Lately, I have noticed a strange virus eating up ‘Kigalians’ and am not talking about Swine Flu. It’s creeping onto us and I am worried this one won’t have a cure until further notice or education so to speak, so that people can change their mindset.

Watch out before you tell somebody where you reside, your status could be gone no matter what you utter next. Am not suggesting that you start lying that you stay in Nyarutarama or Gacuriro in order not to leave your ego unscathed but my point is you could lose it all soon after mentioning your neighbourhood.

Just like it is in most of the regional cities and world over, with many posh neighbourhoods emerging, Kigalians have started attaching people’s status in society to their places of abode.

I hear, dwellings define one’s background, financial status and influence. Forget the days when Kiyovu (cy’abakire (of the rich)) was the only residence for the A-listers, Crème de le crème. Kigali now boasts of many suburbs associated with the elite of the country.

As a result, to be considered someone with capacity, belong to some of these neighbourhoods littered with exquisite mansions, Villas and bungalows and you will stand out.

Ever since I set foot here, I was fooled to think that Kigali was one peaceful harmonised city with no such thing as suburbs for the rich.

The same virus prevails in Kampala where if you come from such areas as Kololo, Muyenga, Gaba, Naguru and others, you are considered among the high and mighty.

In my days after Campus, I was staying in a Kampala suburb called Bwaise. Known for its notorious flooding and high criminal rates, Bwaise is seen as the mother of all slums in Uganda and you hold no status in society if this is your dwelling place.

Indeed, I was aware of this but to be sincere; my area of residence was not the real Bwaise, save for the naming. It was far from the slum that Bwaise is but close enough to fall within the territories of Bwaise.

This was a medium residential area with good residential houses, that’s why every time I told people where I stayed, I took more time to explain why it is not Bwaise in the real sense but a place nearby.

However, at times my explanations would not save my already tarnished image. Come to Kigali, it’s the same situation I am facing and now I know how serious this issue is.

At first, as somebody not settled in yet, I opted to stay with family for sometime until when I could rent my own house. Somehow I ended up in Kimihurura ‘Mukiministire’, apparently one of the best places to live. But I wasn’t aware of what all that meant.

Every time I told people that’s where I stayed, they would say ‘hmmm….’without adding a word. Little did I know that I was being considered ‘elite’.

Time came and the bells for shifting to a place I would call my own rang and Kabeza is where they sounded from. I packed my few belongings and headed to Kabeza, that’s where I am now.

Every time I tell my friends and those who knew where I lived before, they whimper and look at me as if to say ‘from glory to grass’ and I am like what’s the problem? I know this has to do with the place itself, it doesn’t matter whether I stay in a mansion or not. Life!!

Ends