Camp Kigali: When push becomes pull

In an article published recently by this paper, ‘A peek into Biryogo future upscale town’, Karemera touched on an interesting historical trajectory of Biryogo, a restless suburb located within less than a kilometre of downtown Kigali. Indeed the juxtaposition between Biryogo and Kigali’s Central Business District has always been an interesting one; two urban tissues seating so close to each other and yet with totally different characteristics. My focus is on the urban block that sits right in between these two territories; a block that was initially a military facility, then later transformed into an academic institution. In 1907, Richard Kandt, the first German imperial resident in Rwanda declared Kigali an administrative capital and settled in Muhima area that is currently the Kandt museum. Kigali’s strategic location in Rwanda further made the city a good centre for commerce, attracting Indian and Arab traders who together with native Rwandans settled in Biryogo area then referred to as ‘Camp Swahili’. The image of Camp Kigali in between ‘Camp Swahili’ and ‘Camp Kandt’ is not a difficult one. Like many other African cities, the colonialists intentionally placed a military camp in between the European residences and the native residences. In this case, camp Kigali was carefully placed where it was to keep the Rwandans, Indians and Arabs away from the activities of Kandt and his men. A neighbour and a good friend told me recently that actually Africans had to attain a certain social status of ‘evolues’ to be given certificates that allowed them to dine and wine with the whites. In this perspective, Camp Kigali at that point in time was functioning as a ‘push factor’. In 1997, the new post-genocide government gave up the military facility, which also included a military school for the then Kigali institute of science and technology (KIST) to begin. This was a bold move that saw the transformation of a military camp into a civilian educational institution to further develop the educational needs of Rwandans. This was part of the government’s mission to build a strong post-genocide human resource base specifically in science and technology. KIST later became the College of Science and Technology (CST) in the recent formation of the University of Rwanda (UR). To date, the university campus still utilizes the inherited infrastructure for academic and administrative functions. Several new buildings have come up with time, and the urban block is now home to thousands of students from all regions of Rwanda and beyond. It further attracts academic teaching staff from all parts of the world. The university campus is evidently universal, a place for all, therefore the urban block is now functioning as a ‘pull factor’. In fact, the welcoming character of this urban block owing to its close proximity to the city, size and openness has seen this area attract an overwhelming number and range of activities over time. Located right inside this urban block, in addition to CST’s administration and academic blocks is Camp Kigali Primary School that serves mainly the Nyamirambo neighbourhood- a society that could not set foot in or beyond this block 53 years ago! Now, when push becomes pull, a game of pinball starts. The everyday development of this university campus has not been without challenges. The immediate neighbourhood poses immense challenges to its accessibility and circulation. To the north is the 5 star Serena hotel and CHUK national teaching hospital that attracts a huge number of people. To the south is Nyamirambo and to the west is Gitega, both are informal settlements that have high population densities, and to the east is the affluent Kiyovu neighbourhood. The connectivity between this campus and Kigali’s CBD experiences frequent interruptions to the extent that currently the campus lacks a formal entrance point. Each class o’clock, CST students, most of whom reside in Nyamirambo queue at the Muhabura gate to the south west, creating human traffic congestion; tens of students per minute lining up to enter the campus. In a pinball game, shooting the ball creates a loop with many possible reactions, some pleasing, some not. Once the orientation of the silver ball has changed, a player requires creating new loops that will cause as many reactions as possible, to maximise on scores gained. In this perspective, the on going ‘actions’ and ‘reactions’ surrounding the campus’ accessibility and circulation, seem to increase opportunity for more dialogue between the campus and the city, spatially and socially, which at some point will trigger the ‘correct’ action to happen; a mutual understanding between both city fragments. The writer is an architect and urban designer with keen interest on the dialectical relations between Architecture and Society. josemwongeli@yahoo.com

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Camp Kigali: When push becomes pull