Musoni issues ultimatum on houses for the vulnerable

KIGALI - Local Government Minister Protais Musoni has directed all district mayors to complete houses for identified vulnerable people by the end of this month or face action. Musoni issued the directive on Friday while addressing mayors, governors and security officers at the National Police headquarters in Kacyiru. The meeting was about the progress of the construction of houses for vulnerable groups countrywide. “You have reached the red line; there is no excuse you can now give on that,” Musoni said.He added: “A mayor who would have not finished the construction process without genuine reasons would be dealt with accordingly.” Over 4267 houses were supposed to be completed by November 2007, but only1198 have been accomplished. Over Frw3, 143,755,020 was given to mayors in 2006 and 2007 for the construction of houses for Genocide survivors and other vulnerable groups from the National Assistance Fund for the Survivors of Genocide (FARG). The Ministry of Local Government had also given them another Frw100, 000,000 and Frw75, 896,800 in 2006 and 2007, respectively, for the construction of these houses. On February 5, this year, the ministry held a meeting with the district vice mayors countrywide in charge of social affairs to discuss the progress of various districts as far as the construction work is concerned. During the same meeting, vice mayors promised to have these houses complete by the end of the month but some are already asking for an extension period. “It seems as if some of them misused the funds since there are no reports indicating how far they have reached, except through verbal communications,” a highly placed source from the ministry said shortly after the meeting. Aimé Bosenibamwe, the Mayor of Burera District in the Northern Province, said in an interview on the sidelines of the meeting that his district has no problem with the deadline. “We have no problem with the set date; we are at the final stages of the construction process,” he said. He however said that due to heavy rains in the district, bricks get spoiled and this often halts the progress. “Some building materials like cement and iron sheets had not reached the construction sites around the country and have accounted for their delay,” Bosenibamwe added. Felix Sibomana, the Mayor of Nyaruguru District, Southern Province, said that by the set deadline many districts would not have completed the said structures because they are still waiting for building materials from the ministry. Eugéne Barikana, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Local Government, assured mayors that preparations were underway to ensure that they get all the building materials they need as early as possible. Ends