Residents of Rugarama cell in Nyamirambo sector yesterday grilled Jean Berchmans Kamali, the acting Mayor of Nyarugenge, over delayed payments for their expropriated land.

The residents claim that since the exercise of evaluating their land ended, they have been barred from undertaking any productive activities on the land and neither have they been compensated.

"When you evaluated our land, we were told that we would be paid within three months, and it is now two years and we have neither renovated nor planted any crops on our land. How do you expect us to survive?,” asked Pastor Ezekiel Mutombo, one of the residents.

"The District has to pay us damages for delayed payment after expropriation. It is clearly stipulated in the expropriation law that any investor expropriating residents should have funds available to immediately pay off after the evaluation exercise,” said Thaddee Munyaneza, another resident.

"The district has also not given us land titles yet we could have used them as security in case we wanted to acquire loans from banks.”

In response, Kamali apologised for the delayed payment but attributed this to the fluctuating land prices and the Kigali City Master Plan which halted the commencement of the project.

The Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Affairs told the residents that according to the Master Plan, the area requires three to four-storied apartments, calling upon residents who can afford this to make building proposals for the district to approve.

Kamali became acting Mayor following the resignation of Origen Rutayisire. The land was evaluated in 2007.

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