MPs task Ombudsman on Gasabo disaster-hit residents

Lawmakers yesterday demanded urgent action from the Ombudsman’s office and Local Government authorities to resettle 13 households that were affected by heavy rains in Kabatwa cell, Kacyiru sector, Gasabo District in December 2013. Members of the parliamentary standing committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security reached the conclusion as they examined a petition sent to Parliament by the affected residents. In the petition, the residents say that following the downpour which flattened their houses, they were compelled to leave their land without being compesated yet there are some of their neighbours who were allowed to renovate theirs. The letter adds in part that they engaged all concerned institutions, including the Office of the Ombudsman but got no response. Some of the families attempted to rebuild and renovate their houses but local authorities blocked them on grounds that they were living in a wetland. When the case was brought to the House, it was referred to the parliamentary standing committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security. The committee summoned Bernadette Kanzayire, the Deputy Ombudsman in charge of preventing and fighting injustice, to explain the situation of the residents and plans to ensure their safety. While appearing before the committee, Kanzayire admitted that there had not been much effort invested in providing a permanent solution to the issue. “There was a team formed by the Prime Minister to look into this matter, indeed this team recommended that priority of relocation should go to the vulnerable…however, we will ensure that Gasabo District and all other concerned institutions look into this matter and come up with a final resolution before the end of this month,” she said. The director in charge of preventing and fighting corruption unit at the Ombudsman’s Office, Seraphin Ntagwabira Rumaziminsi, told MPs that what delayed the case was mainly categorising the residents. “Among these people, there are those that were renting who can’t get compensated; there are also those that constructed their houses after the 2005 Land Law that prohibits people to construct in wetlands – those people can’t be compensated and that’s why the list has since come down from 13 households to 10,” said Rumaziminsi. Committee chairperson Zeno Mutimura, advised the Ombudsman’s Office to look into the matter broadly, not just the ten families but also consider other situations where similar cases have happened to help find a lasting solution. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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MPs task Ombudsman on Gasabo disaster-hit residents