Deputy Ombudsman Secures Long-Overdue Payment for Bweyeye Resident After Four-Year Struggle

A resident of Bweyeye Sector in Rusizi District, Habiyaremye Donath, recently received a long-overdue payment of 200,000 Rwandan francs thanks to the intervention of the Deputy Ombudsman, Hon. Mukama Abbas. Habiyaremye had been trying to get paid for four years for work he did for Mugiraneza Gustave, the owner of Turuturu Company Ltd, which maintains road machinery.

Habiyaremye recounted that despite repeatedly bringing his case to various local leaders who visited Bweyeye Sector, his efforts were in vain. He was even instructed to meet Mugiraneza in Nyamagabe, only to find himself stood up.

“I kept talking to the leaders who came here; there was no leader I didn’t talk to. The last one I was going to tell was this Deputy Ombudsman who had come,” Habiyaremye said.

When Deputy Ombudsman Hon. Abbas visited the sector to address local grievances, he contacted Mugiraneza directly and instructed him to make the payment immediately, without requiring a formal report. Mugiraneza complied, sending the 200,000 Rwandan francs that had been overdue for four years.

Mugiraneza told RADIOTV10 that he had always intended to pay but wanted to document the transaction, which he claimed Habiyaremye resisted. “I wish we could meet and I would pay him and make a document that we are done, but he didn’t like it. There was no desire to avoid payment even when I asked executive secretary; I never ignored anyone’s problem.”

Contrary to Mugiraneza’s claims, the Executive Secretary of Bweyeye Sector, Ndammyimana Daniel, stated that Mugiraneza had been uncooperative and deceitful. Ndamyimana noted that despite repeated attempts to resolve the issue, Mugiraneza had continued to evade responsibility.

Deputy Ombudsman Hon. Abbas criticized such unethical behavior by entrepreneurs, stressing that failing to pay workers could make the public distrust the government. “There are bad entrepreneurs. When you get a contract given to you by the government and use a citizen without paying him, the citizen does not know the difference between you and the government,” Abbas said.

Abbas also criticized previous local administrations for neglecting citizens’ issues and protecting problematic behaviors instead of resolving them.

During the Ombudsman’s Office’s four-day visit to Rusizi District, they received 128 complaints from the public, resolved 32 of them, and left 78 with the District Administration for further action, while 18 cases will continue to be followed up.

ND