Pledges technical support and labour

The Ministry of Defence yesterday contributed Rwf41,280,000 to the ‘One Dollar Campaign’ an exercise aimed at pooling funds for provision of shelter for hundreds of homeless orphans.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Minister of Defence Marcel Gatsinzi said that the ministry had joined the Rwanda Diaspora and all other Rwandans in trying to find a solution to the problem of lack of accommodation for Genocide orphans in schools.

"The Ministry sensitised its employees; soldiers and civilians to contribute to the cause in any way they can and that is how we came up with this amount. However, we expect to contribute more funds soon,” said Gatsinzi.

The minister also said that the ministry will provide labour and other technical support when the building of the housing state kicks-off.

The estate, which is expected to be set up in Kigali, is expected to accommodate hundreds of children orphaned by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The head of the Diaspora Directorate in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is also the campaign’s coordinator, Robert Masozera,, welcomed the support that the ministry has been giving the cause from the beginning.

"The Ministry of Defence was the first to design this project, long before we thought of starting to fundraise for it and they have continued supporting us in various ways like providing the much needed technical and labour support,” said Masozera.

Officials in the task force charged with collecting the money say that the cause is short of Rwf529 million.  

The campaign which was initially supposed to end on Sunday at the end of a hundred days of mourning would continue until the set target of 1.5 billion is met.

The proposed building which will be constructed at Kagugu in Kigali is expected to accommodate about 600 orphans.

Ends