It was all praises and appreciation to the government and President Paul Kagame in Gikomero Sector of Kigali City’s Gasabo District yesterday as 64 houses were delivered to needy residents from different parts of the district.

The houses, erected on Munini hill, were built by the Reserve Force with funding from Gasabo District and the central government as well as contributions from members of the civil society as officials sought to provide vulnerable residents with roofs over their heads.

Of the 64 families that were settled yesterday after the monthly community work (Umuganda) in Munini, each household received a three bedroom house with a sitting room furnished with chairs and curtains.

The village was also provided with a place to collectively raise chickens, an administrative hall, and a market.

Beneficiaries said that having a place to stay will help them focus on trying different jobs in the area in order to meet the rest of their needs.

"The new home I received today will help me to become stable and raise my children since they now have a place to stay as I try various jobs to survive,” said Josephine Mukandayisenga, a mother of six.

She was taken off the street in Gatsata area of the city where she used to eke out a living as a hawker while her husband worked part-time as a labourer.

"Everything was difficult for us; from getting food to paying rent,” she said as she mopped her new sitting room.

Thomas Ndagijimana, a father of seven who lives with disability, was also given a house and he is ready to use his talent of singing and apply his welding skills to earn a living.

He told Sunday Times that he especially wanted to thank President Kagame for leading Rwanda into becoming a country that cares for every citizen given that local officials didn’t ignore him when he asked them to help out with a place to live.

"I would like to thank the president who does everything to help the vulnerable everywhere in Rwanda,” Ndagijimana said in an interview.

The Minister for Local Government, Francis Kaboneka, urged beneficiaries of the new homes to take good care of them and ensure that the entire infrastructure built around them such as roads, water, and green areas filled with trees are protected.

"These are your homes. Take good care of them and the entire infrastructure around them,” he said.

Those who were settled in the new homes include people who were living in high-risk areas, the critically needy, as well as vulnerable genocide survivors.

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