Rwanda: Kigali's Cost of Growth

George Kagame15 June 2007
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Kigali — Kigali Central Prison, 1930, to be moved.

The announcement by the Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Fazil Musa Harerimana that all the prisons in Kigali, Rwanda's capital city and all metropolitan towns will be shifted to less crowded places is just the latest signs of a turning socio-economical destiny of the country.

The land surrounding Kigali Central Prison, commonly known as 1930 has already been


"sold to private investors," to quote the minister, who are likely to build new modern housing and office blocks. The minister however, could not divulge information relating to whom the land was sold to.

It is a fact that the general demand for industrial and development premises, most certainly above 10,000 sq ft, is increasing, nowadays is interesting to note that identifying suitable sites within Kigali and the surrounding region for industrial development is extremely difficult at the present time yet demand for such space grows everyday.

While on the face of it, with reference to Kigali City Council's land allocation plan and the new master plan for urban housing, you would feel that many sites are available for development; upon further investigation one may find very few ready for immediate development like it is being portrayed.

This acute shortage of residential and industrial land has been intensified by many former industrial allocated sites being re-developed for residential schemes which generate higher land values, such as the 600 hundred low income housing estates in Remera that the city recently embarked on.

Demand for residential land

Demand for residential land is at all time high and there does not seem to be a downward trend in the market, at least at present with national and international companies targeting Rwandans in the Diaspora, with the crafty but appealing advert 'own a home at home campaign' the competition is very aggressive for suitable sites.


In the recent past, largely unexpected, high increase in rates and the potential of a further rise, many people in the market place are erring on the side of prudence although, given the shortage of quality investment product, yields being achieved continue to sharpen.

Yields for quality office buildings in Kigali City have materialized and indeed will continue to do so in the near future (subject to no major increase in rates). With all the commercial activity and new jobs being created, the need for more housing stock continues to arise.

The hard work of the City Council and many leading investors in the city has been instrumental in providing a comprehensive master plan for the re-development of key locations in Kigali. These are the ongoing revitalization of the city centre, the suburbs, an industrial park set to be built in the east and the imminent shift of the city centre to southwards.

The latter location will see a surge of new residential development over the next few years with approximately 100 acres allocated to industrial/commercial development just before Kabuga along the road to Rwamagana.

Kigali City has come a long way, for now 100 years, the changes no longer just have to be talked about but are actually happening. The foundations of success have most certainly been laid and the growth is now being constructed.


International events such as the recently concluded International Conference for Women, where the city hosted President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, International investment conference when many of Africa's leading business executives and the forth coming International Conference on HIV/Aids activists slated to take place mid June boost and will further enhance the profile of Kigali City.

However, there is still a lot of hard work to be undertaken and no matter how good the feeling of success may be we can never become complacent, says Mr. Bruno Rangira the Director of Communication and Media in Kigali City Council.

Minister Harerimana says his ministry will respond to the increased need for urban development land, "The construction of new prisons will result in improved conditions for the inmates". He says, through contributing towards construction plans, inmates will considerably reduce the costs of building and resources will be considerably freed to improve other services within the prisons.

There are two possible options in respect of the replacement of the outdated prisoner accommodation at Remera, the first is to redevelop the area, according to the Minister, and the Remera prison will be refurbished to host all juvenile convicts in the country whose number is now estimated at 1,000.

"According to the plan, the new facility would cost over Frw6 billion but we are planning to cut the cost by using the services of inmates in constructing it, and the work will kick off next year," Harerimana said.


The second option is to relocate the prison to a new area like 1930 which is set to relocate to Butamwa in Nyarugenge District, where the district gave the Internal security ministry 800 hectares of land.

Modern prison

The prison at Remera will be changed and remodelled. It will have three main wings for women, children and men.

Also planned are state-of-the-art executive cells that will be put in place in case foreigners are arrested in Rwanda and need solitude.

"Our judiciary has of recent been credited internationally and we may one time be asked to host international prisoners as it is the case for Mali, which is detaining Rwanda Genocide convicts. We shall be using such cells which will be self contained," he said. Six Rwandans including former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda are currently serving their respective sentences in Mali after being convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, (ICTR).

Meanwhile the construction of the new prison will start from a block that will serve as a transit centre for suspects (who will be transferred from ICTR) during the course of trial, as their designated prison is the newly constructed Mpanga, in Southern Province.

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It is one of the terrible ironies of Kigali life that the sprawling prison complex at 1930 has been having a crude form of in cell sanitation, well as outside their jails, prisoners looked far well fed. Some times even looking far better than normal citizens, conditions inside the jails were appalling.

Upon entering the prison, a visitor was welcomed by a very violent stench of a mixture of urine and body sweat. At night the stench took another ugly form that mixed to form a nasty smell around the prison. The sale off of the prison will significantly increase the sanitation in that area.

An argument can be made for maintaining a city centre prison, especially one which is close to the main judicial courts and can facilitate trials and committals. It is possible following a reallocation of functions and remodelling that Remera prison would be used for that purpose.

The location is also is very convenient, Batumwa is close to the main road, and access to the Supreme Court is very easy. So the ministry in choosing Butamwa in Nyarugenge District and Remera which is very near the Supreme Court in Kacyiru was good enough.