Bahoneza – Kinyarwanda, Rwanda Welfare, Social Welfare, Rwanda People, Nutrition and Diet, Rwanda Habitat, Living in Kigali

The Advisory council of Gakenke District has set a town master plan following a meeting on the 7^th.Aug.2012 where it decided to bring basic infrastructure services like water and electricity to the town to enable quick building and development of the area.

Gakenke town is made of 11 villages 7 of which are in Gakenke sector and 4 from Nemba sector according to the new master plan of the town.

Since Gakenke town is chaotic due to bad buildings that make it, every person’s contribution is needed to develop it and make it better as Zephyrin Ntakirutimana the vice mayor for social affairs of Gakenke district said.

The district planned Rwf38million to be used during expropriation period to clear land in this town and these plots will be sold at agreed price and the money be taken back to the district account. In this town there are a few nice residential houses and at least one storied commercial house and others are slums and old houses.

Many people are not sure how this town will be developed as people who get rich decide to build in already developed cities like Kigali city or Musanze town.

Muhanga town

Rwanda Housing Authority has asked districts and towns to classify village settlements so that they are used during the 4^th general population and housing census to start on July 16^th 2012.

Alexis Byiringiro, employee in Rwanda housing authority presented to Muhanga district Advisory committee the master plan of the this town, villages that should be in the town and settlements that should not be included in the town.

However, the master plan is not the final because the advisory committee of Muhanga has to study it and confirm if the village settlements are classified the way they should be.

This comes to life after Rwanda Housing Authority realized that some villages in districts are not yet defined to know if they belong to town part or in the village.

Byiringiro asserts that defining the villages is being done in connection with helping data collectors find the whole information during the census to base on while planning development for residents, towns and villages.

While studying the master plan of Muhanga town, the district advisory committee faced the problem of some villages that belong to the urban part when they qualify to be on the pre-urban part.

Muhanga district mayor, Yvonne Mutakwasuku confesses that some settlements are counted in town when they have no roads, electricity and water. She suggests that those villages should be put where the town will be expanded to.

Byiringiro explains that being in the urban part of the district does not mean residents are richer than those in pre-urban part of the area.

The advisory council of Ngoma district is not satisfied with the master plan designed by the Rwanda Housing Authority for the district.

The authorities from Rwanda Housing Authority were presenting the designed master plan of Ngoma district which required 22meters distance for every house away from the road but the advisory council was uncertain about the implementation of the policy.

Members of the Ngoma advisory council say that it will require them a lot of capacity to displace those close to the road such as the government bodies and other private institutions.

A member of the advisory council Umutoniwase Claudine was not impressed with the required 22meters away from the road as many people will be made to dismantle their houses.

According to the official in charge of planning in the Rwanda Housing Authority Camile Marara,

“Being close to the road could cause respiratory infections when one breathes in various fumes produced by vehicles, close to accidents and the noise pollution from cars which can also cause headache problems and hearing problems to the person.”

Marara continued to explain that the issue will be well studied with the help of the concerned authorities like the ministry finance so that no one is affected by the newly implemented law.

The master plan of Ngoma town is on 8000 hectares of land including the sectors of Remera, Kibungo and Kazo.

An artistic impression of Kigali city in the coming years as part of a new development master plan

Has a city develop using initiatives that challenge our thinking? That is exactly what has happened to Kigali City. Its development agenda was featured at the Design Indaba 2012 Expo and conference in Cape Town, which took place from February 29-March 04, 2012.

Former mayor of Kigali city, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira (2006-2011), spoke on a panel at the Expo that also included former mayor of Bogota (Colombia), Enrique Peñalosa. Kacyira is now the UN under secretary for UN-HABITAT.

With a focus on international thought leadership, the Design Indaba Conference and Expo have become one of the world’s leading design events and hosts more than 40 speakers and 2 500 delegates. The world’s design minds converge in Cape Town annually for this event.

Kirabo spoke about how Kigali was transformed during her time as mayor. Under her leadership, Kigali became the first African city to win the UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honour Award “in recognition of the high level of cleanliness, greenness, safety and the sustainable, affordable housing initiatives combined with pro-poor urban employment opportunities”. The award was in October 2008.

Her initiatives to improve Kigali were arguably as bold Bogota’s as they have defied reason, but eventually won over supporters and Kigalians. If you arrive there today, any plastic bags are confiscated at the airport before you can enter the city. The city is spotless.

The boulevards are lined by nicely trimmed trees and traffic flows smoothly, largely because of an army of motorcycle taxis and a thriving bus and taxi system. You are often within eyesight of an armed policeman which enhances citizen’s safety.

On every last Saturday mornings of every month, all citizens take part in Umuganda, a nationwide initiative in which neighbours come together to pick up litter, cut grass, trim trees, and even help build schools.

Through this, civic pride is instilled in the citizens of Kigali and the greatest benefit is that social barriers are crossed because all citizens take part, from taxi drivers to government officials; doctors to priests; and all the other diversifying aspects in the country.

President Paul Kagame has been the biggest backer of a perfect Kigali. The city now has a new master plan depicting how the city will be in 50 years. Contrary to the past decades when anybody chose where to build or live, the current development strategy requires that whatever is built is reflective of how that specific area will look like in several years to come.

In Kigali, real estate construction is the order of the day. After years of stagnation, some parts of the city look like a construction sites as magnificent skyscrapers continue to prop up the skyline.

The road network is another major develop. All roads have been either tarmac, stones or under construction.