Whirling in a wheel chair, retired Lieutenant Joseph Sabedi believes that the earnings of the ex combatants are likely to increase with new projects geared towards generating more revenue for the cooperative.

"We believe that despite our disability, we can still  participate in income generating activities and contribute to the development of our country,” said the disabled ex combatant during the handover of a milling machine by Bank of Kigali.

The bank donated the milling machine to bolster the income and opportunities for the ex combatants and their families to fight poverty.

"We could not sit down and see poverty taking over us when we know we can do something for ourselves,” he addedJames Gatera, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Kigali, said the move is aimed at transforming vulnerable groups through supporting income generating activities.

"As a bank, we are in business when our people have enough money. Supporting such projects helps the bank to have more clients and also contribute to the groth of the economy,” he said.

Indeed, promotion of income generating activities aimed to alleviate poverty is enshrined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP), the country’s plan to boost economic growth and improve the wellbeing of all citizens.

A commissioner with the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration commission (RDRC), Brig. General John Bagabo, said the milling machine would also provide animal feed for the disabled association’s poultry farm.

"Have received this milling machine is a big boost to them,” he said, adding that the project will also help them access services near them considering their disability.

"We having been organising them into cooperatives to make sure that they can develop economically which we are now achieving”.

Meanwhile, the cooperative has also set up a shop and will soon open a beauty salon, conference hall to bolster earnings.