Over the last 10 years I have travelled to Rwanda often. I have even been more frequent in the last 3. What never ceases to amaze me is the speed at which change is taking place. You can call Kagame a dictator, repressor or whatever, but his own people are not complaining. They are happy and proud of the developments taking place in their country.
I asked my friend who picked me from the airport why the airport never changes despite the fact that increasingly there are more and more flights using the airport. He answered that instead of expanding the existing airport, government had decided to build a brand new one 10 kilometres outside the city. He said plans were in advanced stages and that construction is to start soon.
As we approached the city, I saw that the skyline had changed from what it was 6 months ago. There were many more cranes, an indication of the speed at which construction was taking place. I compared the new buildings to the Dutch designs. Here in Kigali it is like there is a competition over who has the best designed building. It is like it is not a matter of putting up a bland plain Kirumira towers. Design has become an important component of building.
At Remera, one of the troublesome areas with thick traffic, a round about to ease traffic flow had been put in place. 6 months ago when I was last here, it was not there.
The city as usual retains its cleanness and traffic rules are respected, just like an advanced country. I was told there is a fine of Rw francs 10,000 (approx. US $10) for walking on the grass!
I was also pleasantly surprised to see long queues of people waiting to board the taxis in the evening. It is no longer the strongest that fight to enter first, but first come first served, a real civilized way of doing things.
Go Rwanda go, go!
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