Landowners who were victims of unfair pricing under an outdated construction permitting system will receive a refund, according to the Mayor of the City of Kigali, Samuel Dusengiyumva. ALSO READ: New fees to be levied on building permits Dusengiyumvu said this on July 15, as he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Land, Agriculture, Livestock, and Environment, to respond to issues highlighted in the Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year 2023/24. The Auditor General's report found that more than 9,000 building permits had been overpriced, resulting in excess fees of Rwf117 million. ALSO READ: What you need to know about new building permit system Dusengiyumva explained that the overpayments were due to inconsistencies in billing in the previous construction permitting system, where fees could be charged before they were entered into the system, which was updated in April this year. “As the Auditor General mentioned, there were irregularities in how building permit fees were charged. We are considering refunding those who paid excess fees. We will explore different approaches. We might not issue cash refunds, but instead consider what landowners owe the government each year, such as taxes, so that this can be offset against the refund due to them,” he said. He added that an implementation plan for the refund scheme is currently being developed, with execution scheduled to begin in the 2025/26 fiscal year. The audit also found that fees for 261 construction permits were undercharged by Rwf14.3 million. The city mayor told MPs that billing for construction permits is now being conducted through the new system that eliminates inconsistencies. ALSO READ: City of Kigali approves settlement sites with 40,000 plots “The new construction permit system considers both the size of the land plot and the size of the planned structure, enabling automatic calculation of the relevant fees,” he said. MP Olive Uwamurera stated that as the city must recover the underpaid feeds, at the same time landowners who overpaid should receive a refund. Marie Solange Muhirwa, Chief Urban Planner for the City of Kigali, explained that previous charges ranged from Rwf20,000 to Rwf60,000, but have been increased to between Rwf100,000 and Rwf200,000, depending on plot size. ALSO READ: City of Kigali deploys satellite to monitor construction works “Previously, engineers were responsible for uploading information into the system, which often led to errors that we could not correct. The new building permit system will address such issues,” she said. Members of Parliament also raised concerns about ongoing complaints regarding bureaucratic delays in the construction permit application process. “Many applicants are asked to provide excessive documentation; some are denied permits after months of back and forth,” said MP Ayinkamiye. The government recently launched a revamped online building permit platform known as the KUBAKA Portal (or BPMIS 2.0), designed to enhance the accessibility and efficiency of building permit services nationwide. With this new system, the Rwanda Housing Authority states that landowners and property developers will have greater control over their applications throughout the entire process—something not possible under the previous system. They can now monitor the real-time status of their applications and receive notifications (via SMS or email) about required actions. They will also have access to land use zoning information linked to their Unique Parcel Identifier (UPI) at the start of the application, providing clearer guidance on what is permitted, prohibited, or conditional.
