Kigali City authorities are a busy lot; they are working around the clock to ensure that the city is beautiful, attractive and on time to achieve everything that Vision 2020 stands for. Having realised the cut throat competition and its ‘pulling power’ to win the favour of tourists that visit the East African Community, city managers decided that security was crucial in winning over tourists. It is a known fact that Kigali has many disadvantages in comparison to other neighbouring urban centres, but the a thousand hills centre scores high in terms of safety for its residents and visitors. After visiting our sacred gorillas, Kigali visitors can walk around the city and its surrounding environs with their most expensive possessions and have no fear of being mugged or shoved over the bridge overlooking Cadillac night club when on their way to Kimiruhura. In comparison to regional cities, Kigali has also created for itself a niche as a clean, green and paved city. However, those responsible for that seem to have limited their mission to Kacyiru, Kiyovu and have never at all visited my neighbourhood in Nyamirambo. The race to please Kigali’s observers has however left many with sour stories. In recent times the administrators decided that hedge fences which were one of the most enduring images of Kigali were spoiling its surface beauty and decreed that all hedges be destroyed henceforth and replaced by wall fences. To be fair to Kigali City Council, when the decision to de-hedge city houses was taken, a loan facility was introduced to help house owners that could not afford to build wall fences but this facility has been criticised for its unnecessarily stringent conditions that urban peasants fear are made to chase them away far from the city. Those that could not afford to build wall fences were instructed to cut the hedges down. This left many house owners in Kigali cursing city managers, as a recent roadside ranting by three home owners at Kwa’Rubangura bus stop reveals. House owner one: With all the statistics and talk about poverty in the country, it is a blessing to own my house in Kigali. My major concern like that of many fellow Rwandans is to have a house. And if am lucky to have hedges for a fence am very lucky. I belong to the small statistics of this country. House owner two: The Genocide has on several occasions been blamed on the obedience of Rwandans; we follow all kinds of instructions-even ones that we cannot understand. This is one that we should unite to refuse. We should tell this to our loving woman MP who in turn will plead our tribulations to the parliament. House owner three: What is wrong with the mayors? They decide for us where, which types of houses to build and what materials to use. Do we still have any independence left to ourselves? I will not be surprised if the next Imihogo paper suggests which type of woman my son should marry! Ends
