As a bouncer, Boss Kanimba’s first call of duty came in December 2010, when he was hired as a freelance bouncer at an international music concert at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali. Two months later, he landed his second bouncer gig –this time at the first edition of the Primus Guma Guma Super Star (PGGSS) music competition. 

In February last year, Kanimba went professional in his work with the launch of B-KGL (Kigali Bodyguard Ltd), a company that provides bouncer, bodyguard and protocol services to private events organizers. As chairman of the group, he heads a team of ten bouncers that is in charge of security for artists and judges at the annual Primus Guma Guma Super Star (PGGSS) road shows.

How did you end up a bouncer?

After completing university I wanted something to do something, I approached Bubu of East African Promoters. He told me he was cooking something with Bralirwa and that if it worked out he would call me. At that time Bralirwa was planning to stage the first Primus Guma Guma Super Star competition.

When Bubu got the deal he called me and put me in charge of rehearsals for the artists. I was in charge of drawing a time table for the rehearsals for each artist. I was also in charge of the live band which played for them.East African Promoters organized a concert by Zambian singer General Ozzy on December 31 2010 and I was deployed as one of the bouncers.

What was that first experience like?

It was a hard job. I remember General Ozzy was accompanied by the GoodLyfe Crew (Radio and Weasel) from Uganda on stage. 

I did not know Ozzy because I had never seen him before. I was manning the back stage entrance so I unknowingly bounced him, which caused me embarrassment. 

The Goodlyfe Crew came on stage drunk, and when their time was up the MC, Lion Manzi (currently one of the judges for PGGSS5) told them to leave the stage but they refused. Later a fight broke out back stage and as a bouncer I had to intervene.

Moving on to Guma Guma

After the General Ozzy show, I went back to my work at East African Promoters as a supervisor. However when the PGGSS begun, I was made a part of it as well, so on Saturdays I would be a bouncer at Guma Guma road shows.

The first show was at Rusizi, in 2011 and we were three bouncers. 

It was a very hard job for many reasons. The first is that Bralirwa was just testing waters because no one had done such a concept before. 

There were 15 artists, three bouncers, and a crowd of about 45,000 people. It was the first time that music fans were seeing their stars face to face. 

Even police and army presence was overwhelmed by the large crowds. I was in charge of the backstage entrance and it was hard keeping the aggressive crowd away. 

After the show everyone wanted to have a moment with their stars. Others tried to snatch valuables like chains and sun glasses.

What is the scope of B-KGL’s work with Guma Guma?

Our contract with Bralirwa is to provide security to the artistes and judges in the PGGSS competitions both on and off stage. 

Our work starts the moment we arrive at Ndamage House in downtown Kigali, the convergence point for the road shows every Saturday. From here we take full charge of the artistes’ security. Even if an artiste decides to go to a shop we follow him or her. We travel with the artistes in their VIP truck up to the venue. At the shows we make sure the artistes and judges are safe from any harm, until we are back in Kigali.

How did B-KGL come into being?

When I first worked with Guma Guma in 2011, there was no B-KGL at the time. Instead, we were working as individual bouncers.

We used to work as individuals, with no company and no official address. This made it very hard for us to follow up on payments after we had served our clients. Many people took advantage of our lack of an address to not pay. 

So we decided to come together and create a company to formalize and professionalize our work. 

B-KGL was formally registered as a company on 20th February 2014. We started off with four bodyguards, but now we are 10. 

Some of the stars I have guarded include; Sean Kingston, Jason de Rulo, Diamond Platnumz, P-Square, Chameleone, Davido and Akon.