He said this on Tuesday during his dialogue with residents of Huye district where he commented on an illogical decision made four years ago to close buildings in Cyarabu ward, leaving the place desolate and economically inert. District leaders closed the buildings after asking owners to revamp some and replace others with storied structures.
This idea of building flats has failed to take off in the last four years as owners say they cannot afford storied buildings.
The closure of buildings came at a time when some faculties at the University of Rwanda were relocated, cutting down on student population causing more losses to the business community.
In 2018, it was decided to reopen the buildings and owners given a grace period of five years to erect a building that in tandem with Huye town master plan. houses thus letting people work.
President Kagame said it was Huye’s maladministration that caused all this mess.
The president asked local leaders how the decision for closing the buildings was reached without consulting the affected people.
One of the owners of closed buildings said renovating the buildings is a good idea which would have been implemented after making wide consultations.
President Kagame made a case for consultative and participatory decision making. “It is not a bad idea to renovate these houses but it would have been done after a consensual agreement. Instead, it was not discussed which brought about information gaps,” said President Kagame.
“When leaders make decisions with the involvement of people concerned, it makes implementation easy,” added Kagame.
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