When I visited Gisimenti weekend car-free zone, it was on a Friday evening, the second weekend after the initiative started. By 5:30pm, people couldn’t easily get a parking spot. The police had put roadblocks in restricted areas, but you could easily tell the place was going to be ‘lit’.
The line of cars stretched from the first cobblestone road turn to Zigama CSS Headquarters, all of them looking for parking space and honking as if someone was impeding their movement. My friends and I had to go all the way back to Hotel Chez Lando to negotiate for parking.
As we walked towards the zone, motorcycle after another were dropping people off, and tables were already set under umbrellas branded with beer companies.
This place was noisy so much that what sounded like a whisper was an actual scream. Every single bar was playing its own music at maximum volume. You may think the cocktail of songs would confuse the audience but people 10 meters apart were dancing to the different genres at the same time.
The service delivery at Gisimenti was commendable. You send for brochettes and five minutes later, there they are. "Ubu se zirahiye” for "are they ready” was the frequently asked question on my table.
At 8:00pm, the zone was fully packed with merry looking faces. To be honest, it didn’t look like the place would be fuller. But an hour later, people were still flocking the open air bars, the majority of them young. They increased by the minute. Who knew Kigali had so many people?
A closed road at the Gisimenti weekend car-free zone in Remera.
But then it was very obvious that after almost two yearlong restrictions on public entertainment, Kigalians love their bottle of beer, among other things. Alcohol was overflowing, and so was meat from chefs who set their stands by the road, and cigarettes, among other things.
However, not everyone at the zone have their best nights. For instance, an unusual video taken on February 26, surfaced on social media a few days later. A woman was lying unconsciously in the street, while another was lying on top of her. The one on top seemed to be shaking her, probably waking her. They were at the centre of a circle of people, the majority of whom were men.
One of the people tapped the breast of the unconscious woman and he spread her legs. The other woman tried to fight him off, but in vain, because he later came and lied on both off them. He seemed drunk depending on his locomotion!
While some people in the video, including the unconscious woman who the Police identified as Divine Umutoni were arrested on charges of public indecency and public drunkenness, no one was arrested for indecent assault, also punishable by imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than three years, and a fine of not less than Rwf500,000 and not more than Rwf1 million if committed in public.
Gisimenti weekend car-free zone in Remera.
Speaking to The New Times, the Deputy Police Spokesperson, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Africa Sendahangarwa said that their investigation didn’t find out that any member of the public in the group stole or sexually exploited Umutoni.
"We would appreciate more information if anything of that kind happened because she would then be a victim of either of the crimes that would require more investigation,” he added.
CSP Sendahangarwa also warned against acts of public indecency but also taking advantage of unconscious people.
"RNP also warns about taking advantage of unconscious people in any way because such acts may also constitute several criminal acts,” he noted.
However, this is not all there is. Some social media users have been comparing the car-free-zone to hell! The word "Gisimenti” has been trending for at least two days on Twitter, with some calling for its closure and others attacking them.
Simon-Pierre Rutambi who goes by ‘Rutambi’ on Twitter has been vocal about concerns that include mental health. While he doesn’t advocate for the zone’s abolishment, he thinks it should be at least regulated.
"There has been a public concern about mental health, and the pandemic (Covid-19) made it even worse. Some reports say this created a turn in addictions. Having a place like this with no restrictions and with alcohol on discount feels like enabling and endorsing as opposed to finding ways to tackle this problem,” he said in a phone interview.
Gisimenti weekend car-free zone in Remera.
Indeed, Rwanda’s consumption of alcohol has already been somewhat problematic, according to experts. The country is one of the top fifty in the world with a relatively high level of total alcohol consumption per capita among men, and the first in the region.
A 2018 UN report portrayed that Uganda, Rwanda and Seychelles consumed the equivalent of approximately 11 litres of pure alcohol per capita in 2016, more than in Europe (10.3 litres) and the United States (9.3 litres), and far above the global and African averages of 6.4 and 6.0 litres respectively.
The City of Kigali had not responded to this issue by the time this article was published.
For security, the Police got us covered.
"Security in public places has been and continues to be provided adequately. The public security provided is to make sure that people conduct their businesses in a safe environment and in a legally acceptable manner,” CSP Sendahangarwa said.