Rwandan Gvt takes over the land of the French Cultural Centre

Since 16, April the land upon which the French Cultural Centre was built upon has been confiscated by the Rwandan government. Officials of the Kigali City said that the centre has been built without following the master plan of the Kigali city.

Mayor of Kigali city told media that this decision does not link with the recent diplomatic tensions that arose between both nations.

Bruno Rangira, the spokesperson of the Kigali city said that the place where the cultural centre is  built, was reserved for wide range business buildings in the Kigali city.
Rangira added that Rwandan officials have been in talks with the French officials as to find out what needed to be done in order to set a master plan that included the French cultural centre land.

He added that in November, 2013, the Kigali city gave 90 days to the French Embassy to find a solution to what the master plan stipulates.

The deadline period expired on February while French officials in the Embassy did nothing to respect the deadline.
It is after finding out that nothing was done and therefore the Kigali city  took adequate measures to take over the land.

He said the take-over of the land will respect all international legal frameworks regulating such cases.

The Nyarugenge officials affirm that they wrote a letter the National Land Centre for it to handle the issue.
Rangira said that if the French Embassy takes adequate measures to handle the situation, other measures could be taken accordingly.

The French Ambassador said that the French Embassy has handed the land to Rwandan officials.
The Cultural Centre was very active in the preceding years but has closed its doors between 2006 and 2009 when the diplomatic relations between both nations collapsed.

UM– USEKE.RW