Claudine Umutesi, 47, is a resident of Masaka in Kicukiro district. The old woman says she has had a long standing land dispute with her neighbor which she only felt comfortable addressing to the President.

She says the land problem dates back to her parents, and the residents of the area are quite aware of the trouble.  According to her, the neighbor used his powers to encroach onto her small plot of land.

When the old woman realized that the President occasionally finds time within his busy schedule to meet residents, she quickly regained hope of recovering her land.
 "Yes, I knew one day I would express my concerns to President Paul Kagame and they would be solved once and for all,” Umutesi says.

However, before she could meet the Head of State, a friend tipped her on how local leaders have embarked on solving residents’ problems at a lower level in order to relieve the President and other government officials from some of the issues they encountered whenever they addressed gatherings.

"I immediately rushed to the district headquarters and requested to meet the Mayor,” she said.
Surprisingly, the women left very happy and excited yet she was never given a chance to meet the mayor.

"I could not believe it. It was a thrilling moment although I did not meet the Mayor; I was given an appointment to meet the man the following Tuesday morning. This was the first time I was going to meet a district Mayor face to face to address my problem,” she says.

Umutesi promised to be at the district headquarters very early. To her disappointment however, she was shocked at the huge turn-up at the district headquarters as other people with similar concerns had reported even earlier.

"I could not imagine why such a huge gathering had had to turn up on the same day I did. However, I had a smile especially after realizing the person I came to report to was among the big crowed.”

According to the Mayor of Kicukiro district, Paul Jules Ndamage, among other duties, Tuesday is a special day to meet residents, listen to their problems, and seek solutions for their claims.

He explains that although residents come with various concerns, cases of land disputes are given priority.
"The strategy of meeting residents every week has helped to solve some misunderstandings among the population especially those with cases related to land,” he says.

According to him, there are other minor cases which only need his intervention and can be solved on spot with the help of other residents with clear and exact information. However, he points out that there are issues which need time for making consultations to get genuine information before any step is taken.

He also says there has always been a problem in considering the complainant`s evidence as some people do not have written proof of land ownership, while most of those with documents actually display small, handwritten and ordinary chits of paper.

"It can be a challenge, at times, but when a solution is attained the community is at peace and doesn’t have to wait for the President`s visit,” he says.
Although he cannot prove that the strategy has been effectively implemented in other districts, he does say that reports indicate that it has been effective.

The Director General of the National Land Centre, Emmanuel Nkurunziza, says the land Tenure Regularization exercise has also played a positive role in solving land disputes.

He explains that although it has proved that there are some complicated cases; at least some have been solved amicably.

"There are always land disputes that we have to either solve or seek for assistance from local leaders whenever we go for the land demarcation exercise. They are usually among family members or neighbors,” he says.

According to him, although residents react differently over land disputes, there is always a good conclusion at the end.

"Yes, it is not an easy task to solve land disputes especially when both complainants have no documents to prove their claims. But there is always a village committee that handles such cases and determines the next step for such claims.”

According to Nkurunziza, the committee comprises residents and local leaders who are well versed with land issues at the grassroots level.

"These people use the information they have and make further investigations with fellow residents who have occupied and owned land in various villages for a long time; they determine which step should be taken, when residents cannot reach a compromise.”

He also says that when certain issues are not resolved, residents are advised to seek legal assistance at the courts of law.

"Those with tired and worn-out documents that prove land ownership are advised to take them for approval at the Cell level before we consider them for processing,” he says.
Records from the National Land Centre indicate that in Kigali City alone, 164 land disputes have been forwarded to legal institutions for settlement.

According to Nkurunziza, this is one of the factors that have contributed to slowing down the exercise in the city. However, he also says that city dwellers have not been as committed as those in the villages to making the exercise successful on time.

"People in the city are expected to be more aware of the importance of land registration than those in the villages. But to our disappointment, they never provide the information needed to speed up the exercise,” he says.
Sunday Times talked to a few people on why people in the town have not turned up in time for land registration as expected.

One Alex, a businessman in town, says people in villages have time to follow up, but in towns time is limited as all are busy.

"I believe people in the town would never hesitate to take land registration seriously, based on its positive outcome and given the fact that it is being done almost free of charge,” he says.

However, Sarah, a 28 year-old housewife, noted that people in towns are sometimes reluctant because they believe they have excuses linked to their day-to-day activities.

"No, I do not believe people with their country at heart can fail to respond to any national programme that is aimed at helping them solve general issues,” she says.

Last week, people in Kigali City were urged to take the land registration exercise seriously to enable the exercise to get done in a specified period of time.

Ends