Rwamagana to construct more houses for the disadvantaged

Another 90 houses will be built for vulnerable residents of Rwamagana District. So far, over 100 houses have been built for some who lived in thatched houses commonly known as nyakatsi. Beatrice Mukaminega, who one of such residents and a mother of four, said that she and her family used to live in a Nyakatsi and had no access to electricity, water and other services. She was always worried about the security of her children who used to walk long distances to fetch water and firewood and the poor state of the house they lived in. However, her life changed when the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), One UN and other partners built her a modern house and she got access to clean water and electricity. “Now I am also living a good life. My children no longer have to walk long distances looking for water or firewood as we now also use biogas. My other colleagues and I who were living impoverished lives are also in cooperatives now. We are now farmers and have received cows. We don’t even envy people who live in the city because our lives are good here. The only thing we buy is salt as we have everything else,” she said. According to Nehemiah Uwimana, the Mayor of Rwamagana, 30 per cent of the residents of the area live below poverty line. He noted that the construction of the houses was one of the strategies put in place to fight poverty. “We have put a number of strategies in place such as EDPRS2 to ensure that in five years’ time, this number drops at least by 20 per cent. We are also improving agriculture as a way of getting our people out of poverty.