National Rehabilitation Service (NRS) has announced that soon, financially capable families for patients at national rehabilitation facilities managed by the service will be required to pay.
Currently, all services at the facilities run by NRC including accommodation, and meals, among others, are accessed free of charge and most of the patients are delinquents and drug addicts.
The development was announced by Aimé Bosenibamwe, the Director-General of NRS, during an interview with The New Times, saying that the money will supplement the funds government pumps into running the centres.
According to Bosenibamwe, it was influenced by the persistent requests by parents who felt their children were getting out of hand and needed them rehabilitated.
"Ideally, rehabilitation services were for delinquents who need serious recreation. But we recently started to receive requests from parents to take in children who misbehave within families. We are planning on how patients can pay for the services,” he explained.
According to Bosenibamwe, the government spends Rwf70 million per month on only the Iwawa Centre, which is the largest of the three rehabilitation centres run by NRS.
On top of these, the service also manages transit centres located in different parts of the country.
Bosenibamwe says one of the goals is to get financially capable parents to pay for their children’s rehabilitation.
State Minister in the Ministry of Local Government, Ignatienne Nyirarukundo, had also emphasized the need to have parents play their role in keeping in check "increasing misbehaviours among the youth”.
The plan is still being internally processed, according to officials.
Charging procedure
Majority of the youth who end up in the rehabilitation centres are picked from streets as delinquents and drug addicts and according to Bosenibamwe, these will continue getting the services for free, as long as their families are found to be incapable of paying.
He explained that once checked into the beneficiaries will be screened to determine the financial capabilities of their families.
"Just like Ubudehe categories.”
On top of these, they will charge parents who willingly take their children to the rehabilitation centres.
"Just like how parents pay school fees, rehabilitation services will also become an additional expense for parents who want their children to be rehabilitated,” Bosenibamwe said.
He, however, did not reveal the amount of money that will be charged, saying that all these modalities were still being discussed.
Rwanda currently has three rehabilitation services: Iwawa that hosts the biggest number of beneficiaries, Gitagata in Bugesera district for juveniles and women and another one in Nyamagabe district.
The centres also have different categories of delinquencies such as sex workers, beggars and drugs and alcohol addicts.
Since 2011, Iwawa Rehabilitation and Vocational Skills Development Centre located on Iwawa Island has rehabilitated 18,564 delinquents including drug addicts while Gitagata Rehabilitation Centre, has received 1,204 children, according to NSR.