Ombudsman petitioned over land dispute

A LAND dispute in Rusororo, Gasabo District involving death threats has gone to the office of Ombudsman for redress.At the centre of the five-year long standing land feud is Jean Paul Gasore, who has petitioned the head of Ombudsman, Tito Rutaremara for intervention. In his letter, dated June 12 to Ombudsman, Gasore alleges that the executive Secretary of Rusororo sector in Gasabo, John Rucibigango is siding with individuals who want to grab his 3 hectares of land. But when contacted on early this week, Rucibigango dismissed Gasore’s allegations, saying he was out to attract sympathy from the public. “The land dispute between Gasore and his neighbour was settled but Gasore refused to take the share allocated to him,” Rucibigango explained. “Nothing more we can do.”Gasore told Ombudsman that part of his land was getting encroached on by his neighbor Callixte Ndekezi, however, the sector leadership was reportedly taking sides. Gasore returned to Rwanda after 1994 Genocide and reportedly settled on the land illegally. In 2002, the area sector intervened, demarcating the land into small plots, allocating it to both parties. But this did not go down well with Ndekezi who had initially wanted Gasore to completely vacate the land and this attracted a protracted war between the two families.But Gasore claims the area leaders have been ‘bought’ by Ndekezi to have him evicted, a claim repeatedly denied by Rucibigango. Gasore also accuses the district mayor, Cludine Nyinawagagga of inciting Ndekezi against him. But the mayor has in a telephone interview dismissed the claims as baseless.A letter dated November 1 from Tito Rutaremara and addressed to Gasabo District Mayor directs that Gasore issue and his neighbors be settled amicably. In the letter, Rutaremara asked mayor Nyinawagagga to follow the matter and forward him a detailed report before the end of last month. “I have not yet submitted the report to the Ombudsman but it is underway. The most important thing is not to meet the deadline but to solve the problem,” Nyinawagagga said on Monday. Efforts to contact Ndekezi were futile by press time. Ends