Residents of Mugesera Sector, Ngoma District in Eastern Province early this year embarked on an initiative to construct village offices as their "dignified address”.

So far, seven villages have finished the construction and the remaining 28 offices are under construction, according to the sector Executive Secretary Jean Damascène Bizumuremyi.

Residents say the initiative was motivated by the need to give village leaders privacy to be able to hear cases brought before them – which are mainly family conflicts – in private.

They say that they could not get the privacy they needed when such cases are heard from homes of chairpersons, which led to many not speaking freely for fear their issues would end up being known by the entire village.

"It’s very disruptive for the village council to hear our concerns at their homes sometimes in the presence of their children,” said Bizumuremyi.

Chairpersons say finally they will have where to keep several documents instead of overcrowding their homes.

"For me, personally, my home shouldn’t be an office as well. I could sometimes keep some documents at the cell,” said one of the village leaders.

Speaking about how the concept came into existence, Bizumuremyi said that it was a proposal from one village after which the rest bought the idea.

"One village proposed it for themselves but when others heard about it, they also chose to do the same. Our work as the sector is to coordinate and advise where necessary,” he said adding that contributions towards the construction works are paid on voluntary basis.

After establishing that all villages were eager to have offices, the sector authorities stepped in to "set the standards for an appropriate structure”.

"We found that an office should have at least three rooms: a hall and two offices, which would cost between Rwf3-5 million, depending on the input of the residents in terms of physical works,” he added.

However, the sector executive secretary noted that some villages are economically weak and are expected to execute the construction next year 2019.

The district vice mayor for economic development, Jean Marie Vianney Rwiririza, revealed that they are willing to offer some hand to support these progressive villages.

"We’re planning to allocate some funds for roofing materials in the 2018/2019 budget toward the noble cause of Mugesera villages but also motivate others in the district to adopt the idea,” he said.

As the smallest administrative unit in the local government structure, the village is very instrumental especially in resolving conflicts and feeding information to other organs.

Village chairpersons and their committee members receive some benefits but without a salary structure budget.

The granary

Some villages have also constructed granaries to help them collectively keep their produce for the bad days.

Located on the shores of Lake Mugesera, the sector is one of the semi-arid areas in a region where irrigation is widely used.

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