EASTERN PROVINCE NYAGATARE — An elderly woman whose house was demolished late last year has said she will never forget the ordeal she went through as a victim of an eviction experience in Eastern province. The 80-year-old woman, Caritas Bakesha, explained that December 24, 2008, the date when her house was demolished will stick to her memory for the remaining part of her life. The woman’s home was located in Nshuri trading centre in Nyagatare District, the area believed to be a den of criminals. District authorities ordered the demolition on Christmas Eve, seeking to evict about 400 residents and eight houses including the one belonging to the old woman were demolished on that day. She said she had previously been homeless for years, until a Good Samaritan built her the demolished house four years ago. ‘I have been badly treated, and I cannot hold it, except if there is any other form of assistance for displaced people like me’, she added. But her woes seem to have fallen on deaf ears as provincial authorities insist that all residents in that trading centre must vacate the area. District and Sector officials recently said the houses they demolished were not planned residential houses and they had resettled all those who were evicted , although many claim to have spent half a month without any form of assistance from the district authorities. Bakesha says she has seven dependants, and living with no roof above her head has been a nightmare. ‘We did not put up any form of fight but that never elicited any form of sympathy. It was a different kind of ordeal…..we couldn’t do anything to stop it’, she narrated. Ends
