Whenever I am in Kigali, I try to put up appearances! That is to say that I always try to show off that I am loaded with cash. I do this in order to impress the ladies! The truth of the matter is that I am as poor as the church mouse itself. So, when I happen to cross the border to a neighbouring country where I am not known, I find myself visiting the poorest pubs for low quality booze. 

So last weekend I was in this neighbouring country for a small kiraka. I felt the urge to visit the barber to shave my oval-shaped head. 

When I am in Kigali, I find myself visiting expensive hair saloons where I end up dishing out more than Rwf2,000 plus tips for the barber as well as the lady who washes and massages my bald head. I do this in order to pretend that I am a loaded fellow. 

But here I was in this neighbouring country. My feet told me to head for the poorest area of the city and sneak into makeshift saloons to get a really cheap haircut.

At the saloon, there was this group of talkative chaps that were doing the usual great job of trimming peoples’ hair and beards. I sat on the creaky chair and they started chopping off my hair. I asked them to cut off everything, "Jordan” style.

I was cherishing this moment because I had saved some more quid. I was going to pay only one third of what I normally pay in Kigali. But then things changed for the worst. Without prior warning, the electricity providers in this town decided that enough was enough. That is why they switched off the power and all of a sudden the small saloon was in darkness. 

The barbers continued with their chit-chat with little care. They told me that power would probably return after six hours. Phew! What about the generator that I had seen outside near the entrance to this small so called saloon? Haha, the generator is just for decoration sir. It has not functioned for the past 2 years! I was seriously goofed. The only option left for me was to do a Usain Bolt and flee the area as fast as possible!

Thanks to a Good Samaritan who saw me running on the streets of the city! He stopped me and handed to me a hat for the rest of the day!