TRAVEL
On a leisurely ramble,
here is what to do
and see in Kigali
By Brian GashugI
VISIT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
MUSEUM
Formerly a state house, the Presidential Palace Museum was built in
the late 1970s and was President Juvenal Habyarimana’s home between
1980 and 1994. President Pasteur
Bizimungu also occupied it between
1995 and 2000.
Kigali City - Nyarugende
J
uJust a few years ago, Kigali was
a place to get your business
done and get out. There was little to do in Rwanda’s tiny capital.
After the 1994 genocide, Kigali was an
uninviting city with no public museum, no classy hotels, bars or restaurants to talk about. Above all, the city
was considered as an insecure place
for anyone interested in a leisurely
ramble. The few travellers to Rwanda
were only drawn by “disaster tourism”.
But now the so-called “disaster tourism” is history. Rwanda’s capital has
rebounded and is now feted as not
only one of the safest cities on the
continent but also one of the most
beautiful! Surrounded by green terraced hills, Kigali City is now a tourist
destination in its own right! Ultimately, leisure tourism is on the rise.
CHECK OUT
KIGALI GENOCIDE
MEMORIAL CENTRE
It’s quite unfortunate that one of Kigali’s biggest attractions is a museum that houses the remains of about
300,000 victims of the 1994 genocide.
48 - CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Gisozi Genocide Memorial site
Arguably the best museum in Rwanda, the sobering Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre was recently given a
facelift. It now has three exhibition
spaces, a library, a documentation
centre, a photo gallery an education
centre for peace and reconciliation,
mass graves and beautiful gardens.
You can take a tour of the house and
discover some of its features, including a private nightclub and a secret
loft. Outside in the compound, you
will get to see the remains of the
FALCON 50 presidential plane in
which President Habyarimana died
on April 6, 1994. It is widely believed
that it was the shooting down of Habyarimana’s plane as it approached
his compound that ignited the 1994
genocide.
Here you will get to see human bones,
skulls and some of the weapons that
were used to kill hapless victims
during the genocide such as machetes, clubs, hammers, knives, swords,
etc – all kept in their original form.
There are several genocide memorial sites that are spread across the
country and they are sustained as a
stinging reminder of the horrifying
violence that took place here during
the 1994 genocide. It is envisaged that
such reminders will help to prevent
another genocide.
Presidential Palace Museum