A jack of all trades and master of many

PAULUS KAYIGGWA meets Beau Kalinda, proprietor of Intsinzi 4 Lifestyle Showbiz “I didn’t know I would end up doing this kind of work,” Kalinda begins in an interview early this week at St. Paul’s Church in Nyarugenge District. Two months a go, Kalinda and his wife Alyce Nkesha Mutamuliza, opened Intsinzi 4 Lifestyle Showbiz Cinema Hall to provide entertainment to Kigalians. Kalinda seems gifted in the area of this entrepreneurship. He looks determined to improve his business. “My vision is to show the world that Rwanda has much to offer in the area of entertainment,” he says. “Many people regard Rwanda in the context 1994 genocide.” He said post Genocide people in Rwanda have an obligation to leave a positive legacy behind and tell a story of success to future generations. “I am aiming at changing the mentality and the thinking philosophy of Rwandans and Africans in general,” Kalinda adds. Kalinda was born in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1973 to Sekwekwe Kalinda and Venentie Murebwayire. Kalinda has traveled. He lived in Burundi, Kenya, Belgium, USA, Uganda, Germany and Canada. At 34, he married Nkesha Mutamuliza. He is a father of three daughters. “My dear wife has supported me a great deal. She is wonderful,” Kalinda smiles. Kalinda was the sixth child in a family of 13 children. One brother died in the liberation struggle. His father died in 2001 and his mother passed away this year. “It was a big blow,” he remembers sadly. He speaks English, Swahili, Lingala and French fluently. Kalinda studied primary and secondary levels in Goma, DRC. He studied engineering at the Southern Alberta institute of Technology (SAIT), Canada in 2000. Kalinda has experience in diverse fields of work ranging from advertising, motivation speaking, marketing, food processing, youth leadership, graphic designing and editing. Asked about his greatest achievement, Kalinda adds: “There are so many things that one achieves in life but takes no time to celebrate. These are the foundations of what many people regard as achievements.” “When Intsinzi 4 Lifestyle becomes a reference, people will call it a great achievement. When it has been walking for many years and when people begin appreciating my work, then I will call it an achievement.” “I have also managed together with my brother to clear big debts left behind by our late father. It’s fantastic because nobody is trailing us.” Kalinda also founded The African Food Products Company in 2002 with the goal of fighting poverty, reducing malnutrition and hunger both in Rwanda and the region through food processing. Ends