The senate on Wednesday December 1, received a report on different challenges that people who live in different ‘models villages’ have been experiencing, describing the challenges as “highly concerning”. The report presented by Senator Marie-Rose Mureshyankwano was conducted in model villages in Nyabihu, Rubavu, Rutsiro and Musanze districts. Model villages are being built by government in different parts of the country, mainly for vulnerable citizens, as a way of bringing them together where they can get different services and facilities in one place. They mostly feature furnished three-bedroom brick homes equipped with water, solar panels and sanitation systems, along with social and economic infrastructure like schools, medical facilities, communal cowsheds, among others. Majority of the beneficiaries are formerly residents of high risk areas. However, the main issues highlighted in the senate report included; lack of appropriate biogas systems, poor maintenance of infrastructure, lack of water and electricity, malnutrition, among others. The report also shows that due to poverty and poor mindset, some residents in these model villages have sold off their houses and cows given to them and gone back to deplorable conditions. Senator Mureshyankwano explained that due to lack of biogas systems, residents in these villages now use charcoal, or firewood to cook, yet their kitchens were built inside the houses, which damages these houses. Senator Juvenal Nkusi, said that they should find an alternative to the biogas system. “The biogas system is something that has constantly failed even somewhere else, then why did they use the system in the model villages when they knew it might fail and cause problems to these people who are already vulnerable?” he wondered. The report also indicated that some of the houses in the villages lack water and electricity supply. “In one model village we visited, they have a huge well from where they fetch water because there are no pipes to bring the water to their homes and sometimes they send their children to fetch water from the well which is very dangerous,” Mureshyankwano explained. She also highlighted that some of the houses leak, and there is no proper channel for rain water. On this issue Senator Faustin Habineza, criticized the contractors who used fake materials to build some of the houses, adding that in some areas, some houses are already dilapidated within two years of occupation. Senator Cyprien Niyomugabo said that due to lack of proper sensitization of residents before they move in, leads to mismanagement of the homes and the furniture they find inside. “There should be a way of teaching these people how to live and manage their new homes in order to avoid unnecessary destruction, and also their local leaders should always follow-up on them and see that their problems are looked at,” he added. The chamber decided to form a special commission that will oversee that these challenges in the model villages are addressed.
