For a long time now, we have heard whispers about the fabled master plan for Kigali City, but without seeing anything tangible. Last week, KCC has broken the silence.

Mayor Kirabo Kakira: “The master plan is not intended to chase low-income earners from the city.” (photo Timothy Kisambira)

What KCC accomplished back in June, was a conceptual master plan. This is however, the general idea of how the city should look like. The remaining work is to fill in details into the master plan, a job that the city council has dedicated to the three districts that make up Kigali city.

The conceptual master plan cost US$ 1.7 million (approximately Frw 970 million) and was prepared by international experts. An additional Frw 3 billion has been pumped in by the Ministry of infrastructure to detail the master plan.

Now districts and sectors can concur on the master plan and tender for expertise to fill in the missing gaps through the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority.

“At each sector, we have posted an urban planner along with basic terms of reference which enables the sector to complete various details in to the master plan,” said Aisa Kirabo Kakira, the Mayor of KCC.

Up to now, however, Nyarugenge is the only district that is somewhere close to completing its part of the master plan. That is according to Alphonse Nizeyimana, vice mayor in charge of Economy, who said that the Nyarugenge master plan should be presented on December 5.

So far, according to the master plan, the commercial business district will occupy most of the current down town area, where 16-storey business buildings will be located. On the other hand, the area from SORAS building to CHK has been demarcated for hotels with at least 8 floors. Upper Kiyovu up to Rugunga has been earmarked as a residential area where two or three storied flats shall be constructed.

Underutilized land

According to Kirabo, the demarcated land had been underutilized yet it has the necessary infrastructure such as linking roads. “The land will be consolidated so that larger buildings that can hold lots of businesses are constructed,” she said.

Consolidation of land in these areas will require partnerships with investors, for owners who don’t have the funds to construct buildings that are up to date with the master plan.

On top of that KCC is pushing for the pass of the condominium law which would define how investors and proprietors can partner to construct large buildings.

 As for Kicukiro and Gasabo, it is not yet known when their master plans will be ready for there seems to be loads of work to be done.

“Implementation of the city master plan is a gradual process,” Nizeyimana said, while Kirabo was optimistic that within six months most of the orientations on the master plans will be ready.

The delay to complete the master plan has led to assumptions that the city will be only for the rich while low-income earners will get pushed out. On top of that, the long wait has frustrated some people, since they had to shelf their construction plans as they weren’t sure of the full outcome of the master plan.

Kirabo was however quick to calm the worries saying that the master plan was conceived ensuring that all aspects are catered for. “I want it to be clear that the master plan is not intended to chase low-income earners from the city,” Kirabo stressed.

She referred to the expanded Kigali city boundaries where it currently sits on 700 square kilometers rather than the former 350 square kilometers. “There will be cheaper areas to live in such as Masaka and Gahanga,” she said.

Exceptions

While shaping up the city according to the master plan, there will be some exceptions. For instance, areas where high end residential houses have been built even though they do not belong there according to the plan, will be upgraded. This will be done through availing roads, trenches and other infrastructural amenities.

Medium-end houses located in their respective allocated places will not be touched. However, houses located in slums and which can cause danger to owners or have a negative impact on the environment will be expropriated and dwellers moved to other places.

“The new city master plan will also cater for low-income earners,” Kirabo remarked. Medium-end houses will be in the range of Frw 20 million while high-end residential houses could even go above Frw 100 million.

Nevertheless, there could be some considerations. For example, if a big residential house is built in an area where it should not be – where a road will be constructed, for instance – adjustments can be made; in other words, the road could be rerouted. Unless there are alternatives, the house would be demolished.

One highly positive aspect of the master plan is that the city finally will have a centralized sewage system, set to cost around US$ 30 million.

Another significant area covered within the master plan is roads. Due to increased traffic over the last few years, there are routes where you can hardly move during the rush hours, such as Rwandex-Sonatubes or Kimihurura-Remera. In this respect, KCC has identified 24 km of feeder roads to supplement the main ones. For example, the Gatenga- Kicukiro road is to be reconstructed to ease traffic on the Rwandex –Sonatubes road.

Kirabo insisted that so far the KCC was embarking on two main roads at the moment for their importance. These are city center-Nyamirambo and Kanombe-airport roads which have been patched up many times, which has been a costly process without tangible results.

However, the mayor cautioned that if the existing infrastructure is not protected, then the intended use of the master plan would not be easily achieved.

“It costs the government Frw 500 million to lay one kilometer of asphalted road,” she pointed out, “therefore such infrastructure need to be utilized.”

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