GATSIBO - The Minister of Justice who is also the Attorney General, Tharcisse Karugarama, Thursday said that all Rwandans deserve equal justice regardless whether one is poor or rich.

The Minister was addressing over 120 local mediators (Abunzi) from the sectors of Kiramuruzi and Murambi in Gatsibo District who were attending a two-day workshop.
The workshop was aimed at strengthening mediators’ skills on various laws that concern their daily work of solving conflicts at grassroots level. 

Karugarama said that the government strives to ensure that every Rwandan get access to justice without any form of discrimination.

"No Rwandan will be denied access to justice because he or she is poor. This is a message that you should deliver to everyone in your respective communities,” Karugarama told the mediators.

He reminded them that government considers their role ‘crucial’ in the justice sector which was why such workshops will be conducted time to time to help them carry out their work effectively.

The minister added that if mediators do their job well, 50% of the judicial cases that are filed to conventional courts can be reduced.

He challenged mediators to work in the spirit of volunteerism without waiting for any remuneration and urged them to shun any form of corruption.

"You already have a good culture of volunteerism in your work…but the most harmful vice you should shun is corruption,” he said.

At the same function, the minister handed bicycles to the mediators to facilitate them in their daily movements, and told them that the bicycles were as a sign of trust the government has in them.

Speaking to The New Times, Francois Xavier Musafiri, one of the mediators who was given a bicycle, said that it will ease their work in terms of transport.

"We thank the minister for this donation. We have been walking long distances, but these bicycles are a solution to transport issues,” he said.

The district Mayor, Anselme Rurangwa Majoro, said that the district will closely work with Access to Justice Bureaus to monitor the day-to-day activities of mediators’ in the district.

Ends