Business was generally uninterrupted by the Parliamentary elections that kicked off yesterday. Various business operators The New Times interviewed , attest that despite losing a few morning hours, when both clients and operators had gone to cast their votes; there was no serious negative impact.

According to Claudine Uwamahoro, a boutique attendant operating in Remera, this day didn’t have a negative effect on her business.

"I was not affected in any way by this day. I woke up at 6:30 AM and went to vote. I didn’t expect any customers because they were also voting, and by 10 AM when I opened, they started coming,” she explained.

A supermarket operator in Giporoso, Aloise Bizimana, said that voting is a national activity that any responsible citizen ought to take part in, adding that even if he lost money it would be worth it.

"I opened the supermarket at 10 AM after casting my vote. The four hours I lost is the smallest thing I can sacrifice for my country,” he said.

However, when it came to the transporters, the case was slightly different. For instance Jean Paul Manzi, a motorcyclist in Kabeza revealed that business was slow.

"However I am optimistic things will normalize in the second part of the day after people are done with elections,” he said optimistically.

The same response was given by an Atraco Taxi operator from Nyabugogo who preferred anonymity. He revealed that people were scarce compared to other days, and that the unfortunate bit is that it will continue like this since most of them won’t go to work even after voting.

According to a voter from Kacyiru, the voting process was organized and highly decentralized and people voted from their cells. He said that it sped up the voting process, a thing which has given time to the business community to resume their activities early.

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