The Nyarugenge High Court has issued a temporary injunction preventing the mayor of Nyarugenge from evicting members of Cercle Sportif, a prominent sporting complex in Kigali.

The injunction followed an application by Cercle Sportif lawyer, Athanase Rutabingwa, who asked court to temporarily block mayor Theophila Nyirahonora from taking action until a the case to determine the rightful owner of the sporting complex, is settled by court.

The same injunction put a restraining order on the mayor and other District authorities, stopping them from encroaching on the same property.

The lawyer argued that the injunction will enable the court to determine who owns the Cercle Sportif and the mayor’s interference could only cause unnecessary irreversible damage on the property.

In his ruling, Judge Harrison Mutabazi said Cercle Sportif leadership had a credible case and asked the mayor to retrain herself from implementing her October directive.

In a letter dated October, 28, Nyirahonora ordered the current Cercle Sportif leadership to surrender the complex to Jean Marie Mudahunga, a move challenged by the members.

Cercle Sportif leadership argues that the complex belongs to over 1500 members and it is not logical to give it to one person. They went to court to seek redress over the matter.

On November, 19, the High Court ruled that the mayor’s directive be shelved for now until the case over the ownership is settled.

The court injunction comes days after members of Cercle Sportif petitioned the Minister of Justice to intervene and stop Nyarugenge District from evicting them illegally.

In a two- page letter, dated November 10, and copied to Local Government Minister, James Musoni, the Mayor of Kigali City and the Commissioner General of Police, the administrators of Cercle Sportif accuse Nyarugenge Mayor, Theophila Nyirahonora, of not acting independently.

In a document dated April 29, 2010, Karugarama gave his legal opinion, saying the founders of Cercle Sportif, a centre for several sporting activities and other members who joined later have equal say over the sporting complex.

But the mayor has since insisted that she is acting within the confines of the law.

Ends