Evictions: Residents to sue district

EASTERN PROVINCE Residents of Nshuri trading centre have threatened to sue Nyagatare District for trying to evict them.About 400 residents face eviction, that some have been challenging ever since the eviction order was issued last year by the provincial authorities. Late last December, Nyagatare District authorities demolished houses belonging to some six families as part of the eviction attempts, an act that has sparked controversy. The affected residents have since claimed to be facing difficult conditions following the demolition of their houses.They argue that they have full authority over the land under which they are occupying which they claim to have inhabited for over fifteen years. Talking to The New Times on Sunday, a group of the affected residents said they want the courts to determine whether the authorities were not violating their rights. ‘We need the eviction order to be clear to prevent the loss of our property’, said one of the residents. But the date when they will lodge the case is yet to be established. However, efforts to contact the district Mayor, Robert Kashemeza and her deputy who is in charge of social affairs, for a comment on this latest development were fruitless, as they both were both unable to answer our telephone inquiries by the time we went to press. Other sources at the district authorities however, say the district is considering reversing the eviction decision.The sources say authorities are devising possible means to calm the residents so that those whose houses were demolished could be assisted to build other houses elsewhere. Further still the authorities are considering relocating those who are not yet evicted to locations where they are expected to have been resettled in line with the 2007 Expropriation Law. The law stipulates that , there should be a mutual understanding with respect to the eviction, between both parties (those to evict and evictees) before enforcing the action. Late last year, the district vice-Mayor in charge of economic affairs, Anthelm Rurangwa, warned of forceful eviction against those who had failed to voluntarily leave the area. The demolition of some houses on Christmas Eve, was largely seen as part of his early warning. Ends