Gov’t workers threaten to sue District over land dispute

Over Rwf440 million involved Government employees from various institutions have appealed to the government over delayed acquisition of plots they paid for at Gasabo District. The civil servants paid money to the district on the premise that they would be given plots in different parts of the district but nothing has been done two years after they made the payments. According to a prior agreement with the district, two areas had been earmarked for these the civil servants and plots were categorized into two; medium and high standard for which they respectively paid Rwf 1.5 and 2.5 million respectively. In a letter dated February 13, 2009, which was copied to the Prime Minister, the committee representing the employees requested Gasabo District to find an immediate solution to their problem. It was the second letter the first having been written on December 24, 2008 which detailed their grief. “If getting plots in the first site is impossible, we would like plots on another site, or refund our money so that we negotiate with other districts, ” the letter which The New Times has seen reads in part. Initially, they were to get the plots from two sites of Rusororo and Runyonza however, according to the complainants, they were later told that this land had been allocated to other development activities in the City Master Plan. The first letter of December 24, 2008 indicates that over 200 civil servants from 14 government institutions had paid over Rwf440 million to the District to acquire plots for residential houses. According to the chairperson of the committee set up to follow up the issue, Alain Bernard Mukurarinda, the civil servants are also demanding an interest on the money they paid totaling to 55.9 percent of the money they paid. This implies that those who paid Rwf2.5million for high standard plots are demanding Rwf3.8m whereas those who paid for the medium standard want Rwf2.3 million. “We considered different issues to come up with this percentage because many had acquired loans to get the money,” said Mukurarinda outlining some of the reasons they are seeking interest. They also accuse the district of having used their money for expropriation exercises contrary to what it was originally meant for. “We all paid for those plots after acquiring loans which we are servicing with an interest of 18 percent. The District used the money and have agreed to refund but we don’t see any progress,” Mukurarinda, who is a State Prosecutor told The New Times at his Kimihurura office. He has threatened to sue the District in the court of law if two months elapses with no satisfactory response. “The District had said it will not give us the plots but will refund the money, but now they are silent, this leaves us with no option but to seek legal redress,” Mukurarinda added. Claudine Nyinawagaga, the District Mayor, said that plans were still underway to give the employees plots in the designated areas but said they were still working on the infrastructure before demarcating the land. “Those sites of Rusororo and Runyonza are in the City Master Plan, we have already constructed a road there…you cannot bring people in places that do not have infrastructure, some people are just impatient,” Nyinawagaga said yesterday during an interview. She said that the District is looking at two scenarios; allocating the plots to those who agree and refunding money to those who don’t. “We can not give poor services to residents, we cannot take their money, in principle the District has to refund with interests as they claim but it is something we have to negotiate about,” Nyinawagaga added. The detailed Kigali Master Plan was launched last weekend. Ends

National

Gov’t workers threaten to sue District over land dispute