President Paul Kagame today starts a two-day citizen outreach tour to Nyamasheke and Rusizi districts in the Western Province. The Head of State is expected to start his visit from Nyamasheke where he will tour Bushenge Hospital before meeting with residents for an interactive session. Bushenge Hospital, which was heavily affected by a series of earthquakes that devastated the western part of the country in 2008, has made a major turn-around both in terms of infrastructure and the services offered. It is currently a regional referral hospital. Established by missionaries in 1952, the hospital, which serves more than 150,000 people and supervises seven health centres, operated from makeshift tents for three years after the earthquake. After meeting the residents, the Head of State is expected to hold a meeting with opinion leaders from the region. President Kagame will end his visit in Rusizi, tomorrow, where he will also meet thousands of citizens and interact with them from Mushaka Parish grounds. The visits are part of the President’s routine citizens outreach programme to the countryside. Last week, Kagame toured two other districts from the Western Province; Karongi and Rutsiro, where he challenged the citizens to work hard to ensure the country achieves self-reliance. The countryside tour enables the President get to interact with the citezenry and hear firsthand their testimonies on a range of issues affecting them. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
