The Government owes approximately Rwf33bn in expropriation arrears to locals, The New Times has learnt.

Expropriation is done by the State in order to pave the way for public interest projects such as roads, energy projects and other public infrastructure projects.

The report on expropriation issues was issued in February this year covering both 2019/2020 projects and some years before.

The report indicates that of the listed districts, Nyarugenge district owes the most money at Rwf3.8bn followed by Kicukiro at Rwf1.1bn.

The others that owe significant amounts include Gicumbi with arrears worth Rwf760m, Muhanga Rwf407m, Gasabo Rwf555m, Burera Rwf293, Gakenke Rwf228m, Ngorerero Rwf190 and Nyanza Rwf157.

While the above amounts are owed by the local government, the central government owes more. Of the Rwf 33bn, Rwf31bn (97 percent) is owed by the central government. The local government owes a paltry Rwf2.7bn (3 percent).

This report comes to light following the decision by the Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies to summon the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning; Uzziel Ndagijimana, to explain the progress on paying outstanding expropriation compensations to affected citizens countrywide.

The Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies, MP Edda Mukabagwiza told fellow lawmakers that there were issues in expropriation that are raised many times and clear answers were needed.

"There are citizens who have not been compensated since their expropriation in 2013. We wonder why compensation has taken that long,” she said.

Yves Bernard Ningabire, who heads the Ministry of local government’s Strategic and Operational Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; told The New Times in a telephone interview that the big difference between the amounts owed to central and local governments is due to the size that each entity commissions.

"When we talk about the central government, we are referring to really large products that involve institutions like Rwanda Energy Group, Water and Sanitation Cooperation and RTDA projects. These are projects that require lots of money to kick-off,” he said.

Fluctuating amounts

By December 2018, the government was working on a plan that will help it come up with faster ways to pay a total of Rwf30bn that it owed in expropriation fees countrywide.

Ningabire said that the similarity in the amounts is coincidental, explaining that since then, the government owes Rwf15bn in arrears.

"I know that the amount of thirty billion looks the same from 2018 but we pay out money and sign other expropriation agreements. For instance, between then and now, the local government has paid out Rwf5.9 billion while central government has released funds to the tune of Rwf10bn,” he said.

Combined, the funds were paid out to a total of 8,417 people.

He attributed the current arrears owed by government to various reasons, some of which he said are generated as a result of lack of complete documents.

"There are people whose files were not complete and thus delay the payment. Sometimes the person may not have a national ID or he/she may be involved in an active court case related to the property in question with their spouse. That can take some time to clear,” he said.

He, however, pointed out that the ministry is constantly reminding and pushing the district authorities to facilitate those in need of any documents so that the issue of arrears is cleared.

Changed strategy

Currently, MINALOC meets on a quarterly basis with all the institutions that are connected to the expropriation issue where progress reports are exchanged, reconciliation of arrears is done and plans on how the money is going to be paid are put into motion.  

Ningabire said that the government has also changed strategy and has put strict directives in places to erase the recurring issue of expropriation arrears.

"We are currently dealing with the backlog but going forward, the issue of expropriation fees will not be coming up. This means that no project is being flagged off unless expropriation money is available,” he said.

Other issues

Besides delay in paying expropriation fees, a survey commissioned by Strengthening Rwandan Administrative Justice (SRAJ) Project in six districts last year says that a whopping 60 percent of the respondents are unhappy with the process, with most describing the valuation process, as ‘unfair’.

The respondents were mostly those who went through expropriation due to projects involving the construction of future power plants, roads, or an airport.

The Resident Country Director of the SRAJ project Seth Karamage told The New Times in an interview that although there have been important substantive reforms including a new expropriation law in 2015, a number of challenges remain.

Karamage said that for instance, interviewees said that while the expropriation law stipulates that should a citizen disagree with their property being on the expropriation list, he or she can challenge the decision in court within 30 days, most interviewees found the length of time offered unrealistic.

"The interviewees criticised the short time frames as unrealistic with quite a number saying that it puts them at a real disadvantage especially because it is impossible to find the money required to hire an independent valuer at such short notice,” he said.

Karamage shed light on the value of providing easy to understand information to the land expropriation beneficiaries adding that some of the issues can be fixed by better planning and better advance communication by local authorities.

In its 2016 presentation at the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, the Legal Aid Forum (LAF) said that though compensation must be paid within 120 days of the approval of the evaluation, most expropriated individuals are not aware of it.

As of 2018, 150 people whose whereabouts are unknown still have their money unclaimed.