The National Rehabilitation Service (NRS) is facing a budget deficient of over Rwf600 million to be able to provide needs and services for delinquents in Nyamagabe and Gitagata Rehabilitation centers for the  next fiscal year, Sunday Times has learnt.

Government has allocated Rwf5.2 billion to National Rehabilitation Service for 2019/2020 fiscal year but some services face deficit.

Aime Bosenibamwe, the Director General of NRS said that 1,000 delinquents will be deployed to Nyamagabe rehabilitation center and 1,000 female delinquents  to Gitagata in Bugesera district but the budget is very small.

The activities to expand both centers have been going on as the entire project cost is Rwf4.2 billion and  Rwf2.6 billion respectively while other expansion activities are being carried out at Iwawa Rehabilitation centre together with introducing ICT for service delivery.

Nyamagabe Rehabilitation centre will accommodate over 2,000 delinquents with the first phase to receive 1,000 while the second phase will be completed by 2021.

"We still have a budget gap of over Rwf600m to meet all needs and services required by the number of delinquents to be received in those centers,” he said.

He said that they are also facing shortage of psychologists to deal with the high number of delinquents.

"Comparing the number of workers we have and the number of delinquents to be rehabilitated we are facing a huge gap. One psychologist deals with more than 260 delinquent and this could affect quality of rehabilitation as more delinquents are deployed to those centres,” he said.

He added that a reviewed reintegration framework has been prepared so as to monitor those rehabilitated and be put into cooperatives to avoid fall back into delinquency adding that research will be launched in August this year to detect root causes of delinquency.

Itorero programme

While addressing parliamentarians last week, Minister for Local Government Anastase Shyaka said that National Rehabilitation Service must closely work with Itorero commission under National Civic Training Programme-Itorero to inculcate better Rwandan values in all categories of people that prevent behaviors which trigger delinquency.

Itorero has been allocated Rwf3 billion for the next fiscal year.

"The two institutions are closely related since one (Itorero) prevents bad behaviors while the other rehabilitates those already affected by bad behaviors.

If Itorero succeeds in educating Rwandan families to care for children and youth to embrace better values, there will be very few delinquents,” he said.

He said that new strategies are being devised to ensure Itorero changes both behaviors, attitude as well as transforming people’s lives in terms of welfare.

"Itorero must show real transformation in terms of behavioral change, solve human security issues such as building houses for vulnerable people, fighting malnutrition through establishing kitchen gardens, setting up ECDS and others,” he said.

He unveiled that under the 2029/2020 budget, studies will be conducted to see how to set up Itorero Centre of Excellence at National level by 2024 and a centre at provincial level.

"The Model Itorero Centres have been planned under National Strategy for Transformation (NST1).  We target the one at national level and complementary centres in provinces. For instance, besides expanding Nkumba Itorero center, we will build another one in Eastern province next year,” he noted.

Edouard Bamporiki, the Chairman of National Itorero Commission said the commission faces a gap of Rwf224m for strengthening and monitoring Itorero at village level as well as  producing didactic materials and training  more trainers in the next fiscal year..

"Itorero at village level solves conflicts in families because there will also be itorero at family level,” he said.

The officials said that once this becomes strong, there will be no street children as well as juvenile delinquency.

He added the Itorero commission is also facing deficit of Rwf500 million to strengthen National Service Programme (Urugerero) done by those who complete secondary schools.

"We usually need Rwf1.5 billion per year to train secondary schools graduates in Itorero but we are also introducing Itorero in schools so that they learn such values while still at school,” he noted

editor@newtimesrwanda.com