Rwanda is one of the five countries that constitute the East African Community (EAC) and it compels it the enjoyment of all benefits of the coalition. It should be noted that the three countries of EAC use right-hand cars yet Rwanda and Burundi use left-hand drive cars.

The coalition of EAC allows free movement of people with their vehicles to any country of the alliance, which means that right-hand and left-hand drive cars are to move freely to any country of EAC without any restriction.

After the 1994 Genocide, Rwanda experienced an influx of right-hand drive cars with returning refugees due to the government anxious ambitions then of encouraging people to come back home.

And thereafter, it also became a popular phenomenon of people to import reconditioned right-hand drive cars from Dubai into the country.

In 2005 the Rwandan government issued an ultimatum to right-hand drive vehicle owners to get rid of their cars within the period of four years as they will become illegal. It also banned the importation of such cars into the country.

Only vehicles traveling on the right side of the road and therefore left-hand drive cars should be driven, the ultimatum stated. As a result, 85% of the total number of people with right-hand cars got affected.

Despite the ultimatum which ends next year 2009, right-hand vehicles are still in the country and most of them are being seen in good mechanical condition.

The motive of such a restrictive measure were then based on road safety reasons, as there were many accidents occurring in the country due to difficulty of overtaking by the drivers with right-hand drive cars.

Further still, the omnibuses then had exits on the left and then it would put passengers at risk of accidents since they would board or exit the buses on the side used by other traffic.

The Head of Traffic Police Chief Superintendent, Robert Niyonshuti said that though Rwanda joined EAC where the three countries are driving right-hand drive cars, it did not mean changing left-hand drive to right-hand drive cars. It would also mean altering traffic rules and regulations countrywide.

The government cannot afford the transition costs that would be incurred through such a venture yet it has other national serious programmes to implement in the country, he said.

"We are training and have well trained and qualified drivers in the country that can even drive properly on roads using right-hand drive vehicles,” Niyoshoti confidently said.
He further noted that traffic police does not give driving permits or license to people who don’t pass the driving tests.

"Driving license only goes to those people who have done our tests convincingly and willing to observe proper road safety regulations within and abroad,” he said.

A vehicle importer who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the government should consider revising and changing the law that bans the importation of right-hand drive vehicles.

It would be easy to do business with our fellow business people of the EAC dealing in the same product, he said. He further expressed the desire of buying vehicles from the same market like other business people of the EAC as this has an implication on import taxes.

During a telephone interview, the Minister of Infrastructure Linda Bihire opined that the government is planning to properly fit in the usage of roads of their members using right-hand drive cars.

She said that Rwanda as a member of EAC is considering revising laws in the country that will induce proper integration processes for the present and future generations.

"The government is working closely with various committees of the East African Federation to ensure that the ultimate goals on political, social and economic Federation are properly achieved,” Bihire said.

History and origin

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. In the past, almost everybody traveled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal violent societies.

Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.

Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword which would be worn on the left.

It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.

In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver’s seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team.

Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.

In addition, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy traveled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and the subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right.

An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right were made compulsory in 1793.

Later, Napoleon’s conquests spread the new rightism to Countries like Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy.

The states which resisted Napoleon ‘keep left’ were Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal.

Ends