WESTERN PROVINCE

RUBAVU — Scores of residents of Gisenyi town in Rubavu district have complained over their missing National Identity cards (IDs).

A group of 10 angry residents from various Sectors of the district on December 15 stormed The New Times Gisenyi bureau to voice their dissatisfaction.

The residents, claimed to have spent over a month chasing their IDs in vain. Most of them say their names do not appear on the lists.

"I have run after the National ID right from the day they started issuing them. For over a month, my business is to chase for the ID. The interesting thing is that I’m not alone.

IDs of over 5,000 people up to now are no where to be seen, what kind of error is that?” complained Jean Claude Hategekimana, a resident of Kivumu cell, Gisenyi Sector.

The New Times could not independently verify the figures. 

Odette Nyirahabimana, another resident, appealed to authorities to extend the validity of the old National Identity cards, saying many people have not accessed the new ones.

"The old ID should still be honoured in banks, and as legal identification card to security personnel because some of us might spend many more months without the new IDs,” said Nyirahabimana from Rubavu cell.

Contacted for a comment on the issue, the Rubavu district officer in charge of good governance, Martin Habimana, acknowledged they have received similar complaints. He however, said that the district was doing everything possible to ensure all residents have the new IDs.

"We are waiting for a report containing a list of residents who did not get the IDs from all the sectors of the district. Once a resident does not identify his/her name on the list of the issued IDs, we advise them to record their names at their respective Sectors. Lists are sent to us and we forward them to relevant organs,” explained Habimana, adding that the district was not responsible for the problem.

"Some of the lost Identity cards were misallocated to other districts; the lists will help the workers of the Identity card project to cross check if the missing ID’s were printed. The project is currently trying to locate the misallocated IDs and to print more IDs which were mistakenly left out,” he said.

Calling on affected residents to be calm, he explained that there was no need for residents to take new photos for that purpose.

Ends