By Kelly Rwamapera
Esperancia Mukankuranga and her seven children wake up every morning in the shadow of the hill where her husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law got a disease that killed them.
The resident of Nemba in Bugesera District lost her husband, Joseph Nshimiyimana, the former cassiterite miner in 2019. Medical reports show that the deceased died of silicosis, a deadly lung disease caused by inhaling dust from underground rocks.
The trio is among hundreds of other former miners around the country especially Kayonza, Rutsiro and Bugesera districts who have died or are on their deathbeds due to a disease they contracted as a result of unprotected mining.
Neither of the three districts of Kayonza, Rutsiro and Bugesera have taken the burden to find out the exact number of former miners who have died due to unprotected mining.
To get a clear picture of how former miners are dying out due to Silicosi, Intego News made a survey at Muyoboro Village, Nemba Cell, Rweru Sector in Bugera District.
There were 27 families which had lost victims of Silicosis and five others on their deathbeds in a village of 180 families by August 2023.
By percentage, nearly 20 per cent of the village families has either lost a relative to silicosis or nursing one. The probability of finding a victim of silicosis in this single village is one in five families.
Residents assert that the local leaders have not taken it to their responsibility to help them, who are even not educated, to pursue the transient companies that employ them.
Most former employees were manual labour, digging tunnels with rock-breaking machines in a rock-dust environment without wearing masks.
Bugesera District mayor where most of the victims of silicosis are told Intego News that he didn’t know what was going on about them.
The district labour inspector Prisca Murekeyisoni told this paper that she has never received a case of a silicosis victim.
Among the documents Intego News secured is the district’s Labour inspection summons for 2014, ordering Natural Resource Development Rwanda Ltd to report to the office on the issues of one Celestin Nsengimana’s silicosis sickness that needed treatment.
Nsengimana had a job contract and had worked for the company since 2012 years.
There is no evidence if NRD reported to the district offices and the victim never got treatment until he succumbed to death in 2019. Several medical documents show he had a dry cough.
In 2018, NRD took over about 60 suspected silicosis victims from Nemba to Kacyiru Police Hospital for medical examination.
Theophile Yakuze whose father and three brothers died of silicosis, was one of the former miners taken to for medical examination.
“The doctor sent a tube into my chest. I could see on a screen that my lungs had damages and liquid substances” Yakuze said.
The medical examinations were shared with the bosses and not the patients.
“The results were communicated verbally by the bosses. I was found with Silicosis”
Yakuze is still alive with a consistent dry cough which he treats with medicines he buys from his pocket at Nyamata Hospital.
“I know I’m about to die. All people who suffered silicosis here have died. I have no reason to think a miracle can happen. I will die just like my father and my brothers” he said
Since the medical examination event, NRD called all who had any documents about their medical treatments and reports to take them to the office such that they could give them treatments and compensations.
The naïve residents collected all the pieces of evidence they had about their health statuses and surrendered them to the accused employer in original copies.
“That was the end of it all. We’re told the company is no longer operating the mining and we have no where to begin from” Yakuze whose documents were taken told this paper.
Residents say that they have since checked with their local leaders to help them to find ways of treatment and compensations but have not been successful.
My husband reached all authorities in Bugesera including the districts. It did not yield anything especiall whenever there is a change of a leader in a certain position, he would always start afresh.
Victims say that local leaders don’t document their case for new incoming leaders especially at the cell level and the sector level.
“For example, the current executive Secretary at Rweru Sector did not know of the problem. It ‘s me who told him about it” Jean de Dieu Nsanzimana told Intego in September 2023.
The new Executive Secretary at Rweru Sector Claude … told Intego News that he was not aware of such the silicosis problem in his jurisdiction and had to inquire from the former Executive Secretary who was moved to another sector.
He said that the possible option is to bring together all former miners suffering from silicosis into a cooperative that sensitise other of good mining practices, telling others that poor mining practices cause silicosis.
“We’re going to idenfiy them and then bring them together to be an example for poor mining practices. We’ll also link them to the hospital to receive treatment”
Currently the vast mining area is busy with Fair Construction machinery doing the mining in and advanced manner including.
In 2018, the local BBC channel reported that Rwanda Mining Board was looking into the silicosis issue which residents said that the government had to give both treatments and compensations since it knew where the companies were and the criteria for operating a mining.
In 2018, TV1 Rwanda reported the same case with Bugesera District authorities pledging to “do something to address the issue”.
In 2019, the East African reported the same case with authorities claiming doing something about it.
Former casseterite miners in Rutsiro, Kayonza, Bugesera and other districts are dying out.
All the miners were uneducated and did manual labour at the minings. They were too naïve to ask for either contracts or protective masks.
How local authorities marginalized silicosis that kills former miners
Esperancia Mukankuranga and her seven children wake up every morning in the shadow of the hill where her husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law got a disease that killed them.
The resident of Nemba in Bugesera District lost her husband, Joseph Nshimiyimana, the former cassiterite miner in 2019. Medical reports show that the deceased died of silicosis, a deadly lung disease caused by inhaling dust from underground rocks.
The trio is among hundreds of other former miners around the country especially Kayonza, Rutsiro and Bugesera districts who have died or are on their deathbeds due to a disease they contracted as a result of unprotected mining.
Neither of the three districts of Kayonza, Rutsiro and Bugesera have taken the burden to find out the exact number of former miners who have died due to unprotected mining.
To get a clear picture of how former miners are dying out due to Silicosis, Intego News made a survey at Muyoboro Village, Nemba Cell, Rweru Sector in Bugera District.
There were 27 families that had lost victims of Silicosis and five others on their deathbeds in a village of 180 families by August 2023.
By percentage, nearly 20 per cent of the village families have either lost a relative to silicosis or nursing one. The probability of finding a victim of silicosis in this single village is one in five families.
Residents assert that the local leaders have not taken it to their responsibility to help them, who are not even educated, to pursue the transient companies that employ them.
Most former employees were manual labour, digging tunnels with rock-breaking machines in a rock-dust environment without wearing masks.
Bugesera District mayor, where most of the victims of silicosis are, told Intego News that he didn’t know what was going on about them.
The district labour inspector Prisca Murekeyisoni told this paper that she has never received a case of a silicosis victim.
Among the documents Intego News secured is the district’s Labour inspection summons for 2014, ordering Natural Resource Development Rwanda Ltd to report to the office on the issues of one Celestin Nsengimana’s silicosis sickness that needed treatment.
Nsengimana had a job contract and had worked for the company since 2012.
There is no evidence that NRD reported to the district offices and the victim never got treatment until he succumbed to death in 2019. Several medical documents show he had a dry cough.
In 2018, NRD took over 60 suspected silicosis victims from Nemba to Kacyiru Police Hospital for medical examination.
Theophile Yakuze whose father and three brothers died of silicosis, was one of the former miners taken for medical examination.
“The doctor sent a tube into my chest. I could see on a screen that my lungs had damages and liquid substances” Yakuze said.
The medical examinations were shared with the bosses and not the patients.
“The results were communicated verbally by the bosses. I was found with Silicosis”
Yakuze is still alive with a consistent dry cough which he treats with medicines he buys from his pocket at Nyamata Hospital.
“I know I’m about to die. All people who suffered silicosis here have died. I have no reason to think a miracle can happen. I will die just like my father and my brothers” he said
After the medical examination event, NRD called all who had any documents about their medical treatments and reports to take them to the office so that they could give them treatments and compensation.
The naïve residents collected all the pieces of evidence they had about their health statuses and surrendered them to the accused employer in original copies.
“That was the end of it all. We’re told the company is no longer operating the mining and we have nowhere to begin from” Yakuze, whose documents were taken, told this paper.
Residents say that they have since checked with their local leaders to help them to find ways of treatment and compensation but have not been successful.
My husband reached all authorities in Bugesera including the districts. It did not yield anything especially whenever there was a change of a leader in a certain position, he would always start afresh.
Victims say that local leaders don’t document their case for new incoming leaders, especially at the cell level and the sector level.
“For example, the current executive Secretary at Rweru Sector did not know of the problem. It‘s me who told him about it” Jean de Dieu Nsanzimana told Intego in September 2023.
The new Executive Secretary at Rweru Sector Claude … told Intego News that he was not aware of such a silicosis problem in his jurisdiction and had to inquire from the former Executive Secretary who was moved to another sector.
He said that the possible option is to bring together all former miners suffering from silicosis into a cooperative that sensitizes others to good mining practices, telling others that poor mining practices cause silicosis.
“We’re going to identify them and then bring them together to be an example for poor mining practices. We’ll also link them to the hospital to receive treatment” Claude Sibomana said.
Currently, the vast mining area is busy with Fair Construction machinery doing mining.
In 2018, the local BBC channel reported that the Rwanda Mining Board was looking into the silicosis issue and residents said that the government had to give both treatments and compensations since it knew where the companies were and the criteria for operating a mining.
In 2018, TV1 Rwanda reported the same case with Bugesera District authorities pledging to “do something to address the issue”.
In 2019, The East African reported the same case with authorities claiming to be doing something about it.
Former cassiterite miners in Rutsiro, Kayonza, Bugesera and other districts are dying out.
All the miners were uneducated and did manual labour at the mines. They were too naïve to ask for either contracts or protective masks.
