Intsinzi Concert: When Rwandans danced to Kagame’s inauguration

When was the last time you attended a free but quality concert? Well, I don’t know about you, but I did, on Friday night. The Kigali Intsinzi Concert was basically a victory party thrown by the City of Kigali to celebrate President Paul Kagame’s recent reelection. Needless to say, it was free of charge. Earlier in the day, in a colorful event that was attended by over 20 African Heads of State, former African heads of state, among other dignitaries from across the globe, the president had taken oath of office as head of state for the next seven years. While the inauguration ceremony took place indoors of the Amahoro National Stadium, the victory party took up the stadium’s parking yard. The stage was set up in such a way that it faced directly toward Migina, the popular strip of bars that sit astride the stadium’s main entrance. With just a road between Migina and the stadium’s perimeter fence, most people chose to sit on the outdoor terrace from where they sipped beer and followed the stage performances. The mammoth crowd was largely a youthful one, and this perhaps had something to do with the lineup of artists for the night: Charly and Nina, Bruce Melodie, Dream Boys, Urban Boys, Senderi, Riderman, King James, Jay Polly, Kitoko, Sgt. Robert, Christopher. DJ Bisoso and Toxyyk manned the decks in the DJ corner, keeping the crowd busy in the early hours of the gig. Master of Ceremonies was Lion Imanzi. UK based singer Kitoko was part of the crew that performed yesterday at the Intsinzi Party. / Courtesy Artists and MC alike, one of the most resounding phrases during the concert was Nda ndambara, from the popular campaign song, Nda ndambara yandera ubwoba. Together with Bruce Melodie’s victory song, Ntidukina, these were the biggest hits in the run up to, and after the elections. Nda ndambara made its mark even though the composer, Habimana Martin was not present. Habimana crafted the song out of a popular gospel song that he translated into a heroic praise song for candidate Paul Kagame during the presidential election campaigns. “I can’t fear any war because the Lord who protected Daniel will also protect me,” goes the original song’s chorus. What Habimana did was simply replace the name Daniel with Kagame, for context. What made the song even more popular is the fact that at the time of composing it, Habimana was Executive Secretary of Rubavu district. When the president visited Rubavu during the campaign trail, he sealed the song’s popularity when he responded to the crowd’s singing with “I, too, cannot fear any battle when I have you.” On the poster announcing the concert, organizers had chosen to create some suspense by labeling one of the performers as a “special surprise artiste” without revealing their name. Who this surprise act would be was a matter of guess work until the artist eventually stepped on stage: In The Ben, that surprise was every bit worth it. The Ben is a vocal prodigy whose RnB songs melt hearts, young and old. The US-based singer closed the night’s performances, coming on stage after the night’s other highlight, Bruce Melodie. Bruce Melodie. But fret not if you missed catching his powerful, refined vocals. Dude jetted into the country specifically for the highly billed Kwita Izina Gala Dinner that is slated for August 26 at the Kigali Convention Centre. Bruce Melodie stepped on stage at 10:15 pm, to give the expectant crowd the one song that everyone who attended the concert wanted to hear and dance to –Ntidukina. Like Nda ndambara, which is derived from a gospel worship song, Bruce Melodie curved Ntidukina out of his earlier hit, Ikinya. He instead kicked off his repertoire with Ndakwanga, one of his definitive RnB tracks from back in the day. Melodie’s performance demonstrated the power of a hit song when it comes to holding the crowd sway. He took his time before hitting climax, dusting off his well-loved RnB repertoire while saving the second best (Ikinya), and the best (Ntidukina) for second-last and last, respectively.

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Intsinzi Concert: When Rwandans danced to Kagame’s inauguration