A popular Kigali night spot has kicked up a twitter storm and it will be interesting to see how it ends. A visiting Zimbabwean lady was reportedly refused entry into the night club. On what grounds? She is albino. The minute she vented her frustration over social media, it spread like wildfire attracting condemnation from all quarters, including senior cabinet members, including the Justice Minister and Rwanda Development Board, whose docket includes tourism. I had a lovely Saturday. Until @CocobeanKgl denied me entry into the club because I am albino. Apparently a person with albinism “causes a scene” ,and a “no albinos” policy was placed. — uyauya (@justDumo) June 10, 2018 I’ve been thinking about the person who went to @CocobeanKgl and was the first target of this discrimination. I’m so sorry. I really hope you were safe and surrounded by good people after you left. — uyauya (@justDumo) June 10, 2018 The world is really shitty to people with albinism, and being turned away at a major club in a major city is the smallest example of how. — uyauya (@justDumo) June 10, 2018 Thank you Uyauya for raising this. We will follow it up. — Busingye Johnston (@BusingyeJohns) June 10, 2018 Very unfortunate experience and I am sad to hear you were treated like that. @BeliseKariza RDB Chief Tourism Officer has informed me that she is investigating the matter to ensure it never happens again to you or any other person. — Clare Akamanzi (@cakamanzi) June 11, 2018 The State Minister for Foreign Affairs even threw in a section of the Penal Code that criminalises discrimination in whatever form. The complainant might have been taken aback by the storm her simple tweet created, but what she should know is that it was the country’s reputation that was being dragged in the mud by some bigot. Rwandans know all too well the consequences of discrimination and should be the last to entertain it for they paid the ultimate price. They were not going to sit back as someone tarnished the image that the country has invested much to build, one of a country that turns down no one, a country that has thrown its doors wide open to the world. Yes, the widespread condemnation of the incident was a very legitimate way of showing the aggrieved that what she had encountered was not the true Rwanda. It was an isolated incident that the government has promised to investigate, and trust me, someone will pay heavily if found culpable. Another take home from the incident is the power of social media; a rapid and effective way of leapfrogging bureaucracy and meting out quick justice and generating reactions from those concerned and forcing wrongdoers to clean up their act.
