People who frequent different busy areas in the City of Kigali have decried the shortage of public toilets along major roads and commercial centres, which they say dents the efforts to make the capital a smart city.

"Even some people with buildings near busy roads prefer to lock their toilets which makes them inaccessible to passengers. As motorcyclists we go to so many areas in the city during the day and I have realized that this is a big challenge,” said Prosper Murwanashyaka, one of the motorcyclists in Kigali.

As a result, he said, people end up polluting areas near the roads or making long distances to be able to ease themselves.

"For example, if you have the call of nature when you are at a bus stop or any other busy place, you are obliged to walk a distance seeking a toilet. Such passenger hotspots should be considered in terms of increasing public toilets,” Diane Iragena, a city resident said.

Responding to these complaints on Wednesday August 3, Marie-Solange Muhirwa, Chief of Urban Planner at the City of Kigali said: "In April this year we started to construct public toilets in seven locations. Each location has eight public toilets for both men and women as well as those for people with disabilities.”

She said that they will continue mapping out different areas that are points of convergence to ensure they have public toilets.

So far, she said, 42 sites have been identified, adding that the exercise is still ongoing. 

"Such places that are obliged to have public toilets include markets, bus terminals, car free zones and commercial buildings among others,” she said disclosing that the city is in talks with all petrol stations to set up public toilets as well.

According to a recent study by the City of Kigali, there is need for 176 public toilets.

By the end of last year, city officials said, 101 public toilets had been available while 11 were still being constructed.

"We will continue to build more public toilets as we identify locations that are in high demand. For instance, we are going to construct some on the highway from Sonatubes to Nyanza in Kicukiro district,” Muhirwa said.