“Where Every day is Sunday”

Having been accustomed to the life of scarcity in this or that City, I decided to give a try to the villager, not that because I am a villager and the village and I are one but because, someone somewhere was about to go to “jail” for a life sentence with no possibility of any “parole” or ever getting out of that place “alive”. Thank God, the death sentence has been abolished in Rwanda, can the good legislators also tinker a bit with the “life sentence”! I recall the writings on a wall in Kampala’s Luzira “University of Understanding” read prison, “Kuingia ni Laisi, Kutoka Ningumu” (getting in is easy, getting out hard); I suppose they should have said that, getting out is next to impossible! Now, here was a young man that was about to be sentenced to “Life Imprisonment” on his own accord and cost! Life is an irony, as those inside are struggling to get out, the ones outside are scrambling to get in! In many countries, the law states that, “Man is naturally guilty, unless proven otherwise by the courts of law”. In this case, the role of the court had been usurped by a combination of the “Umurenge” (County) and “Kwa Padiri” (place of worship)! This time along, we set off as early as 7 o’clock in the morning for a journey that would take us northwards from Kigali, through Kayonza to a location somewhere outside the environs of Matimba town. It is in this village that the “court” of first instance would sit and then the case would be referred to a “supreme court” sitting in Nyagatare. On the way, we had a stopover for some refreshments at Kayonza. There is a shop that sales some wonderful “bubanda” (pancakes) just like the oneS we used to chew while in secondary school. Out of excitement, we ended up buying the whole basket of the stuff! We chewed until we could chew no more because we were fool oh sorry, I meant full! Never mind my mistakes; English is neither my father nor mother tongue! I hadn’t visited Umutara for nearly two solid years, my goodness, the place has really changed! Talk of Kigali with its newly installed streetlights that give it a night glow similar to that of Johannesburg and Dubai, Umutara has no such lights that shine on the roads but has lights that shine on the Hearts of whoever loves nature at its purest! As soon as we left Murambi, the air became sweeter and sweeter to breath, the field became more and more beautiful to the eyes. Nearly two decades ago, this land was an expanse of waste, now; it is bustling with all forms of life. The best words to describe the place are, “God’s work of art”! This gives credence to my popular adage, “you can take the villager out of the village, but you can never take the village out of him”! Karangazi, a small trading Centre that was synonymous with permittivity, is now a town in its own rights. I recall one time, a decade or so ago, when Diaspoman knocked out some guy’s teeth with his karate swing for having been called a “Karangazi” (green)! This time around, not only is it a town but a major one in Umutara. We eventually arrived at Matimba just after only two hour’s drive! I was really struck by the abundance of food and milk in Umutara. Much as we cry and starve saying that food prices had sky rocketed in Kigali and other East African cities, here was plenty of food and at very affordable prices. I think the problem is not the prices but that we have run away from where nature had designated for us to be! Here, every day is Sunday despite being a Saturday. On arrival, we were greeted by “ibibindi by’ikigaji” (pots of the local sorghum brew) and the most delicious milk on planet earth! Mfashumwana@fastmail.fm