 per cent came compensating entities.

The study also found that delays in compensation led to a reduction in household incomes.

The other factor identified was malpractice during the implementation of the law.

One-third of those qualifying for expropriation were not factored.

For instance, 60 per cent of households to be expropriated to give way for water channels and electricity lines were not notified, as well as between 27 and 29 per cent for roads and dams.

However, the research states that despite the overall reporting of negative impacts at the household level, the vast majority supported the projects whereby 90 per cent perceived roads, dams, water and electricity to be in the best interests of the community.

The research was conducted in conjunction with the Institute of Legal Practice, with support from USAID Land Project.

When contacted, Dr Emmanuel Nkurunziza, the director-general of Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA), said the loopholes would be addressed with the amended law that would soon be gazetted.

The new draft law, passed in March, has been hailed as more protective of the rights of property owners.

"We had discussions with both citizens and different institutions carrying out expropriation to identify the challenges facing both parties and we hope the new law will provide sustainable solutions to such identified loopholes,” Nkurunziza said.

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