EASTERN PROVINCE

RWAMAGANA — Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) wants ex-combatants to be re-integrated in local administration.

This was revealed by David Munyurangabo, a commissioner of RDRC for the Eastern Province. He was addressing local officials in charge of social affairs at district and sector levels from all districts of the Eastern Province.

"Once one is in army, he gets an army card, once demobilized, they give him or her a demobilization card that allows him or her to re-integrate into civilian life”, Munyurangabo told the local officials.

He explained that it is this RDRC card that distinguishes army deserters and other soldiers who get expelled from the army and therefore appealed to local leaders to involve them (ex-combatants) in district, sector, cell and Umudugudu administration.

"The ex-combatants are our brothers and sisters and we need to give them due assistance possible without victimizing them because of the deformity they could have encountered while liberating the country,” he said.

"Help them to achieve something, help them to construct a house, help them to get some land, if they wish to marry help them, help them to form cooperatives and help them to get identification documents; that is when they will properly reintegrate in the society”, he added.

During the meeting each participant got a RDRC hand book to help them understand the government’s demobilization and reintegration program properly.

Alphonsine Murekatete, Vice Mayor for Rwamagana district who represented the governor function closed the meeting urging all participants to support to ex-combatants and get them out of poverty, to facilitate them to become independet capable citizens. She appealed to local leaders to make a database of all ex-combatants for proper planning.

According to RDRC hand book the commission has achieved a lot including demobilizing and re-integrating about 22,362 soldiers of the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF), 12, 969 ex-FAR soldiers and about 6,784 soldiers from other armed groups. They included 661 child soldiers. 

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