Now that the new flowered and plant green coat of Kigali main street medians and sides is beginning to blossom, are Kigalois (residents/city officials) ready to rise up to expectations? Yes, the onus is on them all to hoist the Kigali cleanliness-and-orderliness flag even higher. Kigali has for long been qualified with superlatives that still need to be bettered: greenest, most beautiful, most orderly, most alluring, most creative, most secure, most tree-covered and sundry others. On this continent, at least. If Kigali is truly all these – mind you, the qualifications are by visitors – it’s because the city is setting a trend for the whole country. Because, as they say in Luo-land of Kenya, if a fish starts from the head when rotting, so does it start from the head when growing healthier. So, for Rwanda to up her ante in tidiness, Kigalois must not shy away from the challenge of being at the vanguard. And thus far, many of them have shown that they can be equal to the task. There are rotten fish among city officials, that’s an undeniable truth. However, with the country’s leadership firmly behind the residents and thus quick to weed out the offenders, the heavy arm of the law has always come down hard on these ne’er-do-wells. Kigalois must be on the alert, then. For, in spite of it all, they’ve kept up their onward-march. Where central and local governments have failed to stretch everyone’s taxes, and utility parastatals to stretch charged fees, beyond a certain limit, residents have rallied together to push further their efforts or dig deeper in their pockets to chip in. We’ve seen this in umuganda for different tasks: cleaning, clearing bushes, putting up houses for the poor, building bridges, say it. We’ve seen it as residents have pooled resources to hard-surface their housing-estate streets and to help utility companies connect houses to electric power lines and running water to main pipes. It’s for this cooperation among central government, local governments and residents that the city is going places. When the prestigious National Geographic Magazine enthuses about “progressive” Kigali having “an allure of its own. Thanks to…innovative entrepreneurs”, it buoys the heart. The turf, plants and trees along the tidy tarmacked streets; the wooded hills; the organized residential housing estates and their green spaces – though still a long way to go on that score; the wetlands – though still being organized. The general “lush greenery” plus the beautiful buildings sprouting all over are to thank for those plaudits. In fact, NGM’s journalist, Emma Gregg, described The Kigali Conference Centre in a way that’d never occurred to me. As a “domed like a traditional Rwandan palace” (yes, we know) but as “lit like a sci-fi space station”, wapi! I had always failed to capture that imagery, though it always hovered over my mind. But as residents, we must not allow our officials and ourselves to sit on our laurels, even if we deserve them. We must push ourselves harder, if our “think big” motto is to hold meaning. And so, Kigalois, speak up your views, for you have responsive administrations. Here is my take on required improvements and additions to existing attractions. We certainly need more tarmacked streets all over Kigali, if dust and mud are not to be imported from side streets and roads to soil our main streets that would otherwise be sparklingly neat asphalt. The street median and side edges need the good old matting turf to hold the soil that’s left bare by these flower plants, so as not spill onto the tarmac. Luckily, as our city officials have so easily reverted to the old zebra crossing colours (for failure to assiduously maintain other colours?), so can they easily bring back some turf. I salute the new beautiful buildings, Heaven knows I do, but we need more reminders of our past ugliness! Parliament Buildings, the Kant house and Habyarimana (if the genocidaire was truly issued from God!) building are not enough. The arts are doing a good job and should be praised. They need emulation. Kigali security is hard to fault, as all know. But house break-ins and petty thievery need halting. Service delivery, service delivery! Does it know this is modern Kigali? The queues in public and private hospitals, local administration offices, banks, bus and minibus-taxi stations and such other places, only modern technology can save Kigalois. The crowds! ICT tools like Irembo online service are doing their best but I guess their hands are full. Otherwise, much as government reacts in a flash to hold pandemics like COVID19 at bay, it can’t do everything at once. It’s a puzzle how some officials ignore its impassioned urgings. But if you want to see misery, visit the RSSB headquarters building. Try to see a doctor who approves prescribed medicine that’s not on the list of those covered by the medical insurance and you’ll scream blue murder! That man (only one?) moves in endless circles, only to sign for an acquaintance here and there and look at the groaning crowd as if they are trash! Does that doctor know this is not the Rwanda of the years before 1994? The views expressed in this article are of the author.
