The last cabinet meeting lifted curfew and other related Covid-induced restrictions. It signalled the return to normalcy after more than two years of involuntary restraints. Since then we have seen increasing signs of resumption of normal life. On Saturday March 26, Umuganda, the monthly community work, returned. In the countryside, citizens were on the hills digging trenches to break the flow of rain water and prevent soil erosion or, as has happened in some cases, landslides. Or they descended to the lowlands along river valleys and planted grass and trees to stop fertile soil being washed into the rivers and transported to other lands. In the cities and towns, they mainly set about removing all manner of debris from drainage systems so that water can run freely and not damage roads and other surrounding infrastructure. It was timely too, since in the last two years the country has experienced unusual rains that have caused landslides and floods, and damaged homesteads, farmland and various public infrastructure. Before the return of Umuganda we heard good news from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). The economy was rebounding, they announced. In 2021 GDP growth was at 10.9% up from-3.4% in 2020. So there are reliable figures to back what we are beginning to see. Entertainment has also returned. It has not been smooth. Rather bumpy and a little controversial. Which may indicate that recovery will not be a smooth run. The signal for this sort of recovery was a much anticipated concert in which a Nigerian musician was to perform. It did take place but was stopped as it was picking momentum. The reason? Noise pollution. Now, that is a subject about which there is much dispute. Not surprisingly there is big disagreement about whether stopping the concert was the right thing to do. What is certain is that it caused an uproar, especially among proponents of the right to unlimited enjoyment of music. Some argued, rather vehemently, that people who enjoy noise have rights, too, that must also be protected. If you are bothered by loud music, stuff your ears with cotton wool, they advised. The others who want peace to enjoy their sleep and rest pointed to the law that prohibits noise beyond a certain level and time. Beside the law, they also think that people should be guided by good manners, sense of responsibility, and consideration for others. Stopping the concert soon after it had begun may yet prove to be a good thing. It has reignited the debate about permissible level of noise, who determines it, and who enforces it, and may lead to a clarification of the law and clearer standards for operators of entertainment venues. Another entertainment initiative has also had a mixed reception. The City of Kigali authorities designated a part of the Gisimenti area a car-free entertainment zone from Friday evening to Sunday evening. The place was already exclusively reserved for bars, restaurants and lodges even before that decision was announced. Now, owners of these establishments are free to set up on the streets, and are doing roaring business On those nights, people pour into the area like gates have suddenly been flung open and those long held behind them rush headlong on the streets as if in competition for limited seats or vantage points. Food and drinks flow and they indulge without restraint. Women in skimpy dress walk through the different joints. They are not on a walkabout; they are scouting for clients. Men too, have one eye on the drink and another on the women. Both seem to be on a mutual search, for pleasure or money. Of course, there are regular people who go there to unwind and have fun. But while advocates of a certain kind of entertainment see the Gisimenti car-free zone as a big boost to the industry, others look at it as a place of debauchery and have used very strong words to denounce it. They have called it satanic, Sodom and Gomorrah, and many other names. The Gisiment-type of car-free entertainment zone is not the first of its kind in Kigali. It comes after a successful one in Biryogo. There, restaurants extend to the streets. Their patrons, the majority of whom are local residents or come from nearby, enjoy tea and coffee, chapatti and brochettes, all of them traditional to the area. There is a difference, though. Restaurants and the fare they offer in Biryogo are part of the culture of the place. The Gisiment area is in this sense a sort of no man’s land, owned by nobody, with no culture of its own. Of course, it is now developing one, but it is not to everyone’s taste. An earlier car-free zone in the centre of the city, now renamed Imbuga City Walk, has not quite lived up to promise. The place has been redesigned but has not attracted a large number of visitors to enjoy its pleasures. Perhaps they do not fit city dwellers’ concept of leisure or are not attractive enough, or the culture for such places has not quite developed. So life is returning to normal. The economy is recovering better and faster than we thought. Covid-19 restrictions are almost all gone. What remains is for us to behave responsibly. We are beginning to enjoy being alive again. But you can be sure that when things begin to look up, something will come along to slow us down or hold us back. And so a month ago, war broke out in Ukraine and is putting brakes on the recovery. Prices of practically all goods are rising. But even here there might be a useful lesson. Some of the agricultural products we import from Ukraine or Russia, such as wheat and cooking oil (from sunflower) can be grown locally. If we can get land to grow bhang (cannabis) we can get the same to grow sunflower. We should give it a thought.
