Mainstory: Kigali’s secret indulgence

MOSES GAHIGI exposes the underground world of pork lovers There’s a place in Kigali off the Kicukiro-Sonatibe road. You may have walked passed it many times without knowing it’s there. Its heavy gate looks like any other. Indeed looking rather like an abandoned warehouse, there’s nothing at all to make you look twice. But if you push really hard the gate will open. Behind it lies a secret hangout. Upon entering, nothing gives away the true purpose of the place. But just when I thought I’d got the wrong place, the smell hit me. A certain aroma different from the one I normally inhale on my way home, emitting from the Kabeza Burchett parlors. This was the place! One of Kigali’s infamous pork joints. Apart from the smell there was no other sign that this is a pork restaurant. No carcasses hung up like you see at the butcher. But of all the pork joints I have been to in Rwanda, I am yet to see where they hang the meat. All it seems are operating discreetly. Why, you ask yourself, after all this isn’t a predominantly Muslim country? Many Rwandans have grown up in other parts of the world, whether it be in the region or further a field. As such there are people with different traditions and different beliefs. It is widely known that Muslims believe pigs are unclean and subsequently unholy. The Koran, the guide from which devout Muslim must not stray, forbids the eating of pork. It is less well known that some Christians also don’t eat pork citing reasons that God, in Leviticus 11:2, told the children of Israel not to eat any animal that does not chew the cud and ones without divided hooves. In Mark 5:13, we see Jesus himself sending 2000 pigs out of a man they had possessed. Pigs are thus associated with sin. Others shun pork for reasons unconnected to religion. Some people disapprove of a pig’s way of life. They claim they are dirty and thus unfit for consumption. From a health point of view there is nothing to say we shouldn’t eat pork. According to nutritionists, pork has been recommended to HIV/AIDS patients, because of its capacity to restore the calories and nutrients consumed by the virus. Whatever your beliefs may be there is no denying Rwanda’s (at least in part) love for pork. Even with your eyes closed you cannot fail to see people stampeding pork joints in search of their ‘can’t-live-without’ delicacy, like psychopaths with a raging fit! It’s clear there are people out that whose love for pork could rival anyone’s hatred for it. There are those who tell me that once you’ve tasted pork, you don’t look back, but crave to eat again. I’m also told that just because a man condemns pork in public does not mean that he doesn’t frequent one of Kigali’s notorious secret pork restaurants. There is in fact an underground network of pork eaters. I met one such pork lover in the afore mentioned eatery hidden away in a nondescript apartment. Twahirwa told me that he has been eating pork in this joint for the last year. “Pork is truly exclusive, I won’t lie to you; I can’t go three days without eating pork. When I have money I eat it even more,” disclosed Twahirwa. His dinner companion told me that when he’s eating pork is the only time he will not pick up his phone. The pair explained that pork has earned itself some nicknames. Some refer to it as ‘nokia’ because it’s authentic like the phone. Others call it Kabenzi because it’s timeless and of consistently high value, just like a Mercedes Benz. The profitability of this particular business speaks for its popularity. Twahirwa tells me that the lawn we are sitting on, the three-apartment house we are looking at and the apartments surrounding us are all being rented by the proprietor of the restaurant. The waiter was reluctant to speak to me but on convincing him that I too was a pork fanatic, he opened up. I asked about the name of the joint, because it is not written any where on the entrance. Nothing gives away the fact pork is sold here. John Habanabakiza told me the joint has no clear name, some call it “Kwamandevu” but for people to locate it easily, one just says the ‘kabenzi’ joint near Bralirwa. Habanabakiza told me that in a day they can sell 90 kilogrammes of pork at Frw2,500 a kilo. The meat comes from as far away as the eastern and northern part of the country, from places like Gitarama, Butare and Ruhengeri. He further told me that, they get customers of all ages, both males and females, and all days of the week, though numbers shoot up during weekends. There is no contesting the places popularity. The restaurant began in a small apartment, but because the business has been successful, they have had to move to a more spacious place. And there’s no doubt that people are coming for the pork. The waiter added that while there are other dishes; people express so much interest in pork that they are planning to stop other delicacies and concentrate on pork. And the place is by no means alone. Many have caught on and I enjoying great business. But so as long as ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison,’ the pork lover’s world will remain firmly underground. Ends