Migina’s new face

DAN NGABONZIZA finds swanky housing has replaced the brothels. If you have ever visited the famous Migina, you’ll be surprised by its new look these days. Located opposite Amahoro National Stadium in Remera Sector, Gasabo District, Migina was known as ‘a home of prostitutes’. But the former slum is undergoing a major transformation. “There is a great housing innovation here. I think in few days to come, the other term of ‘prostitutes’ could be no more,” says Jimmy Munyemana, a Kimironko resident who had come to have a bottle of beer at this place. It is late at night. The time is close to midnight. I start my way towards the place, passing the headquarters of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Outside the club people are strolling around cheerfully. As I keep moving ahead, I skip a pothole and cross the road. To one side of me is a young girl standing like someone on an appointment. Alongside her is another girl who calls to her in a low tone. “Eh, get away from him, he may be a policeman,” she advises her friend. She starts stepping back and disappears. I try to follow her but she’s gone. There is a light on a first floor door, with words reading; “Welcome to new Pulma V.I.P”. I approach.People are queuing. I also get more curious to know what business is here. In front of the door, there are two gentlemen standing in tight T- shirts and faded jeans with leather shoes. These are the nightclub bouncers. One of these gentlemen looks at me without speaking. After some time he speaks. “You man! You look like a stranger here. Don’t you know the procedures?” he asks me as I look back at a gentleman asking him what to do. This guy told me that they pay Frw1,500 as the entrance fee. I realised it was a nightclub. Inside this house is karaoke just like in any other nightclub. But different classes of people join this place. My intention was not to entertain myself but to see if what people are saying about Migina is true. A lot of young, old and a few foreigners are dancing and you can think it’s a free entry club since the other one is ‘Pulma V.I.P’. The police on night patrol are very serious about their work. If they appear here, you see everyone telling his or her friend quietly; “Eh, Panda Gali Iraje”, a Swahili nickname given to police night patrol vehicles. You’d think these people are not there when the police appear. They all keep quiet, listening in dead silence. According to Janvier Hakizimana who sells cigarettes near one of the bars called ‘Lavedette’, girls who used to loiter in the place have mostly left due to police raids and the emergence of new housing system. “They no longer have anywhere to stay. Before they could rent houses down here but were recently replaced by modern buildings,” he says. “When their houses were destroyed, these girls shifted to Kinyinya which is a bit far from here. They can’t afford daily transport,” says Hakizimana. He says that they used to flock this place before and spend all the nights with men but the police have played a big role in cleaning the place up. “Even those who are still coming here always find themselves at the police stations. They detain them for a while and those released have started giving up,” says Hakizimana. Shillah Umutesi is a resident of Migina. She describes housing costs in this place. “The cheapest house for rent here doesn’t go less than Frw30,000. That is for lower class and it is a one-room house,” she says. Before the new housing system was put in place, one would find a house for rent at Frw3,000. Umurisa adds that it is rare to find a house here because demand is growing. All the plots of land here are being built into modern houses and even those which are old are undergoing rehabilitation. Migina still buzzes 24 hours a day but the place has changed. Gone are many of the prostitutes, in their place are young urbanites simply having a good time. Ends