About us

A word from His Excellency Célestin Hakizimana

Welcome to our website!

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

This is the mandate Jesus Christ gave to his disciples, and to the whole Church. It is also the mission of our Diocese. The Diocese of Gikongoro pursues this noble call of Christ through its evangelization and charity work, and its efforts to reconcile the Rwandan people with God and with themselves.

The role of the Justice and Peace Commission in this process has been indispensable, indeed irreplaceable, since its creation. Its approach to mediation has produced much fruit, and continues to produce much more, which you will be able to savor through this inaugural website. As we inaugurate this CDJP Gikongoro website, we recognize that we are in a synod on synodality, a Church that walks together. At the same time, the church is celebrating the double anniversary of the birth of Jesus in 2025, and 125 years of evangelization in Rwanda.

May this website be an effective tool contributing in one way or another to our evangelization!

May Christ, risen from the dead, illuminate these high points of the Church and the pastoral activity of the Diocese in general, and of the CDJP Gikongoro in particular.

May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace and Mother of the Word of Kibeho, accompany all the peace-building and reconciliation work carried out by our Commission.

Done at Gikongoro, 13/03/2024

The day of Easter when Jesus rose from the dead.

Board of directors

The CDJP Gikongoro is an instrument of the Diocese’s Pastoral Social Ministry, and aims to achieve “the reign of truth, justice, freedom and charity, which alone can guarantee mankind a solid and genuine peace, a sine qua non for the integral and sustainable development of our communities, in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

The mission, vision and values of CDJP Gikongoro

Our vision

The CDJP Gikongoro is an instrument of the Diocese’s social pastoral work, and its aim is “the reign of truth, justice, freedom and charity, which alone can guarantee mankind a solid and genuine peace, a sine qua non for the integral and sustainable development of our communities, in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

Our mission

The mission of the CDJP Gikongoro is to “Work towards building lasting peace by establishing the rule of law, through education for justice, peace and reconciliation, the defence of human rights, especially those of the weakest and poorest, the denunciation of injustice and the widespread dissemination of the social teaching of the Catholic Church”.

Our values

Team of the CDJP Gikongoro

Meet the people behind CDJP Gikongoro

We are the staff of the Catholic Diocese of Gikongoro assigned to the Justice and Peace Commission (CDJP Gikongoro), a Faith Based Organisation. Our team includes coordination, project implementation and support staff.

We are agents of peace and our work is based on the Gospel of Christ, the Social Doctrine of the Church and the four pillars of peace: truth, love, freedom and justice.
We work as a team to achieve our common goal related to our vision and mission, sharing action plans, experiences and learning from each other. This group work allows us to develop our skills. We are also characterised by transparency, honesty, solidarity, sociability, dynamism, trust, objectivity, collaboration and a willingness to learn and discover new initiatives.
Our team is made up of a diverse range of people in terms of age, gender, language, nationality, religious affiliation and so on. This diversity allows us to learn, discover and create new initiatives and improve the way we work thanks to different points of view.

The beneficiaries of our projects are mainly vulnerable people, including families in conflict, the poor, vulnerable women, single mothers, historically marginalised people and released prisoners. It should also be noted that our team is characterised by good project management and networking with other state and non-state actors.

Our staff members

Abbé Jean Ndagijimana

President – Abbé Jean Ndagijimana, president of the CDJP Gikongoro and president of Cariatas Gikongoro, has been a member of the CDJP Gikongoro since 2005, with a six-year break (2016-2022) during which he was parish priest of Kibeho and bursar of the diocese of Gikongoro. He holds a master’s degree in church management from an American university and a bachelor’s degree in management and theology from the National University of Rwanda.

Jean-Baptiste Ruzigamanzi

Coordinator – Jean Baptiste RUZIGAMANZI has been with the CDJP Gikongoro since 04 September 2007. He is responsible for coordinating the organisation’s programmes and projects. He has a degree in educational planning and administration (Ao). He also has considerable experience in project management, resource mobilisation and advocacy.

Jean Gatorano

Project manager – Jean Gatorano has a degree in catechetics (A0), is in charge of the community reintegration project for ex-prisoners in the Diocese of Gikongoro/CDJP and is a visiting teacher at the Nyamagabe science school. Former teacher at the G.S. B.T. Rwamiko and teacher at Mata and Giseke primary schools (1995-2002), supervisor of income-generating activities (2007-2009), CSO coordinator (2009-2011), director of DON BOSCO N.T.S.S. (2011-2014) and field officer at Caritas Rwanda (2014-2022).

Dositha Uwizeyimana

Field officer – Dositha Uwizeyimana has been the CDJP Gikongoro field officer since 2023. She was a social worker for 10 years in a non-governmental organisation called APROJUMAP (Association pour la promotion de jumelage et l’amitié entre les peuples du monde). She studied sociology at the National University of Rwanda.

Jacqueline Nyiransabimana

Project officer – Jacqueline NYIRANSABIMANA holds a bachelor’s degree in Rural development, she is working at the CDJP Gikongoro since 2020 as the project officer for the fight against domestic violence. She was a forestry extension worker in the Nyanza district from 2008 to 2010. She worked for the local organisation SDA-IRIBA in partnership with CONCERN Worldwide, in the GRADUATION programme; as a development technician in Nyamagabe District between 2013-2016. She also worked for UNICOOPAGI as an agronomist in the NYARUGURU district from 2016 to 2019.

Joseph Ruzindana

Joseph RUZINDANA, in charge of planning, monitoring and evaluation since April 2022 at CDJP Gikongoro. In previous years, he held the post of Education Officer in Byumba Province (2001-2005) and the post of Project Officer at the CEJP Rwanda (2006-2021). He holds a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the National University of Rwanda, which he obtained in 2000.

Anna-Lena Bissinger

CPS-worker – Anna-Lena Bissinger, the CDJP’s CPS-worker (Civil Peace Service) sent by AGIAMONDO. She has a Masters degree in clinical psychology and social and cultural anthropology. Before joining the CDJP Gikongoro team in 2022, she worked in German non-governmental organisations, including CBM Germany and Armut&Gesundheit e.V.. Since 2014 she has lived several times in Rwanda and Kenya.

Claudine Mukamitari

Psychotherapist-Mukamitari Marie Claudine, head of the counselling service in the CDJP Gikongoro department, has been a psychotherapist since 2000, except for a break of 6 years when her work was stopped, and she is now continuing her work in this post. She has completed the following studies: secondary school in social action (A2) and higher education in social work (A1).

Marianne Mukabirori

Project officer-Marianne Mukabirori, women’s empowerment project officer, with a master’s degree in education in education management and administration, before joining the CDJP Gikongoro group in 2014, she worked as a primary school teacher, secondary school teacher and then was headmistress of the secondary school.

Viateur Nkuriza

Head accountant – Viateur NKURIZA, who has a degree in accountancy, has been head accountant of the Diocese of Gikongoro’s general services since 2020. He has worked with Caritas Gikongoro since 2005: parish animator (2005-2006), field money on the LIBRAP project (2006-2009), accountant for Kirambi Community Health and Development Program (2010-2016) and accountant for CDJP and Caritas Gikongoro projects (2016-2020).

Henriette Nyirahabakwitonda

Secretary – Henriette NYIRAHABAKWITONDA has a degree in development (A0) and a diploma in secretarial work (A2). Since 2012 she has worked as secretary for the CDJP Gikongoro and since then as secretary for general services for the Diocese of Gikongoro.