Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

{Grandparents and parents of an estimated 500 Rwandans were moved from mother land to Kenya by the British colonial administration in 1940’s to work mostly in tea plantations in Kericho county and other parts of Kenya.}

In 1945, these Rwandans were granted Kenyan citizenship and subsequently given Kenyan national identity cards. Later in 1975, the national identity cards were replaced by three-month renewable foreigner identification cards. This applied to other foreign nationalities that came under the same arrangement. Efforts to regain citizenship status have since proved futile.

Following the Makonde community’s match to the State House on October 2016 seeking to the resolution of their stateless situation that they have endured for a number of decades, representatives of Rwandans in the similar situation as mentioned above went to the Rwandan High Commission in Nairobi and raised the issue.

The meeting compelled H.E The High Commissioner Amb. James Kimonyo tovisit Kericho on February 12th 2017 where he met and heard their grievances.

During the interactive session, majority of questions from community members revolved around the issue of statelessness, which has denied them the fundamental rights enjoyed by the rest of Kenyans. The High Commissioner was informed that in 1980’s, Kenyan Government then decided to send them back to Rwanda but the Government of Rwanda refused their return saying they are Kenyans.

Some members of the community had to live under falsified identities for them to be able to get employment or send their children to school. They narrated how hard it is for them to run any long-term investment like acquiring land or property.

Gabriel Ndagijimana who was born in Kericho in 1940 before Kenya gained its independence said that like many others he is neither a Kenyan citizen nor Rwandan.

“At 77 years, I have never opened a bank account; I have never voted, never bought a property and I am tired of this situation and worried about my children.” Ndagijimana said

According to John Nyirindekwe who was born in Kericho to two Rwandan parents in 1940, children born to members of his community cannot access public schools because they are considered as foreigners.

“We have seen children of our neighbors enjoying Government bursary to pursue their education dreams while our children cannot because of our stateless status.”

Members of the community acknowledged Pan Africanism gesture showed by President Uhuru Kenyatta when he granted Kenyan citizenship to Makonde community who have lived under the same situation for decades and asked the High Commissioner to engage the President and his Government in helping them to get out of this quagmire.

In response, Ambassador James Kimonyo said that based on the existing strong friendship between Rwanda and Kenya and in the spirit of the East African Community integration, he believes Kenyan Government will find a lasting solution to this matter.

“I will engage the relevant Government institutions in order to resolve this matter as soon as possible,” said Amb. Kimonyo concluded.

{The Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has requested women leaders called ‘Mutima w’urugo’ heart of the family) who have completed a nine-day civic education at Nkumba to work together to eradicate domestic violence as it triggers social instability. }

“Take the lead in fighting against domestic violence because we can’t keep tolerating people depriving Rwandans of their lives. You have heard that statistics from police indicated that 142 including 64 men and 78 women died of domestic violence in 2016. This is a total mismatch with our moral values. We need cooperation to fight against the vice,” he said.

Premier Murekezi asked them to boost awareness on gender equality issues among Rwandan communities.

Civic education trainees commended the training calling it a weapon to fighting against the evil.

“A woman has potential in promoting the family, which is what we have pledged among our performance contracts. We are going to train our peers to preserve the culture of holding discussions to breed solutions for and eliminate domestic violence,” said Uwamahoro Claudine.

Uwayisenga Lusef said “We are going to revise the way we hold parents’ forum (Umugoroba w’ababyeyi) to incorporate cultural recitals, recognize transformed households in sorting out from conflicts and help families where domestic violence persists. We will also explain them what the law provisions against violence are.”

The civic education closed yesterday brought together 436 women and 20 men and was held for the 4th time since 2014. A total of 1323 women leaders have benefited from similar trainings since its inception.

{The relocation of inmates from Nyarugenge prison known as 1930 started on Saturday where 3000 inmates were expected to be relocated to the newly constructed prison at Mageragere. }

Following the relocation, the spokesperson of RCS, CIP Sengabo Hillary has told IGIHE that few among the total of 3,000 male inmates to be relocated to Mageragere are remaining at Nyarugenge prison.

“We have relocated all male inmates. We want to relocate 17 of remaining women and children to Nyagatare prison. Some 44 inmates have been left at 1930 to help with kitchen work,” he said.

He explained that 536 women remaining in 1930 may be relocated to Musanze prison.

“We are to relocate women after getting prepared. The prisons under preparation for accommodating 1930 inmates include Ngoma, Nyamagabe but we have an idea of relocating women to Musanze prison after transferring men from the latter to Rubavu prison. It is still under discussion. If it goes into force, we will have three prisons for female inmates,” he said.

Mageragere prison has the capacity of accommodating 9000 inmates. The latter is supposed to accommodate 3000 male inmates from 1930 and 5500 inmates from Gasabo prison.

RCS plans to relocate inmates from Nyarugenge and Kimironko prisons not later than August 2017.

Nyarugenge prison (1930) is the oldest in Rwanda. It was built under colonial rule.