The government will spend slightly over Rwf16 billion to finish paying all the money it owes to the people who vacated their properties to pave way for expropriation, Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi told Parliament yesterday.

The premier was appearing before the Lower Chamber of Parliament to answer questions regarding faults in price valuations for land and delayed payments for expropriation.

Implementation of expropriation, which is government’s taking of privately owned property to use it for the benefit of the public, has been marred with different challenges and the MPs have asked government to move swiftly to address them.

Murekezi admitted that there were unacceptable delays in paying compensation for people whose property has been used for public interest works but promised that the current fiscal year will leave no arrears behind.

"The money will clear all the known arrears from expropriation projects so far,” he told the legislators.

Both the Office of the Ombudsman and the parliamentary standing committee on Political Affairs and Gender have indicated that a number of citizens who were evicted from their previous settlements due to some public infrastructure activities have not yet been compensated.

Such cases of non-compensation have been recorded in many districts across the country, including in Gatsibo, Kamonyi, Burera, Karongi, and Rutsiro, where public interest projects such as roads, marshlands and islands, electricity and water, rice projects, and communication masts have left some residents homeless.

"How is government planning to provide appropriate compensation to the citizens?” was the main question the MPs put to the premier during the session.

Among other property owners, the premier’s announcement of the funds to pay expropriation arrears is good news for hundreds of residents living within the boundaries of the proposed Bugesera International Airport in Eastern Province.

Of the money set aside to clear the arrears, Rwf12 billion will be spent on compensation for relocation of 2,078 households within the boundaries of the proposed Bugesera airport.

"It’s good that the government has made paying the arrears a priority. People who had not been compensated have remained unable to exploit their land and it’s a big challenge,” said Pierre Claver Kabera, the chairperson of Bugesera District Advisory Council.

More than three years have elapsed without compensation of properties for the residents living within the boundaries of the proposed airport.

 The delay means that some residents have recently found the money they are being given no longer enough to buy alternative property because inflation has risen since their properties were valuated four years ago.

Avoiding future mistakes

Apart from delays in paying compensation for expropriation, the government has lost some  Rwf350 million in miscalculations on the value of properties valuated for expropriation in projects related to the proposed Bugesera International Airport and the construction of Nyabarongo hydro-electric power plant.

Now officials say future expropriation projects will only be announced when the value of properties has been evaluated by independent property valuators and the money to pay property owners readily available.

A new expropriation Bill that has been tabled in Parliament has also indicated time limits within which the expropriation process will be happening.

 The details in the revised law will help avoid issues like delays to pay compensation and prohibition to exploit land that is subject to expropriation, both officials and legislators say.

"A lot of questions raised have been addressed in the newly-proposed expropriation law,” MP Connie Bwiza said.

MP Desire Nyandwi advised that local officials should do more to explain the objective of public interest works before they are implemented because it could ease the expropriation process.