Government trying to locate over 100 Genocide orphans for occupied property, PM says

It’s proving difficult to locate some 107 Genocide orphans who had applied to reclaim their property grabbed by third parties when they were young, Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has said. Addressing both chambers of Parliament about the government’s performance in the justice sector, yesterday, the premier reassured orphans that government will do everything possible to help them get back their property. Out of 1,283 disputes over grabbed properties that were documented countrywide by a taskforce established in 2013 by the Prime Minister’s office, 954 (74 per cent) have been resolved, Murekezi said. Apart from 107 cases whose claimants can’t be located, other cases which have not been resolved yet include some 65 that are still being handled by different organs of government, and 76 cases that are before the courts. Officials at the Ministry of Local Government and Social Affairs say lack of information still hinders recovery of property for many orphans of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, whose assets were illegally taken over by ‘dishonest persons’ after the slaughter. According to Local Government minister Francis Kaboneka, for cases that remain unresolved, the major challenge is lack of information as some orphans have no tangible evidence to prove that their parents owned the property they claim. Some of the orphans have also failed to prove that their parents owned money in banks and savings in the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) before they passed away. But for the orphans who presented credible information about their properties, officials have held negotiations with them to find them new plots of land in case the offenders cannot leave or pay for the properties. The most challenging issue, officials say, has been about finding land for the orphans when theirs has been taken over by their foster parents who raised them but did not put the assets in the names of the orphans, or other persons who occupied vacant portions of land after the Genocide. The government has also been working with banks and RSSB to seek information about investments and savings made by the orphans’ parents before they were killed in the Genocide. Youth carry the Flame of Hope (Kwibuka torch) which made a countrywide tour last year. (File) AERG to help locate property Some leaders of the association of students who are Genocide survivors (AERG) say they haven’t yet looked at the list of names for missing claimants to see if they can help the government locate them since many claimants are likely to be members of AERG. Jean Damascène Nsanzumuhire, a legal advisor and helpline coordinator at AERG, said Local Government ministry officials should share the names of missing claimants with them so they can help in the search for them. “They (government officials) can give us the names of missing people so we can look for them, maybe we could find them,” Nsanzumuhire told The New Times yesterday. Helping Genocide orphans recover their assets has been a burning issue in the last three years. Minister Kaboneka said a lot has been done in the process and he has given assurances that the remaining cases could also be resolved soon as a result of the coordination between responsible institutions. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Government trying to locate over 100 Genocide orphans for occupied property, PM says