Bugesera’s one-stop centre office that handles land issues has been struggling to manage the growing demand for land transactions. The staff works tirelessly to keep up, but delays and inefficiencies have become unavoidable. The Mayor of Bugesera District, Richard Mutabazi, attributes the rise in land cases to factors like population growth, urbanisation, and increased investment in the district as a satellite city. Recent data from Rwanda’s National Statistics Institute (NISR) ranks Bugesera as the district with the highest number of land-related issues, such as land transfers and transactions, among other land matters. In 2016, 13,324 land transactions were recorded; in 2017, 16,885; in 2018, 26,585; the transactions dropped to 21,509 in 2019 before skyrocketing to 31,143 in 2020; and in 2021, 75,694 land transactions were recorded in the district. “We have experienced a surge in land issues, including land transfers, transactions, and construction permits, among other land matters, which bring work overload to the one-stop centre department. “The province has been helping us with staff from other districts to work on cases. We receive 13 staff members from other districts in the province to support our team twice a year. We call upon landowners to attend “land week” in Bugesera and help us address the surge of pending land matters,” Mutabazi said. The team from other districts supports Bugesera staff to ensure that land transactions are handled smoothly and on time. Mutabazi said land owners with issues in Bugesera should always attend services provided in the “land week”, where all issues are solved in a single day. In a span of four years, from 2016 to 2020, land transactions in Bugesera have surged from over 13,000 to 75,000, marking a difference of more than 60,000 transactions in the district. Before the updated Bugesera Master Plan, the key town master plans in Bugesera included Nyamata and Karumuna town master plans, covering 2,700 hectares. This area was divided into three uses: 152 hectares for commercial zoning, 1,268 hectares for residential zoning, and 1,279 hectares for other activities. Airport Belt Master Plan: This covers 18,540 hectares, with 5,686 hectares reserved for residential use, 1,430 hectares for commercial use, 454 hectares for hotels, and 10,969 hectares for other different activities. Ruhuha Master Plan: This covers 3,468 hectares, with 67 hectares reserved for commercial, 2,224 hectares for residential, and 1,177 hectares reserved for other activities. Gashora Master Plan: This is for the lake shores in Rumira and Mirayi. It covers 10,120 hectares, with 1,440 hectares for residential areas, 334 hectares for industrial zones, 385 hectares for commercial zones, 79 hectares reserved for hotels, and 7,883 hectares for other activities.
