There was no feasibility study, no geological assessment, just sheer grit … and faith. As the saying goes “Faith can move mountains” and that was what happened when one young man in Murambi Sector, Karongi District disrupted all the rulebooks on policy formulation. A video about his extraordinary achievement set social media on fire when it emerged yesterday. Armed only with a hoe, he had excavated a seven-kilometre road by himself, a feat that took him three years. When he embarked on his mission, villagers thought he had gone mad and ignored him, yet they were using “his road”. Not even one person lent him a hand. Now, all that is about to change. His action has caught the attention of the Government, and no sooner had the video gone online, a high-powered delegation including officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Rwanda Transport Development Agency, Karongi District officials and other leaders were already organising a site visit and have vowed to give the young man a push. There are many lessons to learn from the road builder, that as long as one sets their eyes on something, armed with determination, nothing is impossible. For the young man, he has had the last laugh at all the people who thought he had gone mad. But his “madness” has moved the whole government machinery towards his idea. Anyone would hate to be in the shoes of the local leaders who saw this young man pursue such a noble cause, and did nothing about it, not even mobilising other villagers to help him. The young man deserves more than just all the accolades and financial “help” he is bound to receive after all that exposure; he deserves national recognition. As for the local leaders? They got what was coming; exposing their ineptness for the whole world to see.
