NORTHERN PROVINCE

MUSANZE — Commotion erupted in Ruhengeri town on Thursday when residents with no health insurance cards were locked out of a newly-constructed market.

Residents were shocked to find gates closed, by sector leaders with the help of local defence personnel who demanded health insurance cards as a requirement to access the market.

Traders with stalls in the market, some with produce assembled outside, complained that they were not given prior warning.

"We can’t afford to move with health insurance cards everyday. We come from as far as Kinigi, Bisate, Busogo. We just came to carry out our business as usual only to be told that we will not be allowed to enter without them,’’ they said.

Jonas Nkomeze, the town cell leader who was manning the entrance said they wanted to ensure that 90 percent of the residents have cleared health insurance dues by the end of this month. He said they resorted to such drastic measures partly to raise awareness about the seriousness of the matter.

Other traders claimed that they had acquired the health insurance for some of their children, but had not yet got the money to cover all the family members.

Sensitisation campaign for the Mutuelle de Sante health insurance has been one of the highlights in the performance contracts of the district leaders.

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