WESTERN PROVINCE

RUTSIRO — Scores of residents in Rutsiro district are complaining over a plot of land on which the district constructed Bitenga Hospital.

Residents who talked to The New Times this week claim that the district undervalued their plots and paid them little money; which was not equivalent to their plots, while others deny that they received any money at all.

"I was not given any money. I lost even the iron sheets which were removed from my demolished house," a woman only identified as Nyirambarukwabo claimed.

When pressed further however, she admitted receiving Frw150,000, secured a piece of land else where at Frw50,000, but reportedly failed to share it with her father who owned the house.

In a related development, residents are complaining over 60 acres of land on which the district constructed community settlements [imidugudu] in Bitenga sector for Genocide survivors.

Residents claim they had bought their plots expensively but they were compensated with pea nuts.

I had bought that piece of land for animal farming, he said pointing at the plot, but am being compensated with small portions. So why can’t I be given a big piece of land equivalent to the one I had and in a better place, one resident who declined to be named said.

To resettle especially Genocide survivors, the district reportedly asked people with more than three acres of land to hand them over before the district later partitioned them for redistribution.

However, district leaders say all the affected residents in the two scenarios were fairly compensated according to the value of their plots, and constructed houses for those who owned them.

"Some people used the money given to them to buy plots without the knowledge of their families. To date they have been fooling their families that the district hasn’t paid them," Odette Mukantabana, the vice mayor for social affairs said.

Meanwhile, after receiving compensation from their plots, people who gave land to the district to resettle Genocide survivors are reportedly forcefully repossessing their plots.

"I have five children but my piece of land was repossessed and given to a soldier by the former land lord. All the farming activities I had prepared were halted, my crops confiscated and my children are dying of hunger," a widow who asked not to be named said.

John Ndimubahire, the district mayor says the complaints are not genuine as Bitenga Hospital has saved many lives so far, for it serves over six sectors where people walked long distances to reach the nearest health center.

"All Rwandans are equal and should have equal opportunities even in allocation of land. I call upon everyone here to cooperate in settling the landless," the mayor told residents during a meeting. "It shouldn’t be a surprise if we tell you to as well split the remaining land you possess," he added.

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