EDMUND KAGIRE discovers the harmony enjoyed by people living on the Rwanda-Uganda border

When we were young, we were told that neighbours are very important people and todo as the Bible says "Love your neighbour as you love yourself”. Growing-up, I observed how Africans are really good at trying to live up to the the word of God.

We had this particular neighbour who had mastered the ‘neighbours-share’ mentality; his immediate neighbours would meet all his lunch needs!

The first of his six kids would be sent to a neighbour for a few sticks for fire, the second kid would go ‘borrow’ water from another, the third was charged with ‘borrowing’ salt, banana, rice...etc from another neighbour until lunch was on the table.

This culture, much as it is almost being wiped out by modernity, was once the norm African families when household products like sugar, salt, kerosene, soap, and vaseline were scarce. 

In rural Ntungamo where I lived, the weekly Rwentobo market took place on Fridays and only a few families could afford to buy enough stocks to last a week.

It was only on Fridays that the neighbors would carry their Ghee to the market, sell it off and buy a few household items. So before market day, it was quite normal for good neighbours to share groceries.

Life on the border

Recently, I traveled back to the same place. At the southern end of Ntungamo, in Rushenyi lies a small trading centre called Kizinga which borders Rwanda. I discovered that in this locality Rwandans and Ugandans live together in a world of their own.
Trade is thriving between Kizinga and Kamwezi on the Ugandan side, and in Rwemhasha and Nyagatare which lie in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. One would think that this is no man’s land.

Residents on either side cross the border freely despite beefed up security along the border. There are now entry points and security operatives along the border to cub illegal entrants, but nothing will stop the locals here to live the life they have lived for many years. They have hidden entry points which they use to sneak across.

Uganda bicycles with as many as six bunches of ‘matooke’ pushed by energetic youth find their way into Rwanda to as far as Nyagatare, approximately 20km from the Ugandan border.

On there way back, they come with jerry cans of Kerosene which is sold cheaply on the Rwandan side and in high demand in Uganda.

In these townships anything goes: tomatoes, onions, milk and all sorts of foodstuffs which have ready market in Nyagatare, where they eventually find their way to Kigali.

Nyagatare and Rwempasha lie in a semi arid area where rainfall is scarce though the Government of Rwanda is undertaking a tree planting scheme to avert the effect of the scorching sun.

Harvests here are most of the time affected by the drought in this cattle-rearing part of Rwanda, but Uganda keeps a steady flow of food stuffs all year. Restaurants in Nyagatare serve Ugandan dishes and both currencies are accepted here.

The Ugandan Shilling is accepted in hotels and shops and ‘Runyankole’, the dialect used on the Uganda side, is spoken and understood by folk in these Rwandan towns.

Intermarriages

While intermarriages are often thought to be a thing of the past when African tribes intermarried to foster peace and harmony, you will be surprised to find out that residents on the Ugandan-Rwanda border are still practicing the act.

"During the heightened tensions of the liberation struggle, many Rwandan women and girls fearing for their lives crossed over to Uganda to look for work but most of them ended up marrying Ugandan men, producing a generation of kids who are not sure which language to speak,” explains Moses Mutaahi of Ntungamo, a Ugandan, who married Rwandan lady.

"Women here used to be worried of Rwandan women since most of them were young, beautiful and ready to settle and work. Most men here were tempted to marry them but today the cases have reduced with peace prevailing in Rwanda,” explains the 53 year old farmer. 

Living Ugandan in Rwanda

Some Ugandan FM Radio stations have established strong followings up to 10km into Rwanda so much so that Rwandan FM stations are struggling to attract listeners.

Ugandan stations are more dynamic and operate on a very competitive edge to outwit each other and capture big audiences. Because there are many more radio stations in Uganda, entertainment is at its best.

This is why in restaurants or bars in Nyagatare they are tuned in to Capital FM, Radio West or Voice of Kigezi. Once in while callers from Rwanda call in to Ugandan radio shows to send greetings.

Capital Radio has a regular caller from Nyagatare. In fact he is such a regular that Morning Show Presenters Gaetano and Jackie now know his voice, with no need of introductions.

"Innocent, how is Nyagatare?” Gaetano asks as soon as this celebrated caller says hello.

The stations that broadcast in Runyankole/Rukiga in particular have callers from Rwanda wanting to give their views. The show presenters are aware of this and they chip in to greet their listeners from across in Kinyarwanda.

"Mumeze mute? Muraho mweese, cyaane cyane, turabakunda…” these are the introductory words of Peter Rock, a celebrated Radio Presenter on the Kabale based Voice of Kigezi.

"Am aware of the presence of my fans across the border, that’s why I have to greet them when am starting my show. Am delighted to find that people listen to my programme across the border,” says Peter Rock

Crossed wires

The most amazing story of co-existence between the countries is neither the trade nor intermarriages between residents. Instead it comes from where it would be least expected; from a population consisting of mainly illiterate or semi-illiterate inhabitants who are largely dependant on agriculture. It took even me of the ‘urban existence’ long to understand.

In Rwanda people pay a lot of money to make a phone call. Given the monopoly enjoyed by MTN-Rwanda, it has been a take-it-or-leave it kind of attitude towards service and Rwandans have had no option but to subscribe to MTN’s services which of late have received more criticism than praise.

Well, Rwandans living near the border do not share these problems, with the cut-throat competition Ugandan telecom companies are engaged in.

Networks like Zain, UTL and Warid penetrate a considerable distance into Rwanda. So the residents will crossover to Uganda and buy sim cards for as little as Ugsh1,500 and airtime.

Chances are that every individual who owns a mobile phone on the Rwandan side of the border owns a Uganda line. All of whom can enjoy the offers Ugandan telecom giants are fond of coming up so as to outwit each other in the market and claim more subscribers. Take the recent Megabonus offer from Warid Telecom. Buy as little as Ugsh500 and get 24 hours of free talk the next day.

"My close contacts all have Ugandan lines and because I can access Ugandan credit here, its easy for me to call using Ugandan networks, besides, the rates are cheap compared to MTN Rwanda,” explains Moses Nsengiyunva, a fuel dealer in Nyagatare.

Most people here have relatives living in Uganda, because many of them were living on the Ugandan side following the Liberation War. Though many moved back to Rwanda after 1994, others preferred to remain in Uganda.

"My relatives send me airtime or beep if they want me to put the Ugandan line so that we can talk, I recently bought a Warid line to enjoy Megabonus,” narrates Harriet Kagole, a nurse in Rwempasha.

But the best is enjoyed by those with MTN Uganda lines. I don’t know how they came to discover this but am sure even MTN Uganda and Rwanda are still baffled by this development.

This is how it works. Once you have put a Ugandan line, search for Rcell reception then maintain credit as low as Ugsh100 (Frw28), then make that call wherever you want.

Once the receiving person picks, make sure you don’t hang up and you can talk forever. You could literally put the call on hold, go take a shower and comeback and talk till you drop.

The Ugsh100 will go but the call stays. Be warned, when you have a lot of airtime, normal charges will apply.

So what the folks here do is use the very efficient ‘Me to You’ MTN Uganda service to the most by loading airtime on another phone, then keep sending Ugsh100 to their phone, make the call and the process goes on and on. You could call all relatives and friend and still remain with reasonable credit. 

I came to know this when a village friend who after buying a phone acquired the chronic beeping syndrome until this new discovery was made. After a long period of serial beeping, the fellow started calling all of sudden and calling for longer periods, until I asked him about his new found fortune he spends on airtime.

When he told me the whole story I could not accept because it’s technologically impossible, unless MTN is running a promotion for border residents.

It’s not until I visited the area that I discovered that even the IT experts of this giant telecoms company could be duped by cattle herding folks deep in the villages.

Whether the company is aware or not, what we know is that the fellows are enjoying the most of this unknown offer until the sister companies come up with the technology good enough to deny locals freebies.

I also had no choice but enjoy the free things as they last; I actually used Ugsh100 to send over 150 texts to my friends. Poor guys were left wondering where I had gotten the money to load on my handset that suffers from constant CCD (Chronic Credit Deficiency). 

Contact: kagire_eddie@yahoo.com