Deserving beneficiaries in Burera and Musanze receive cows

MUSANZE/BURERA – Over 800 deserving beneficiaries of the “one cow” program from Burera and Musanze districts have received the animals following intervention of high government officials in the distribution of the cows. The Vice Mayor in Charge of Economic Development in Burera, Joseph Zaraduhaye, said that the redistribution of cows among the needy families has been more transparent. He added that the district has fully completed the redistribution exercise after 541 cows were returned in which residents gathered to decide who should benefit and who should return the cows. In Musanze district, 241 cows were returned and redistributed among the poor families. “Residents at the cell level made lists of poor residents who deserve to benefit and it has served to show unity and fairness in implementing the program,’Emmanuel Rutaremara, the executive secretary, Musanze district said. He emphasized that local leaders made mistakes in the distribution of cows which were meant to support poor families. 15 secondary school directors and executive secretaries for all the cells were reportedly among the former beneficiaries who voluntarily returned the cows. Meanwhile in Karongi district a total of 196 cows that were wrongly given to local leaders are set to be recovered in an exercise that is set to kick off tomorrow (Thursday). It has also been proposed that 82 cows out of the total 1,062 that were received in the district will remain in the hands of local leaders who are very poor and fit to receive them. According to Sébastien Hakizimana, the Vice Mayor in Charge of Economic Development, local leaders who will retain their cows were chosen in accordance to government’s proposal of having them identified beforehand. “The ministry required us to identify the local leaders who are poor and deserve to own the cows. That is how we came up with that figure,” Hakizimana said by telephone yesterday. According to statistics obtained from security sources, Bwishyura sector tops the list with 33 cows to be returned with a possibility of an increase following fresh guidelines released by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Minister of Agriculture had earlier on set January 15t 2010 as the deadline for the completion of the redistribution exercise. Ends