Unit 9: Uburyo bwo gutwara abagenzi (Mode of transportation)

There are different modes of transportation used in Rwanda. These include motorcycles, buses, taxis, coaches, boats, and airplanes. Boats are used to travel in Kivu Lake between towns of Cyangugu, Kibuye, Gisenyi and Ilands Iwawu, Bugarura, and Nkombo in the Western Province. They may probably be used to travel to Idjwi Iland (DRC) and the towns of Goma and Bukavu (DRC) in the near future based on the protocol between Rwanda and the DRC governments. Buses and Coaches are used to travel between Kigali and other cities within the country. They are also used to travel between cities in the Eastern African Region, namely: Kigali, Bujumbura, Kampala, Mwanza, Arusha, Nairobi, and Dar-es-Salam. There is also an interstate private bus and taxi transportation service operating between Kigali (Rwanda), Bujumbura (Burundi), Kampala (Uganda). The Rwandan Police Department is very committed to ensure safety and security of national and international passengers who choose to use any public or private means of transportation on national roads by a reliable and systematic traffic control. The reliable RwandAir covers domestic flights between Kigali and Kamembe. They are also used for regional and international flights from Kigali International Airport to Bujumbura, Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa, Arusha, Dar-es-Salam, Kinshasa, Johannesburg and Dubai. The Transportation department fixes the bus and taxi fare equitably. In Rwanda the public transportation of people is very organized and it gives alternatives to passengers. You may either go by bus or taxi known as “twegerane” (let’s sit together closely). In Kigali (capital city) and in other cities, bus stations and taxi stations have different locations for different destinations within a particular city. However, there are private taxi services which operate within the city of Kigali moving people to and from the airport, Hotels, Motels, Inns, and various residential areas. Every bus and taxi is operated by a driver and a conductor whose main task is to collect money from passengers. Similarly, private taxi associations from Kigali do the interprovincial and intercity transportation of people in a regulated manner by transportation authority involved in terms of fare charged per passenger, per trip, schedule and speed limit. They have their specific terminals. We will have some conversations which may illustrate how people get transported, based on their choice, from one station to another within the country, in the neighboring countries, and other countries.