You don’t have to put on the red light

Last week, the Minister of Defence, James Kaberebe, spilled the beans on the machinations of the UN Group of Experts on DRC and the Congolese government in an interview with Belgian publication Le Soir. The Minister convincingly chronicled the genesis to the crisis in Eastern Congo, naming names, places and dates.For those who haven’t read the interview, search for “Cartes sur table: les quatre vérités du général James Kabarebe” by Colette Braeckman [There’s an English version for non-French speakers]. However, this week I will leave comment and analyses on the tangled affairs of Eastern Congo to others. Reports in the local media last week that 18 prostitutes had been murdered over the last month by a group of men headed by a ‘slender light-skinned male’ in his early 30s [according to eye witnesses] caught my eye.For about two years, the City of Kigali [and on one occasion the town of Cyangugu, I beg your pardon – Rusizi] suffered sporadic attacks from the grenade terrorists. Last week, we found out that we may have the Rwandan version of Jack the Ripper [‘Mugabo the Strangler’?] going after this city’s ladies of the night. Details on the murders are scant, perhaps deliberately for investigative purposes, but the reports suggest that the serial killer and, on at least one occasion, his associate pretend to be customers, go to the ladies’ homes and strangle them. Whatever you may think about this profession, there is some shame to be had about letting 18 of them die before it even makes the news. The Police assured the public that it was investigating the murders but I wonder how much assistance they can expect to receive from people whose first instinct at the sight of a Police Officer is to flee. Despite the fact that Rwanda’s Penal Code does not criminalise prostitution outright [it does criminalise incitement, exploitation, solicitation and aiding prostitution] this is not widely known to the prostitutes themselves and from the look of things, some law enforcers are similarly ignorant of this. Social stigma and low-level official harassment has driven most of them underground, making them vulnerable to serial killers and less likely to cooperate with the Police. Let’s hope that there will not be a number 19. As a parting note, is it just me or has the Kigali City Council gone overboard with its fines on motorists that accidently damage Kigali’s palm trees, streetlamps or traffic lights? The fines are 1 Million, 2.5 Million and 15 Million Francs, respectively.A bit on the steep side if you ask me. The Mayor justified the punitive nature of these fines as a deterrent to vandals who would spoil the street aesthetic [I’m curious on fines for tagging]. The thing is, the motorists damaging the trees and roadside infrastructure are not vandals and since their insurance policies pay for the fine, they’re not even being punished. Insurance companies are being punished for issuing policies to the motorists. I can only imagine the ulcers caused in Insurance offices by a 15 Million Franc bill caused by a car worth a third of the fine. Dear Mayor, it is possible to reduce motorist accidents involving trees and streetlamps, a job the traffic police do every day, but impossible to eradicate them entirely. In most cases the offending motorist is not a vandal and even if s/he was one, you’re really punishing her/his insurer. The fair thing to do is to assess the actual damage caused and let the insurer pay for repairs or replacement of the damaged tree, streetlamp or traffic light.