Survivors’ housing fund probe extends to Kigali

A team composed of officials from the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), FARG, police, the prosecution and Ibuka, has started investigating Kigali districts to ascertain whether funds meant for survivors were used appropriately. FARG is a government instituted fund for support of Genocide survivors and it is coordinated under MINALOC.Recent findings from upcountry districts indicate that the housing programme was messed up and the government lost money in the process. “Investigations started on Monday this week. We started with Kicukiro District,” revealed Ildephonse Niyonsenga, the Executive Secretary of FARG in a telephone interview yesterday. He said that the probe would take ten days. ”We need to know how many survivors need houses and a list of those who received shelter,” Niyonsenga added. He added that investigators would also verify claims of shoddy work done during the construction of some houses in the districts. “There are reports that some houses were sold to people who were not supposed to benefit from the fund. We want to put things in order,” explained Niyonsenga. He revealed that some information suggests that several houses were poorly built. The probe team would also look into cases where survivors reportedly sold their new houses and moved to other localities, only to be put on new lists of beneficiaries. The move to extend investigations to Kigali comes weeks after a Senatorial report by the Committee on Social Affairs unearthed rot that has derailed the completion of housing units meant to shelter Genocide survivors. The report also cited cases of inflating figures or creating ghost beneficiaries in order to embezzle public funds. Ends

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Survivors’ housing fund probe extends to Kigali