Testimony of Murekatete Julienne on the negative effects of smuggling

My name is Murekatete Julienne. I am a married woman with a husband and two children. I live in Cyanika Sector, Kamanyana Cell, in Burera District. I engaged in smuggling for more than ten years, bringing goods from Uganda. I used to purchase different types of merchandise and secretly bring them into Rwanda without passing through the Cyanika border post or paying taxes. I would sneak through unauthorized routes, making sure that security and other authorities were not present where I crossed.

I was not satisfied, and at some point, I even recruited other people to work for me. We would move secretly both when going and returning. However, this activity did not benefit me. Among the consequences I faced were enduring the cold of late nights and being arrested and taken to the Transit Center (a temporary rehabilitation facility for people caught in illegal activities). I was taken there more than ten times, yet I still did not change.

I would like to thank the leaders in Cyanika Sector, including the Executive Secretary and district authorities, who advised me both when I was in the transit center and when I was not involved in smuggling. Eventually, I took time to reflect on myself and the advice I received from different leaders. Looking back, I realized that smuggling made me poorer instead of helping me, especially since security organs often confiscated my goods, causing me to lose the money I had invested.

Due to my deep involvement in smuggling, my children dropped out of school because of lack of parental care, and I constantly had conflicts with my husband due to losses amounting to no less than eight million Rwandan Francs (8,000,000 Frw).

After being counseled by various leaders who showed me the negative consequences of smuggling, I took time to reflect and realized that there is no benefit in smuggling; instead, it leads to heavy losses. I decided to quit and also encouraged those who worked with me to stop. They agreed and stopped as well. Together, we began a new journey of working with others to build our country.

After quitting smuggling, I invested the little money I had in a firewood business. Later, I joined the Twiheshe Agaciro Cooperative in Cyanika Sector, which engages in various activities including potato farming. I joined and worked together with other members, and we are continuing on a path of development. I now earn enough to meet basic family needs. I appreciate the good leadership of Rwanda that promotes the welfare of every citizen.

After quitting smuggling, my life improved. My children got their mother back, and my husband regained his wife who had been absent from home. Our relationship improved. I now sleep peacefully without fear of being arrested for smuggling and taken to the transit center. In short, I am now safe and continue to engage in lawful activities that are contributing to my development. I am now in good condition, and you can see that I am no longer like I used to be when I was involved in smuggling.

I advise those involved in smuggling, as well as those planning to engage in it, to stop because there is no benefit in it. Smuggling impoverishes those who practice it and hinders the country’s development. Let us avoid it and work together to fight it.

Article 87 of Law No. 026/2019 of 18/09/2019 determining tax procedures provides that any person who intentionally evades taxes by concealing taxable goods or assets related to business commits the offense of tax evasion.

If convicted by a court, the person is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than two (2) years and not more than five (5) years.

The District authorities urge residents to avoid smuggling and to actively participate in fighting it by advising those involved to stop and by providing timely information about such activities. They remind the public that smuggling causes losses to those who engage in it and undermines the country’s development.