Focus: Nyarutarama; from shrubs, rocks and shacks to an architectural gem

Kigali’s evolving suburbs and their social economic upturn in the last decade have a lot in showcase. This week we bring you the exuberant new face of Nyarutarama far stretched from the small shrubs, rocks and shacks that were identical with the area to an architectural gem. What attracts people to settle in these areas and what are the most happening joints where national and international policies are deliberated upon as patrons gulp away a couple of Mutzig and Amstel pints. Its 1:00 O’clock early in the morning in the once dull but now busy Nyarutarama nightlife; the areas near-permanent non-stop party is getting into full swing. Reggea music echoes from one bar where Kigali’s new twenty-and thirty-something residents drink Mutzig beer and Uganda Waragi. In the neighbourhood, a mixture of new school rap and techno music belts out of another bar in an adjacent corridor; where almost identical-looking customers in black leather jeans and jackets with hoods do the same. This is the famous MTN Centre. The facades of the palatial residential and commercial blocks in this formerly wholly-jungle area are inviting. Today the shrubs and very poor housing structures which dominated this area just below a decade ago, have all been replaced with glistening coats of new plaster, paint and glass partitioning. Other main businesses include boutiques selling the latest fashion accessories from Paris, New York, Milan and Hong Kong. At the MTN centre, particularly Kigali’s expanding ultra modern architectural designs jostle for space with new bars, restaurants, clubs and shops selling second used CDs. Down the street below the MTN centre is Green Hills Academy; an educational institution that fulfils the requirements of an ‘international school’ to serve the needs of Nyarutarama residents. As school children head to class on Monday mornings, others are thinking about their gear for a Friday night-out in the adjacent MTN Centre. A stone-throw away from the MTN Centre is Christian Life Assembly Church (CLA) to take care of the spiritual needs of the folks in the area. Far from being pristine and white, the brick fronts of Nyarutarama buildings were non existent in the early 2000s; instead the land was covered in shrubs and rocks. Since the days of independence in the late 50s, the downtrodden residents of Kigali’s commercial life resided in this area and remained imprisoned by the lack of infrastructure. Yet if Nyarutarama is defining a new image for itself as one of Kigali’s coolest neighbourhoods with hangout joints, then it owes this reputation to the open embrace of the nocturnal adventure by Kigali city local government authorities. Unlike a few similar inner-city areas in Kigali like Nyamirambo and Kiyovu, many of Nyarutarama’s new cool structures, if not all are nearly white. Nyarutarama began its rise from the forgotten and almost empty land to the leafy zone it is today around 2001. Earlier inhabitants of the area were pushed further to the countryside as the classic theory of the culture of poverty states. Gerard Mubaza, 29, is one of the suburbs tribe of new, young middle-class Rwandans. He moved from Kiyovu the other side of Kigali’s inner city, to Nyarutarama two years ago with his wife and baby boy. He studied graphics and now works as a website designer in a non governmental organisation. He does not earn much money by his admission but earns enough for his accommodation; Why did I choose Nyarutarama? If you come from a village in where I was born (Kibungo) like I do, its the only residential place, its where things happen, he said. MTN Centre Kigali’s leading corporate class wannabes hangout at MTN as one of several attempts to dodge the lower class folks; the class with poor French or English accents and an even poorer sense of fashion. Since at the centre it’s always happening every weekend, there’s never any need for programme or Gahunda so to speak. All the holiday makers (even from the nearby two secondary schools) have to do, is to dress up in the flashiest of attires and head towards Nyarutarama. I arrived at MTN centre after attending midnight prayers at the nearby Christian Life Assembly church on 1st January. Standing in the parking lot, I noticed that more teenagers came in on foot and in groups. By 1:00 O’clock in the morning, the parking lot was fully occupied and I wondered who was driving these vehicles, when most clients were walking. The majority of the boys at MTN centre are simply clad in overflowing jeans and extra large t-shirts; there are a few who are in G-Unit outfits complete with outfits that hurled around their necks. It makes them look like the famous slaves heading to the US and the Persian gulf in early 1850s. The girls, however, seem to be a lot more fashion-conscious. Most of them were wearing leggings, dress tops, hot pants, revealing and body-hugging tops, shorts, transparent and inviting short dresses and boots. The hairstyles were quite as exotic as their facial make-up. From the way the boys and girls pose while smoking and how they avoid other people looking directly at them, one can tell that they had just acquired the habit. Many of the people around the two bars inside MTN Centre are dancing in groups of single sexes — very few groups are mixed up. From where I am seated at the Virunga pub, I can see a group of girls whose outfits and dance moves are unmistakably from MTV Base. They dance in a similar manner to the now popular Brick and Lace and there is another circle of boys standing next to them watching in awe. Behind me, another girl has found her friends and the screams of joy lose all the words that she is saying. The girls’ facial make-up suggests that they invested a lot of time in watching Nigerian movies; while the boys are a living testimony to the new Kigali; the city of designer clothing, exotic languages and even more exotic music and dance. This is a new face of Kigali’s evolving suburbs and their social economic upturn. By now, you as a reader should have filtered out what attracts people to settle in these areas and what are the most happening joints where national and international policies are deliberated upon. Ends