For many locals in places that have been gazetted for redevelopment, the idea of compensation is often a pain. All that families in affected areas envision is low returns for their otherwise valued assets: land, homes, farms, etc, that they have to lose to new projects.

But not so for Madina Karere. The mother of six watched as her three-room commercial house at Rusumo Centre in Kirehe District was razed to pave way for a $461-million 80-megawatt Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project (RRFHP) without a wince in her face. She says she had been ‘generously’ compensated for her asset.

Karere’s immediate concern was about long-term means of survival.

A resident of Kiyanza Village in Nyamugari Sector, Karere is one of some 156 households who were displaced by the project on the Rwanda-Tanzania border of Rusumo.

Six commercial groups and one village council was also displaced by the project, according to statistics from Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP), one of two investment programmes under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

NELSAP oversees the project implementation.

Karere told The New Times last week that the income from her house was ‘bread and butter’ for her and the children.

Karere had three children in secondary school then, but two have since completed high school, and the third is in Senior Two. Others are in primary school.

"Rwf90,000 monthly rent that I used to get from commercial building met my basic needs, including food and school fees for my children,” she said.

Karere said she was given Rwf11 million in compensation for her asset, which she used to renovate her residential house and cover other necessities, adding that she has since opened a phone retail business.

Most importantly, she said, the project has developed a Livelihood Restoration Programme (LRP) to ensure the welfare of the displaced.

LRP breathes in new lease of life

LRP consists of three components; livestock, agricultural and off-farm activities.

The affected households were put in clusters based on their favourite business orientations and profitability.

A group of 15 affected people, Karere inclusive, chose poultry.

She said the project managers will equip them with relevant skills for best poultry farming, give them chicks to raise, build sheds and provide them with chicken feed.

The project will also avail veterinaries for six months and continue to offer them technical support and advice for a period of two years to ensure optimal output."I’m waiting for that poultry business eagerly, it’s really lucrative. Chickens lay eggs for sale every two days,” she said, noting that poultry will also generate manure that will increase their crop productivity.

The residents on either side of the border commend the project’s contribution to their wellbeing.

Crispin Kamugisha, a resident of Ngara Region, Kagera District in Tanzania, said he had three houses and about six-acre piece of land, which he had to vacate to pave way for the project.

There were crops, including banana and edible fruit trees, on his land.

"I was paid Tshs120 million (about Rwf44 million). I used the money to buy a 12-acre piece of land, built a house and used the remaining land to grow crops such as maize, beans and cassava. I also built a dormitory for my school,” he said.

The father of six owns Rusumo New Vision English Medium School, which has about 200 pupils in nursery and primary.

Janinah Gasana Mbabazi, the social development and resettlement officer at Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project, said all the households that were economically affected were catered for

"We had to restore their livelihood or even better,” she said.

Mbabazi said $700,000 has been allocated to livelihood restoration programme.

Over $3 million was given in compensation for the affected assets, including over five hectares of land. Compensation was completed in July, 2015, officials said. About 500 skilled, non-skilled and casual workers from the three beneficiary countries will get casual jobs during the course of the implementation of the project, which will run until March 2020, about three years from 2017.

"Priority for these jobs will also be given to affected people and this is one of the ways to ensure their welfare,” Mbabazi said.

General benefits

Information from NELSAP indicates that there are $15 million for local development plan to benefit districts near the project, with each of the three countries having $5 million.

Under the programme, livelihoods for 7,000 households in the beneficiary districts under local area development programme will be improved.

Kirehe District vice mayor for finance and economic planning, Jean Damascène Nsengiyumva, told The New Times that the local development programme allocated $2.5 million toward improvement of area residents.

"Kirehe District chose two projects to be funded, including construction of a road from Kigarama Sector to Musaza Sector, which we badly needed,” he said.Among 12 sectors of the district, Nsengiyumva said, there is only one sector, Kigina, which had no health centre noting that the funds will enable the construction of such health facility.

He said the road will boost economic activities between residents, while the health centre will ease residents’ access to medical services.

"This is a way of enhancing the welfare of the people such that they are happy with the project in their area,” Nsengiyumva added.

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Secretariat executive director, Innocent Ntabana, said the project will not only contribute to bridging energy gap in the regional countries, but also benefit the social wellbeing and economy of their people.

"Such joint investments promote peace and security in the region. When you have invested together, also you are willing to work together. That aspect falls into our first core function of promoting cooperation among Nile Basin countries,” he said.

The power from the project is expected to benefit 1,146,000 people from Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, with each country having about 26.6 megawatts added to its national grid, figures from NELSAP show.

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