A few days after receiving a letter from Gasabo Mayor, Claudine Nyinawagaga that they have full authority over their land, Kinyinya residents have now turned to Housing Bank of Rwanda (HBR) demanding the same as a guarantee against future eviction.

The affected residents yesterday petitioned members of parliament who had visited the area to assess the controversy that has been going on for the past two years.

The controversial 200 hectares of land in Murama, Ngaruyinka village Gasabo district was evaluated in April 2008 by Star cod, a local firm that was contracted to carry out the evaluation.

The land was supposed to be jointly developed by the Rwanda Housing Bank (HBR) and the Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) to a tune of Rwf6.4 billion in which 2,108 families were supposed to be expropriated.

However, according to the residents, only a few were paid, and families in the land had been refused to carry out any activity on it prompting the Mayor to write authorizing them to repossess their property.

Residents told the parliamentary commission in charge of petitions that they still fear they might not get new investors if they don’t get a confirmation letter from the previous developer, the housing bank.

"We are now looking forward to getting new investors to buy this land and one of the requirements they will seek is a letter from HBR stating that they have failed to develop the land,” said Theresia Mukangamije, the Executive Secretary of Murama cell.

Besides, the inhabitants also demand that Nyinawagaga writes another letter to the bank telling them that they no longer have authority on this land since they failed to pay.

"It is the Mayor and her team that gave out our land,” Fulgence Seminega, the residents’ representative said.

MP Jean Damascene Gasarabwe appealed to the angry residents to calm down as they parliament tries to find an issue.

"We are going to follow up your matter to see if these two letters can be written within the shortest time possible,” he said

Francois Byabarumwanzi, who heads the commission, observed that the residents’ welfare was not good since many had already demolished their houses with prospects that they would be expropriated and move to other areas.

When contacted, Gervais Ntaganda, HBR Director General said that they have no authority over that land whose owners were not paid.

"There is no way we can write such a letter declaring that we no longer have authority over this land since we never bought it. We made it clear to them that we had no right over any piece of land whose owners were not paid.”

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