Demobilisation commission ends work in sector, districts in June

EASTERN PROVINCE NYAGATARE—An official of Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) has said they will wind up their operations in districts and sectors by June this year. Alexander Marara, the head of RDRC in Nyagatare district said their activities will remain limited at the provincial and national levels. Addressing sector officials and demobilized soldiers in the area over the weekend, Murara said demobilised soldiers should be integrated in the community programmes where they live because they have to get involved in main stream government policies. The meeting held at Seeds of Hope Restaurant in Nyagatare town aimed at addressing disagreements between the demobilized soldiers and the sector officials in charge of social affairs. Since RDRC in districts and sectors will end their activities in June, we want every demobilized soldier to get integrated in their respective communities and engage in government policies like other residents in the district, Murara said. But he did not explain the reasons for closing the lower level offices. He observed that social affairs officials have previously looked down on demobilized soldiers in the area. We have been getting numerous reports from sectors indicating that sector social affairs officials are not giving services to our demobilized soldiers arguing that they have commissions that are in charge of solving their problems. We organized this seminar to sensitize these people on how they should treat demobilized soldiers, Marara said. Citing land, medical treatment and other economic and social amenities, Marara noted the former soldiers were entitled to the services like any other citizen in the country. The demobilized soldiers highlighted poor access to medical facilities, lack of land to settle and poor shelter among the problems they are facing. The problems are prevalent in the sectors of Kiyombe, Katabagemu, Gatunda and Mukama, according to Felex Mugabo, the leader of demobilized soldiers in the district. However, Mugabo, in a separate interview told our reporter that despite the challenges, the former fighters are engaged in different activities in the district like modern farming, carpentry, and keeping security among other things. Mugabo revealed the district has built over 100 houses for disabled persons among them and the commission is trying to secure subsidized medical services for the disabled members of their group. Ends