By JOHNSON KANAMUGIRE

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The resettlement of thousands of people living in Kigali’s disaster-prone areas has stalled due to a shortage of low-cost rental housing.

This exposes them to adverse weather shocks including the expected heavy rains.

Rwanda Today has learnt that over 13,000 households identified for relocation and forced to move immediately are struggling to find alternative housing.

The occupants, largely made up of rural-urban migrants, argue that the shortage of rentals has become even tougher due to a rise in costs, which has seen most resort to overcrowding in small rooms.

“We understand there are risks in staying here, but how else can we survive considering that you need Rwf80,000 and above to rent a single room in areas deemed not risky,” said Seraphine Uwimana, a resident of Kamuhoza in Kimisagara Sector. She survived heavy rains last year.

“Where we are now a single room costs between Rwf17,000 to Rwf35,000, which you share with friends in order to cope,” she added.

Rwanda Today found out that in most parts of Nyarugenge and Gasabo’s steep areas, hit the most by last year’s heavy rains, displaced tenants and landlords went back to living in the same structures either partially destroyed or weakened by the rains.

Seasonal outlook

They rank among more than 40,000 people still stuck in high risk zones nationwide who now face heavy rains during the March to May period as per the weatherman’s latest seasonal outlook. Rains have already started wreaking havoc in Gakenke and Kirehe Districts over the past few weeks.

The Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management urged residents to adhere to the risk mitigation measures ahead of the coming rains.

For many people like Ms Uwimana, whose monthly income currently stands at between Rwf30,000 and Rwf45,000 from small scale trade activities, relatively cheaper housing means living outside Kigali City, which means higher transport costs.

A December 2018 research dubbed The Dynamics of Unplanned Settlements in the City of Kigali funded by The International Growth Centre shows that high-risk zones were home to more migrants due to the relatively lower rental prices compared with other urban areas.

This is the reason for low-income tenants living in Kigali’s largest unplanned settlements in Gasabo and Nyarugenge Districts where the highest number of risk zones are located.

Officials from the Rwanda Housing Authority, the housing regulator, said the relocation of people from high-risk zones faces several challenges including the lack of affordable housing, as well as the huge bill required to get landlords to resettle in safer areas.

Housing study

“For now we are seeking to commission a rental housing study to provide a clearer picture about the demand for rentals, number of tenants and their income levels. The data will help us in our ongoing engagement with members of the Private Sector Federation to put up low-cost housing for those people living in disaster-prone areas,” said Eric Serubibi, director-general of Rwanda Housing Authority.

“This is in line with trying to find a long-term solution to the problem. But individual districts have also made progress in finding housing for a section of the affected people,” he added.

Mr Serubibi said the study would be commissioned by May for findings to be out by the end of the year.

For the past few years, efforts to address the affordable housing crisis have seen private developers biased towards the upper income segment, leaving out low-income earners who make up the majority of the city residents.