Saturday, 08 May 2010
Kigali: Fugitive Lt. General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa illegally grabbed a prime piece of land in eastern Rwanda from Genocide orphans and sold it to embattled wealthy businessman Alfred Kalisa, it emerged Saturday.
After the war and Genocide were over, and the RPF and other parties had formed a transitional government, several top army officers and members of the elite went on a property take-over spree.
Gen. Kayumba allegedly grabbed a piece of land worth more than 10hectares located adjacent to Lake Muhazi in eastern Rwanda, according to a man who put his problem to President Kagame on Saturday.
The Head of State was touring Kigali city and held a large rally at Nyabugogo. The former envoy to India, Gen. Kayumba fled the country in February citing fear for his life. He now lives in South Africa – from where Kigali is seeking his extradition on terrorism charges and other cases.
Speaking as he held back tears, the youthful man we have not been able to identify, narrated that the land in question belonged to his family for generations. Their parents died during the Tutsi massacres. After the Genocide, the then orphaned children were taken into an orphanage.
Gen. Kayumba, who was at the time a senior army officer, is said to have grabbed the land in total disregard of the pleas of the affected children. The General did not stop there – as he added on another piece from a neighbouring family.
The aggrieved young man told President Kagame that following a government order barring anybody from owning property that they had taken-over after the Genocide, Gen. Kayumba sold the land to businessman Alfred Kalisa.
Mr. Kalisa was a powerful banker and businessman, but fell from grace several years ago after he lost his Bank for Commerce, Industry and Development (BCDI). Government dragged him to court for running the bank into massive bankruptcy – leading to its sale to Togolese-based ECOBANK. Mr. Kalisa is serving a prison term which could end next year.
The aggrieved orphaned young man tearfully told President Kagame how local officials repeatedly dismissed his pleas for their land. The orphans apparently petitioned the Ombudsman Tito Rutaremara who also concurred with them but there was no enforcement, instead local officials ignored the issue completely.
Indicative of how powerful the forces that the orphans were trying to fight, he told President Kagame that his young brother was arrested and jailed without charge. He has now spent three years in a prison in eastern Rwanda without any recourse to the courts.
“We have tried to find out what crime he committed, but it looks like he does not even have a criminal file anywhere,” the aggrieved young man narrated.
In response, President Kagame directed the Ministry of Local Government Permanent Secretary Eugene Barikana to personally find out immediately if the land indeed belonged to the complaining orphans. Mr. Barikana will also personally hand over the land to the aggrieved family as soon as possible.
As for the jailed member of the family, President Kagame ordered the Police chief Brig Gen. Emmanuel Gasana to investigate if there is any case on the young orphan. If there is no criminal case against him, Mr. Kagame ordered that the person who jailed him be the one to face the law.
Considering how serious President Kagame’s directives have been taken previously, as far as this case in concerned, any official who dealt with the problem is bound to face an onslaught from several directions.
President Kagame was Saturday touring Kigali as part of his national tours - which he has not done for several months. At such occasions, there is usually an outpouring of emotion from bitterly complaining people accusing government officials.
Most of the complaints rotate around land, people who have failed to get justice, and most commonly, people who feel the available institutions cannot help.
Usually, all cases brought up during such Presidential tours are either solved immediately, handed to a specific minister who is asked to report back to the President, or orders sometimes come from the President to have a given official interdicted.
On Saturday, considering that the elections are just months away, the President seemed to be striking only the best codes. There was repeated loud applause as he fired at several officials when they tried to defend themselves.
Hundreds of people braved the heating sunshine hoping to have a chance to put their concerns to the President. After handling about a dozen issues, he directed that all complaints be written – to be filed with his office.
“Everybody will have their problems filed and we shall ensure they are solved as soon as possible,” he said, as the large crowd said back “we are seriously aggrieved”. Others could be heard saying “No President”.
The function had last more than five hours.
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