The recently evicted residents of Nshuri Sector in Nyagatare District have brought their case to the attention of the Office of the President following the demolition of their houses.

According to the Director of Cabinet in the President’s Office Maj Gen Frank Mugambage, the office received the case but has since forwarded it back to the Governor (of Eastern Province) to deal with it.

"Trace it from the office of the Governor we have told him to solve that issue,” Mugambage said on phone last week.

The petition to the President follows an order from local leaders in the district in October last year banning business activities and evicting all residents from the centre.

 About 400 residents face eviction, but some of them have since challenged the decision. 

Nyagatare district officials say the reason for this decision is that the centre is located in a marshland that was given to an Australian organisation that will develop the land for rice farming.

The other reason according to the officials is that the centre is said to be a den of criminals that have destabilised the region for years.

Last week, Nyagatare Mayor, Robert Kashemeza told The New Times on phone that only 39 families have remained in the centre and the district was planning to evict them.

"Our team is at the centre now having a meeting with them and hopefully they will comply with the directive since the land is earmarked for government use. We shall help them in providing iron sheets to build houses for themselves elsewhere,” Kashemeza had said then.

When contacted, Governor Ephraim Kabaija confirmed the development saying that evicting residents from the centre was necessary for both environmental and security reasons.

"The place is strategically bad it’s near the river, during the rainy season the community is affected and mostly children are the victims.

We have warned them since July last year now eviction is the only option, Kabaija said in a telephone interview.

The centre is located a few metres from Muvumba River.
According to the Law, there should be mutual understanding between both parties before enforcing the eviction.

However Nshuri residents in Nyagatare District have expressed fears that their children could drop out of school for lack of school fees.

They appealed to authorities concerned to intervene and address their financial woos which they claim started after banning their commercial activities.

The residents have since claimed to be living in difficult conditions following the demolition of their houses and they claim to have full authority over the land which they have lived for the last fifteen years.

They have threatened to sue Nyagatare District.

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