Kinyinya land ordeal takes a new twist

KIGALI - The Kinyinya land saga that has been on going for sometime has taken another turn with the Rwanda Housing Bank (RHB) accusing Star cod of inflating the compensation package. Star cod is a local firm that had been contracted to carry the evaluation of the 200 hectares of land in Ngaruyinka village Gasabo district. The land was evaluated in two phases. According to the bank’s Director General, Gervais Ntaganda, Star cod connived with some residents to inflate the value of land. The disputed land was evaluated in 2008 after the private firm won a tender to assess how much the bank would spend on compensating the land. Speaking to The New Times, Ntaganda said that they “owe no debt to any resident in Kinyinya.” This followed a recent outcry from the residents of this area who demanded that the bank fully compensates them or they reclaim their land. According to figures from the bank, 2108 families were supposed to be paid at a tune of Rwf 6.4bn. Ntaganda accused the residents and Star cod officials of corruption. “These residents connived with some of the star cod officials to over value the land,” he said Four residents and a surveyor from Star cod identified as Damien Mugabo have so far been arrested. Instructions from the Prime Minister’s office requested that the residents repossess the land, but some locals told The New Times last week that they were still awaiting for formal communication from the PM’s office channeled through the Mayor of Gasabo district. The directive comes after a petition by the affected residents, who complained that they were prevented from utilizing their land and yet no compensation had come through for over one year. Besides payments, residents claim that since the evaluation exercise, they were barred from performing any farming activities on the land. The land was supposed to be jointly developed by the Rwanda Housing Bank (BHR) and the Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR). Ends

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Kinyinya land ordeal takes a new twist