Many yet to honour One Dollar Campaign pledges

KIGALI - With over 60 percent cash pledges yet to be realised, construction of the Genocide orphan’s estate is on hold, the Director General of the Rwanda Diaspora Directorate, Robert Masozera, has said. “We need these funds to effectively start construction. However, we are yet to receive over 60 percent (about Rwf 500 million) of the cash pledges,” he said. Latest information from the directorate indicates that the campaign attracted over Rwf 900 million, with only an estimated Rwf 400 million available in liquid cash. According to Masozera, so far, many individuals and corporate organisations who had made pledges are yet to make their payments. “We are launching a public appeal through the media to call on to Rwandans to honour their promises so that we can effectively begin the construction as targeted,” he said. “All the money from the Diaspora has not been transferred here. It still lies in our foreign banks. We are coordinating with embassies to have the transfers initialized.” Despite the prevailing hitch on getting the funds together, the campaign official confirmed that the land proposed for the construction of the estate, had been cleared for building by the District of Gasabo. “We have received a lot of support from Gasabo district which has offered us the authorization to begin construction,” Masozera said. “Now we have entered into the design phase. We are working on our architectural designs and are going to enter into the tendering process to identify the right construction firms. If possible we will begin constructing with the amount at hand.” The campaign targets to build a six-block residential estate in Kagugu for student orphans of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Ends