Land disputes top Gasabo complaints

GASABO - Over 90 percent of residents’ complaints in Gasabo District are related to land, most of them involving expropriation issues and titles on property, it has emerged. Among the 126 cases the District received last month, 110 of them are on Real Estate, the district mayor, Claudine Nyinawagaga, told The New Times on Wednesday. She and the Mayor of Kigali City, Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, met with some of the complainants at Gasabo District headquarters yesterday to address their problems. “They examined the value of my property and took photographs but I have never been paid,” a resident whose piece of land was to be expropriated six years ago told the officials. “What I need now is someone to buy my small land because I need to take my children to school,” he said, explaining that he has never used his plot for anything productive ever since it was valued for expropriation. The two mayors listened to the complaints one at a time and explained how they could be redressed. They urged local leaders to ensure that the residents are helped so their rights are protected and always sensitise them on what the laws stipulate. The meeting of the Mayor of Kigali City with the population in Gasabo is part of her ongoing tours in different districts of the city to assess how the residents’ complaints are being addressed by local leaders. “There is an interesting step in response to people’s complaints compared to what we were receiving in similar meetings last year,” remarked Kirabo shortly after meeting with Gasabo residents. Most of their grievances were already known at the District level and authorities persistently said that efforts were underway to redress them, promising to expedite the process. Nyinawagaga said that Gasabo District is known for being home of complaints related to land because it has many residential areas. She was however optimistic that a new plan to register all the properties in Kigali City would help to formalise land ownership and reduce the complaints. About 70 percent of Kigali City residents don’t have legal papers justifying their properties, the Kigali City administration estimates. And recently, KCC announced plans to start registering residents’ properties as a means of curbing some of the wrangles that arise because of this. Ends

National

Land disputes top Gasabo complaints