KCC, police crackdown on fraudsters

KIGALI - Kigali City Council (KCC) and police authorities are searching for conmen who poe as city officials and swindle people. The conmen are said to have recently sent Short Message Services (SMS) to some people telling them to pay Rwf 50,000 in a provided Ecobank bank account for and lease contracts, an exercise going on in KCC, contrary to Rwf 5,000 approved by the City Advisory Council for the same service. The SMS was also requesting residents to cross-check with KCC for further details and reminded them to take part in the August 11 Presidential elections. Aimable Gasana Ndakengerwa, the KCC Director General, told The New Times that some affected residents petitioned KCC “but we were surprised to hear this because the charges are still the same as provided for by the advisory council.” “We have forwarded the information to police (CID) to investigate the matter and bring the culprits to book,” he said. KCC also maintains accounts in Ecobank and Bank of Kigali where city residents seeking certain services that require to be paid for deposit the money. “We don’t know why these people (conmen) decided to advise their prey to seek further information here (KCC). But whoever that person is had some motives,” Ndakengerwa said. KCC is currently sensitizing residents to regularize their land as required by the National Land Bureau. In conjunction with the bureau, the city will effective July 8, start the Land Tenure Regularisation. The exercise slated to be complete by the end of December; Ndakengerwa said, will help them update their database on the land owners in Kigali. Currently, there are no statistics on the number of people with legal land ownership in the city. Among the official documents to be given out during the exercise are deed plans, lease contracts, construction and occupancy permits. Ends