33. In that regard, Article 3 of Law No. 28 of 2004 explicitly
demarcates the management of abandoned property as a
function of the State. The Article reads:
“From the day of publication of this law in the official gazette
of the Republic of Rwanda, any abandoned property shall be
managed by the State until the return of the owners. In case
of death of the owner without any legal heir, the property shall
devolve to the State.”
34. On the other hand, Article 11 of the same law would appear to
provide for Commissions to perform that function at national,
provincial, city, district, town and municipality level. The Article is
reproduced below:
“At the national level, in each Province or City of Kigali and in
each District or Town or Municipality, there is hereby
established a Commission to manage abandoned property
without owners. ….”
35. Meanwhile, Article 2 of Law No. 10 of 2006 reads:
“The City of Kigali is one of the administrative entities of the
Republic of Rwanda and it is the Capital City of Rwanda. It has
its own administration and a legal personality. It is autonomous
in administration and finances.”
36. It is apparent, therefore, that whereas Article 11 of Law No. 28 of
2004 empowered the Kigali City Abandoned Property
Management Commission to administratively serve Kigali City,
Article 2 of Law No. 10 of 2006 grants the City distinct legal
personality. Two salient issues emerge from the internal laws of
Rwanda highlighted above.
First, the management of
abandoned property is a function of the State that has been
devolved to different levels of local government in Rwanda.
Secondly, although the Kigali City Abandoned Property
REFERENCE No. 10 OF 2013
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