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End of an era as first inmates leave Nyarugenge Prison

Friday February 24 2017
1930 prison

The Nyarugenge Prison is popularly known as 1930. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

On Saturday February 11, the first batch of inmates boarded trucks with their belongings and left Nyarugenge Prison, commonly known as 1930, en route to Mageragere Prison, the new Rwanda Correctional Service facility, outside the capital city Kigali.

The first group of inmates to be moved from the country’s oldest prison to the new facility are all male, leaving only a small number of male inmates, mainly porters who work in the kitchen, as well as female inmates who will be moved to other prisons.

According to the Rwanda Correctional Service, about 3,000 male inmates were moved from the facility located in the central business district to the new prison located in Megeragere Sector.

The spokesperson of Rwanda Correctional Service CIP Hillary Sengabo said the new facility has a capacity to hold at least 9,500 inmates and for the meantime will house 5,500 male inmates to be relocated from Gasabo RCS prison, commonly known as Kimironko prison, who will join the ones from 1930.

“We will be moving inmates there in phases until the new infrastructure is ready to accommodate all male inmates from the two main prisons while more than 500 female inmates will be absorbed by other Rwanda Correctional Service facilities across the country,” CIP Sengabo said.

“Eventually, all the inmates will be relocated as planned after female inmates are absorbed by other facilities,” he said, adding that the remaining male inmates in 1930 are helping with moving work until all the inmates are moved.

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Once complete, the new facility in Mageragere is expected to absorb a large number of inmates in the two prisons of Gasabo and Nyarugenge, while the remaining ones will be distributed in different correctional centres across the country including Musanze and Rubavu.

According to CIP Sengabo, Rwanda Correctional Service is reorganising prison facilities in the country by modernising and decongesting them as well as putting in place female correctional centres with the necessary infrastructure.

“We are refurbishing a number of existing facilities and expanding them while construction works on Mageragere are still ongoing to increase capacity. By the end of August this year, construction works and ongoing relocation and redistribution of inmates should be complete,” CIP Sengabo added.

End of an era

The inmates move attracted attention from members of the public who looked on interestingly as Rwanda Correctional Service, Rwanda National Police and Rwanda Defence Forces trucks ferried the inmates, clad in their respective orange or pink outfits, from the country’s oldest prison to the new correctional centre.

inmates

The Nyarugenge Prison inmates are being transferred to make way for its preservation as a heritage centre. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

“I have lived here for more than 40 years and the prison has been a landmark in this area. Many people feel it is going to be demolished yet it is a piece of history,” said Karim Hakuzimana, 55, a resident of Nyarugenge.

Mr Hakuzimana and most of the residents who have lived near the prison facility are not sure what will happen to the iconic red-brick fortress built in 1930 whose main inhabitants were convicts of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The facility, with its high walls and dark brown and cream doors, stands enigmatically in the middle of the central business district, with many of its neighbours not knowing what goes on inside.

“We are limited to seeing activities outside and inmates moving in and out, but for many of us we have not been inside,” says Drocella Mukakibibi, who lives near the prison.

As a genocide survivor, Mukakibibi said 1930 serves as a symbol of justice and should not be demolished, even as modernity sweeps across the Rwandan capital, almost 23 years after the genocide.

Rwanda Correctional Service does not accord full access to the facility, following criticism by human-rights groups that the prison is congested and inmates live in dire conditions.

A previous visit to the facility by Rwanda Today revealed that visits are only permitted by Rwanda Correctional Service and interviews limited to a few “exemplary” inmates. Cameras are prohibited while access to the main facility (apart from the administrative block) is restricted.

READ: Inside 1930: Genocide convicts recant confessions, file appeals

ALSOREAD: FDU worried about detained leader Victoire Ingabire’s health

History preserved

However, the government said the prison facility built by the colonial government will not be demolished but it will be preserved as a heritage centre, which will house some of the country’s colonial history.

According to Fred Mugisha, the director of Urban Planning and Construction for the City of Kigali, the facility and the land it sits on will be given to a developer to transform it into a tourist centre, without demolishing the original infrastructure.

“The plan is to develop the facility into a heritage centre with accommodation facilities without tampering with the architectural design. It is a huge piece of land, almost seven hectares, which should be underdeveloped,” Mr Mugisha told Rwanda Today.

He quelled fears that the historic facility will be demolished and replaced with modern buildings, noting that the move is aimed at giving historic establishments a touch of modernity without getting rid of them.

“While we are a city focused on development, we are conscious of the need to preserve historic symbols because of their importance in the history of the country. It is not true that we want to get rid of these pieces of history,” said Mr Mugisha.

He said apartments will be built on the land surrounding the prison facility while at the same time preserving it. According to Mr Mugisha a group of investors who recently inaugurated CHIC Complex, a modern mall in Kigali, will undertake the project.