Chief Executive Issue 2 | Page 48

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