MPs want policy on public cemeteries enforced

Legislators in the Lower Chamber of Parliament have asked the Government to move swiftly and organise public cemeteries to stop people from burying departed loved ones on private property. During yesterday’s plenary session, the legislators gave officials at the Ministry of Local Government and Social Affairs three months to have completed explaining the law governing cemeteries to the people across the country and six months to ensure that every district sets up enough cemeteries close to where people live. The decision was reached after legislators in the Lower House’s standing committee on social affairs presented a report of findings from their research on how the law determining the organisation and use of cemeteries is being implemented in the country, two years after it was enacted. “The law is hardly known by both officials and the population, which is the reason why it is not being implemented in its entirety,” said MP Alphonsine Mukarugema, the deputy chairperson of the standing committee on social affairs. Under the law, it is prohibited to bury a loved one in a place other than a public cemetery. It is also prohibited to bury a loved one without an authorisation granted by the cell’s executive secretary or their deputy. The deceased should also be registered in a designated book at the cemetery, while their names are also recognised as those belonging to the dead in census books at the sector level. But implementation of the above remains rare in many parts of the country according to the parliamentary report based on visits made to cemeteries in 13 districts across the country, and following discussions held with local officials there. With designated public cemeteries far from enough in many areas across the country and many people finding them far from where they live, many of the dead are buried on family property without realising that it is illegal, the legislators said. And for those who are buried in public cemeteries, their names are not systematically registered and the cemeteries where they are buried are not regularly guarded and cleaned as is required, the legislators noted. “We cannot blame failure to implement the law on the population. It is the government officials who should be blamed because they didn’t sensitise the people about the law,” Mukarugema said. While endorsing the report, most legislators urged the government to ensure that cemeteries are accessible for the local population and that basic care is ensured for the cemeteries to remain a sacred place. “Implementing this law requires officials to put in place everything that is needed for people to bury their loved ones in public cemeteries. Officials should ensure that public cemeteries are accessible,” said MP Marie Josée Kankera. Meanwhile, the MPs urged the government to also sensitise the population about a ministerial order gazetted in July 2015 about cremation, one of the accepted inhumation ways in Rwanda but which remains a unpopular. “Some people say that cremation is against the Rwandan culture. They say it would be torture for the dead. But fifty years from now cremation will be the best way to bury our dead given the small size of our country,” Mukarugema said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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MPs want policy on public cemeteries enforced