Over 100 families staying in Gakakati 2 a suburb in Rwimiyaga sector in Nyagatare district remain displaced after their homes were allegedly destroyed without notice.
The district officials continue to deny allegations as the families are desperately asking for help from the government and their respective district leaders.
Some of the displaced habitants talked to IGIHE, and confirmed they had been living in that area since 2007. Most of them had been living in different provinces before they bought land and settled in Nyagatare. These residents came from the Eastern province, western province and the southern province.
The residents claim they legally bought plots based on information that was provided by local officials, and possess signed Land title deeds from the district.
According to the victims of this incident, the houses that were destroyed had new roofs and other new materials.
Nyakatsi, one of the victims said that they recently build these houses with their savings after living in local huts for an extended period.
The residents provided documents to IGIHE which indicates that these residents possess permanent title deeds to the land in question, meaning they have ownership of this particular land for a period of 99 years.
One of the residents talked to IGIHE and confirmed it was on Friday last week when they saw many cars packed with prisoners backed by some of the district leaders of Nyagatare.
After reaching in our area, 100 houses were immediately destroyed.
She added that “we witnessed these people coming to our settlement and immediately ran away, because we couldn’t understand what was happening,
On immediate arrival prisoners started the destruction of our houses and our properties within and outside the houses were destroyed.
Almost 500 people from different families are still stranded and don’t know where to go. These residents are not aware of the reason their houses were destroyed, however, one resident said that they heard rumors from the local leadership claiming that that the land was sold but our inquiries reveal that the buyer is not yet known.
{{Destroyed homes in Nyagatar}}e
Some of the victims of this incident stated that they attempted to contact the local leadership in regards to this matter, however, it was to no avail as they did not pick up their phone calls.
{{What does Nyagatare district say about this issue?}}
IGIHE wanted to talk with the mayor of Nyagatare district for more information, unfortunately he told us he was busy and asked us to talk with the district lawyer.
During an interview with IGIHE, Nyagatare’s District Lawyer, Kerebu Turatsinze, denied allegations relating to the destruction of houses in Nyagatare.
When he was asked about of the victims whereabouts after the destruction, he continuously denied the allegations and insisted that no houses were destroyed in Nyagatare. He also added that the only thing the residents were prohibited from doing was digging in that area.
Fortunately, IGIHE managed to visit these people and saw that the houses were indeed destroyed. After visiting the residents and getting the clear picture that the houses were destroyed IGIHE decided to return to the district lawyer for the second interview.
Kerebu said these people were misusing the land and the district was following the new land laws as well as protecting the land. Kerebu also told us that these families never followed the right rules and regulations of buying and settling in this land that’s why they were supposed to move.
Kerebu added that, if someone owns 10 hectares of land for animal farming, that land will be sold on a large scale to anyone who wish to buy it. He said that, “these people came and bought land in small pieces, which does not abide to the laws governing land, which were set by the government then they call them settlements”. According to him a settlement should cover between 100-200 houses as the rule says.
However, he was asked how these people settled in this area in the first place without the knowledge of the local leaders. Kerebu said that most of these people settled in this area before the new law on land was established. Said Kerebu
Currently, the victims of this incident are still displaced and claimed they were promised to be relocated to other places this Friday.
By Richard Mugarura
