City of Kigali’s decision to implement its first car-free zone has been received with mixed reactions with traders decrying what they term a rushed decision to pedestrianise one of the city’s busiest roads without prior consultations and preparations.

Last week, the City of Kigali declared KN4 Ave, stretching from Centenary House to the turn to Ecole Belge in the Central Business District, a car-free zone and pedestrian-only road much to the displeasure of dozens of businesses on one the city’s busiest roads.

Majority of the traders Rwanda Today spoke to blamed city authorities for picking the wrong road for the car-free zone policy, but city officials insist it is all part of the Kigali City Masterplan.

The pedestrianised road is home to leading banks including Bank of Kigali, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), Urwego Opportunity Bank and Equity Bank, leading business facilities and institutions such as Mount Kenya University.

Businesses operating along the road say the number of clients has tremendously gone down since Monday when the car-free zone policy came into force.

“We have not sold anything in two days yet on average we used to get between 30 and 50 customers on a daily basis,” said Edouard Kayishema, a dealer in electronics and phones on KN4.

“I think after this month we will close shop and find new premises because the rent here is very high, since this was considered a high end and prime business location,” added Hafsa Mupende, a dealer in high end textiles, who also said she has not registered a single customer in days.

The majority of the traders Rwanda Today spoke to said that while they supported the idea of creating car-free zones, they were not given enough time to prepare for any eventualities.

Members of the business community said that they only met city authorities and government officials to be informed of the decision.

“When we met city officials, it was too late to tell them that the decision to make that particular road car-free was not viable — the decision had already been made,” said one of the traders who deals in furniture but who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Most of us could not raise our concerns for fear of contravening government policies,” said the businessman, adding that even when he gets prospective clients, it becomes difficult to sell furniture since most customers require cars to carry the merchandise.

An accountant at one of the popular eateries Camelia Tea House told Rwanda Today that the number of clients coming to the restaurant has gone down.

“Most of the people who were coming here to eat or have business meetings were coming in vehicles. It is certain that they will find other convenient places,” he added.

Banking affected

With a big number of banks located on KN4, the road is considered the “Wall Street of Kigali.”

The banks says accessibility has been affected over the past few days, with the number of clients coming in to transact business also falling.

“Banking in essence is a high street business which in principle thrives on unimpeded access. With the new changes, we have received a lot of unhappy comments from our clients who complained about failure to access our main branch to transact business,” Maurice Toroitich, the Managing Director of KCB Rwanda told Rwanda Today.

“Our staff too have expressed unhappiness in accessing the premises following the new changes, with many struggling to get to work on time but we are hoping that people will be able to adjust to these changes and get used to them,” Mr Toroitich added.

A staff of Bank of Kigali who spoke to Rwanda Today on condition of anonymity said that the number of clients has tremendously gone down this week, since the main access to the bank is blocked.

“The tellers are redundant. People are opting for other branches which are accessible,” the official said, adding that the government should revise the decisions before banks layoff redundant staff.

The Mayor of Kigali Fidele Ndayisaba however said that the impact on businesses will only be short-term, adding that Rwandans are sometimes resistant to change at the beginning only to accept the changes later.

Mayor Ndayisaba also argued that it is difficult to measure the impact in a matter of days, as it might require time for people to adapt to new changes and grasp the concept of pedestrianising parts of the Central Business District.

“As we know, people do not easily adapt to changes but with time, we will see more people coming to these businesses and more activities thriving from pedestrianising some of the roads in the CBD. What we are seeing are short term effects,” Mr Ndayisaba said.

He said that the changes had been planned in the city masterplan and that more roads, including KN2 Avenue from Kigali City Market to City Plaza, will follow.

The decision to pedestrianise KN4 Ave has led to a shortage of parking spots as affected bank employees and business people who work in the area scramble for parking in the morning.

Alternative routes used to access affected buildings on the main road are experiencing traffic jams in the morning and evening , while businesses in what is commonly known as “Quartier Matteus” and “Quartier Commerciale” have been directly affected by the decision.

The parking at the nearby Centenary House, which is usually reserved for customers of Simba Supermarket and people working or seeking different services in the same building has been taken over by staff of banks who fill it in the morning and leave in the evening.

Despite the chaotic scenes that followed the enforcement of the car-free zone, proponents of the policy say that the idea is a good one as far as turning Kigali into a green city is concerned.

By Wednesday, KN4 Ave looked abandoned with the few pedestrians seen opting for the pavements.

Kevin Thierry Gatete, a blogger and human rights activist, argues that people will get used to the idea with time, but the city has to put in place facilities that make car-free zones work, such as free WiFi, eateries and public places for people to sit.

Analysts say the city came all out to enforce the car-free zone policy after President Paul Kagame tweeted in favour of the idea of a car-free central business district after reading an opinion piece in a local daily.

However, appearing on Rwanda Today Talkshow on KFM on Wednesday, the Mayor of Kigali denied that the policy came into force because of a tweet, noting that it is provided for in the city masterplan, but they were only waiting for the time to implement it.