Driving on Gishushu Road, Kigali towards the Kiyovu Downtown, Princess, a South African broadcast journalist suspiciously exclaimed: “Are you sure that these people are not keeping the city so clean because they know they are hosting the world?”
Of course that was not true. Having been in Kigali some years back, I knew this was not true as the culture of impeccable cleanliness was something I saw during my first visit some years back.
Kigali, the City of a Thousand Hills, is a city that enamours one with its simplicity, beauty and orderliness. It is a city that is thriving towards being futuristic yet insists on clinging to everything that makes it unique as a modern African city. It is a green city with obvious efforts by the people and government to keep it that way.
While Kigali is the City of Thousand Hills, we coincidentally lodged at Hotel des Milles Collines meaning the Hotel of a Thousand Hills. It is a grand, expansive, old but well maintained hotel that offers a splendid view of Kigali, especially at night. Being a city with undulating hills, from the hotel, the city spreads out like an artwork on a canvas. The sight is beautiful.
Kigali is hosting the 23rd World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Summit. WTTC is the world’s foremost body for private-sector travel and tourism organisations and practitioners. It was the first time the body was holding its summit in Africa, and Kigali, with its perfection as a city, set a positive tone and created a very good image of what Africa has to offer.
Speaking on Kigali, the chief executive officer of WTTC Ms. Julia Simpson described Kigali as a success story. She said it is a city that embraces its past, is at peace with its present, and thrives to create a success story. She said it was an experience coming into Kigali for the first time some years back and seeing the clean and orderly environment. She also expressed delight at how the government has transformed and empowered many of its citizens from being just employees of government to owners of businesses.
History of Kigali
What has blossomed into a modern African city was initially a German trading post. It was later taken over by Belgium. However, when Rwanda gained independence in 1962, Kigali was chosen as the nation’s capital due to its central location. That set the tone for its development and growth.
However, Kigali’s growth was halted by the 1994 genocidal ethnic unrest that saw thousands of Tutsi killed by Hutu groups.
The year 1994 became a watershed in the history of Rwanda. Kigali, like Rwanda as a country has risen above that blot. The 1994 killing has become a very bad nightmare. Kigali has moved ahead and it is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa.
In the last two decades, the city has continued to witness rapid development. Kigali is like a construction site with so many developmental projects being carried out at the same time.
At Kiyovu which is more like a highbrow residential area and also the business district, there are so many constructions currently on.
In the area of social amenities, most of the city’s main and inner roads are tarred and kept spotless. Surprisingly for a modern city, seeing dirt on the roads is a rarity. The country banned the use of plastic bottles and polythene bags.
In a chat with one of the citizens, he explained that Rwanda has a monthly clean-up exercise. For the exercise, the city is shut down
There seem to be no slums in Kigali because some of the houses in the low-income areas which are mostly in the valley area are modest but well-kept.
Kigali residents pride themselves as a people who are law-abiding. During traffic, no crazy driver, either commercial or private, tries to play a fast one by driving against traffic.
Motorcyclists are ubiquitous in Kigali, but you hardly see one without a helmet, and for commercial cyclists, helmet and identity jackets.
Leisure in Kigali
Kigali has a lot to offer in the area of tourism. One place that is a must-visit for visitors is the Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum. Here the story of the 1994 ethnic cleansing is captured in its full gruesomeness. The museum is a reminder of why deadlock is the best form of conflict resolution.
Question Coffee Kigali is an interesting place to visit especially for Coffee lovers. Question offers visitors to learn about coffee farming. Visitors could also have the opportunity to taste different blends of coffee cultivated in different parts of Rwanda, highland and lowland.
There is also a healthy nightlife. Places like the beautifully decorated Choose Kigali are among the cool spots to visit. It has an art gallery and open lounge with a wonderful view of Kigali. Others include Intare Arena and Legacy Lounge and Bar. It is a city that prides itself in being able to offer visitors premium relaxation leisure.
The national language of Rwanda is Kinyarwanda with French and English as official languages. The culinary experience in Kigali was not a little subtle, unlike countries like Ethiopia where from your first day in the country you are told about Njira as their national delicacy. In Kigali, no matter how unruly and disorderly one is, one is forced to fall in line once one soaks oneself into life in this beautiful city.