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By Sam Ngendahimana
Yves Ndahiriwe was walking home with his goats herd at the end of the day when his life changed forever.
While trying to turn the goats back toward his village, the 21-year-old slipped and fell into an abandoned mining pit, leaving him paralyzed. Since the April 2024 accident in Gihinga village in Rwinkwavu Sector, one of Rwanda’s oldest mining areas in Eastern Province, Ndahiriwe has dropped out of school and is confined to a wheelchair, his body wracked by pain when he sits upright for more than 30 minutes.
“The pit was about 30 meters deep,” Ndahiriwe recalled. “The site is only about 200 meters from where we live.” His mother, Olive Mukamana, recalled the family’s desperation to find him proper treatment.
“It took four months to raise enough money for surgery at King Faisal Hospital,” she said. “In that time, we sold off personal belongings, joined savings groups, took out a bank loan, and even sold our farmland to cover the Rwf 3.75 million (US$2,608) operation cost.”
Ndahiriwe spent eight months in the hospital with his family. Throughout the ordeal, “we received no support, neither from the company nor from the authorities,” his mother said.
Alphonsine Mujawingoma, who farms with her family at the Gihinga mining site where Ndahiriwe fell, said their livestock often fell into the open pits, which continue to be mined illegally by squatters living in the abandoned shafts.
“Even at night when you’re sleeping, it feels like the miners are digging right under your house,” Mujawingoma said. She urged the authorities to relocate residents living dangerously close to pits.
Decades of mining activity have left behind hundreds of open mining pits, most of which are unfenced and lack warning signs, in the Rwinkwavu area —a relic of the Belgian colonizers who first discovered valuable minerals there. The location is known for its rich cassiterite, or tin ore, deposits.
In many cases, the abandoned sites also contribute to water and land pollution harmful to local communities.
The yawning pits dotting the Rwandan countryside have claimed an unknown number of victims in recent decades, with no remedy in sight for the dangers to area residents. It is often impossible to trace the owners of the mining sites, and illegal miners have swarmed many of the properties.
FAMILY HEARTBREAK
In Gasabo District, one of the hilly residential neighborhoods in Kigali, Fulgence Havugimana and his wife, Fortunee Mukandayambaje, learned firsthand of the dangers of abandoned quarry sites. Their 10-year-old son, Jean Aime de Dieu Iranezeza, drowned in an abandoned quarry in July 2022, just a kilometer from their home.
He drowned while swimming with friends in the murky waters of the abandoned quarry pit. Unable to save him, his friends ran for help. By the time rescuers arrived, it was too late.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose your child under such unexpected circumstances,” his father, Havugimana, said. “What is even more painful is that no one takes responsibility, no one comes forward to offer any support or compensation.”
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
Marie Louise Mukashema, a senior legal aid lawyer, said any incident occurring on a mining site, whether it involves workers or nearby residents, was the responsibility of the site owner. Even if the site was abandoned, the owner was fully liable for any accidents that may occur there, she said in an interview. She said owners of mining sites had to ensure the properties were properly secured.
Laws governing licensed mining operations require companies to carry out full rehabilitation of the sites, she said. “If this rehabilitation is incomplete and leads to accidents, whether they result in death, injury, or other damages, the owner remains legally responsible for any resulting harm,” she emphasized.
The problem, however, is determining who owns the abandoned mining sites.
Francis Kamanzi, who recently stepped down as head of the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), acknowledged in parliamentary testimony on Jan. 15, 2025, that abandoned mining pits were a concern for the government. He estimated there were more than 990 of them across the country.
A RMB survey conducted in 2024 revealed there were over 360 former mining sites that required heavy machinery to be safely backfilled. An additional 300 sites needed both heavy equipment and community involvement to be restored, while another 250 could potentially be restored through local efforts. Restoring the mining sites – 44% of which are old mining pits and 56% quarries – would cost an estimated Rwf26 billion, the survey said.
ILLEGAL MINING PROBLEM
Tharcisse Basigayabo, head of mineral extraction at Rwinkwavu Mining Corporation Ltd, one of Rwanda’s largest mining companies, blamed illegal miners for creating dangers around mining pits. He said illegal miners often reopened or exploited closed tunnels to extract minerals, exposing unmarked and dangerous pits that pose serious safety risks to nearby residents.
Rwinkwavu Mining has implemented measures to try and prevent illegal mining activity at its sites, he said, without elaborating. Basigayabo said illegal mining not only costs legitimate operators money but also cheats the government out of revenue by selling minerals into the black market to avoid paying taxes.
Under Rwandan law, people caught mining illegally face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to RwF50 million, according to the law.
MINING DANGERS
Mining accidents killed at least 429 people, while another 272 were injured in five years, according to The New Times, which cited a 2023 RMB report.
“Accidents happen in both licensed and non-licensed mines and quarries and lead to loss of life and injuries for many people,” it said.
According to the report, 337 mine accidents were recorded from July 2018 to 2022. Of these, 252 accidents happened at legally-operated mines, while 85 accidents occurred at illegally-operated sites, the report said.
A report by Liedekerke Great Lakes, a business law firm in Kigali, in January 2025 said the RMB had revoked 13 mining licenses after inspections revealed serious shortcomings in safety, environmental, and labour standards, as well as in the fulfillment of investment commitments. The RMB also announced in January 2024 that it had cancelled an additional seven mining licences for failure to comply with industry standards.
RESTORING MINING SITES
Basigayabo, of the Rwinkwavu Mining Corp, said restoring mining sites after minerals have been extracted required planting new trees – in some cases at many as 50,000 trees – and collaborating with government programmes to fill abandoned pits, many of them nesting sites for Rousettus fruit bats linked to the deadly Marburg virus, which spreads to humans from prolonged exposure to mines or caves.
“We allocated a budget of Rwf 2 billion to this initiative, and about 80% of the work has been completed,” Basigayabo said. The company also relocated 66 families from high-risk areas, providing building materials such as stones and sand for the construction of new homes.
Kayonza District Mayor, John Bosco Nyemazi, said a high-level committee comprising representatives from key ministries and the district was coordinating the relocation of residents living in high-risk mining areas.
“So far, 10 families have been relocated in the first phase. Under phase two, we plan to construct homes for 12 more families,” Nyemazi said in an interview. “We are working closely with partners to ensure that all identified households in dangerous areas are safely resettled.”
The district was also collaborating with the provincial administration to manage the relocation of households in the areas of Gahengeri, Murama, Rubirizi, and Kinihira, which have been impacted by mining activities, he said.
Claire Mukashyaka was among the families relocated from the Gihinga mining site. She said blasting from the mines traumatised children and caused severe damage to homes.
“The government has thought of us and moved us to this beautiful new village,” said Mukashyaka, gesturing toward the newly built homes. “Our children used to walk four kilometres to school, but now it’s just nearby.” Access to healthcare was also easier, she added.
This story was supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation as part of its global work aimed at strengthening free, fair, and informed societies. Any financial assistance or support provided to the journalist has no editorial influence. The content of this article belongs solely to the author and is not endorsed by or associated with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Thomson Reuters, Reuters, or any other affiliates.
