List of FARG beneficiaries revisited

EASTERN PROVINCE The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) has ordered district officials in some parts of the country to carry out re-validation of beneficiaries of the Fund for the Assistance of Genocide Survivors (FARG), following complaints that some genuine beneficiaries were scrapped from the list. Authorities told The New Times Thursday that the validation was flawed because it was not given ample time, especially due to misinterpretation of the guidelines that were meant to be followed. In Rwamagana and Kayonza districts, officials admitted that there were errors because the exercise ‘was done hastily.’ Valens Ntezirembo, the Mayor of Rwamagana district, said: “We are repeating the process because there were errors due to misinterpretation of the criteria which was supposed to be followed for classification, but we are set to be done by 16th January 2009.” The validation was carried out by local leaders last week with the help of residents. It was commissioned by the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) in conjunction with the NISR. This is the second time NISR officials admit that the exercise was flawed due to limited time. Lionel Kubwimana, who is in-charge of statistics in the Ngoma district in the same province, told The New Times early this week that they had received many complaints from those who were removed from the list, and he promised that the lists would be revised. This was after about 50 students who had been left out stormed the district insisting that they are eligible for support. NISR officials said different factors contributed to the flaws citing failure by local leaders to weigh the economic status of potential applicants before scrapping them off the list. For example parents with a quarter ha of land earning about Rwf.500 per day, were not considered vulnerable and their children were subsequently removed from the list of students to benefit from FARG- yet the parents claim they cannot afford paying school fees for them. People, who were not available at the time of validation, were also removed from the list. Some students were retained on the FARG list, but not included on the list of vulnerable children. Village committees in some areas failed to complete the forms which were being filled while many filled them wrongly. However, officials say some fake beneficiaries who were removed from the list still forwarded their complaints to the districts. The validation was prompted by several reports that showed that some local leaders had abused the Fund, by orchestrating sickening irregularities since its inception in1998. Ends