Kagame Promises Massive Electricity Roll-out in Karongi District

by Dan Ngabonziza May 17, 2016

written by Dan Ngabonziza May 17, 20166:20 pm

President Paul Kagame while launching KivuWatt Power Plant

Rwandans are expected to begin benefiting from a growing economy which has expanded in the last five years.

“We want to ensure everyone gets access to electricity…and this is possible. Proof is the production of methane gas from Lake Kivu which we witnessed yesterday,” President Paul Kagame told thousands of residents who had gathered to meet him at Mubuga sector in Karongi district.

Karongi district which has a population of 331,000 is widely covered by Rwanda’s volcanic Lake Kivu which is rich with Methane gas. The country has began extracting the gas and processing it into electricity.

However, only 15% (49,650 residents) of Karongi district residents have access to electricity and Kagame said he is not happy with this figure.

The district Mayor Francois Ndayisaba said, “We have managed to increase our annual budget from Rwf9 billion to Rwf14 billion in the past 5 years.

He said that a big part of “this budget goes to development projects that change the welfare of our people.”

Kagame on Monday drove to Bwishyura sector in Karongi district to officially switch on the world’s only gas water extraction plant- KivuWatt Power Plant.

With production of 26MW in the first phase from the plant, Kagame said, “is only one positive step to solve our energy problems.”

Rwanda targets to generate at least 700 MW of electricity from the Lake in the next 45 years.

However, Kagame warned against complacency, and challenged Karongi district residents to never give room to anyone setting them back.

“We should not allow anyone to set us back. We have no room for that. We can only move forward,” he said.

According to the district mayor, Francois Ndayisaba, 21% of the district population is under extreme poverty.

Ndayisaba told KTPress that his leadership has worked to increase the annual budget through growth in domestic tax collection as well as working with the government.

President Paul Kagame has said he is not happy to see only 15% (49,650)of Karongi district residents having access to electricity.

Meanwhile, President Kagame advised residents to work hard and earn a living without solely depending on government support.

“Every Rwandan should work hard to earn a living from their work.”He said however, “You cannot work and earn a living without security and stability. They are the foundation of our development.”