As part of the process, NELSAP and the Consultants have held extensive consultations with the relevant ministries in Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, in order to facilitate the triggering of the expropriation process, validate the application of legal requirements for expropriation with national authorities and ensure a decentralized liaison throughout the resettlement process.
Some key outcomes of these meetings are:
1. Information sharing must be expanded to include the Ministries in charge of lands, environments, local government and finance. As a result, NELSAP/RUSUMO PROJECT will need to develop a packaged information tool kit in order to disseminate information on Rusumo Falls.
2. Concerns were raised that the consequences of a high dam will be especially severe on the Marshlands of Rweru, which will not only impact on the livelihoods of communities but also on Government projects that are under implementation in the area.
3. To enhance coordination between the ministries of Energy, Lands, Environment, Local Government and other relevant ministries, it has been suggested that the ministries convene a multi- ministerial forum regarding the project and preferably form an inter ministerial mechanisms from the district to the national level to lead and coordinate the processes of expropriation.
4. That an Environmental and Social task force will be created at transboundary level to manage information with and between different stakeholders, review institutional arrangements for the implementation of the ESIA/RAP and coordinate implementation across borders.
By Mwikali Wambua, NELSAP SDO