Ten years ago, Alphonse Havugimana lived in comfort just 10km from Kigali city centre.

With his small cow pen and a banana plantation, Mr Havugimana was sure that he was well within the city’s reach but far away from the hustle and bustle of the capital: A perfect setting.

Fast forward to 10 years later. Mr Havugimana, 53, and his family are on the edge of being pushed out of their ancestral land, not by anyone but the fast-approaching mansions and highrise apartments that are popping up in his once “rural neighbourhood” in Kimironko Sector.

“I used to think that the city would never reach where we are, but now we are faced with the predicament of moving further to avoid being swamped up by the fast development,” says Mr Havugimana, adding that his privacy is now no more, what with his being sandwiched between heavily fenced, storeyed mansions.

“It’s like an island; I’m now stuck between rich people I have not even met, so clearly it has to be me to move,” he adds, revealing that all he hears is that his neighbours are “top government officials or military officers”.

A former porter in a government ministry, Mr Havugimana says he has turned down offers running into “millions of francs” for his strategically located 28 metres by 40 metres parcel of land from prospective buyers who want to replace his old rental and family houses with highrise apartments.

“Eventually, I will accept the money and go elsewhere; not because I want to but because I have no choice,” he adds. “I have no capacity to develop my land, yet I know selling it could give me a new lease of life.”

Meteoric rise

Such is the dilemma traditional residents of Kimironko face: The suburb has grown so fast that its original inhabitants are finding themselves out of place.

Once a haven of Kigali’s underprivileged, Kimironko’s rise from a slum into one of the city’s commercial hubs in the past decade has been meteoric.

“This entire area of Bibare, up to Remera, down to Nyadungu was a forest in early 2000s. Now, it has been taken over by upcoming residential areas. The original residents have been moved elsewhere,” observes Theophile Ntaganira, a local leader.

Kimironko was also known to be the red light district of Kigali, being home to the city’s ladies of the night as well as the destitute. The brothels have since been replaced by banks, hotels, apartments and posh residential houses.

Over the past two years, all the big commercial banks—including Bank of Kigali, Kenya Commercial Bank and Ecobank— have targeted the suburb thanks to the many commercial establishments there.

The suburb is home to Kigali’s biggest fresh food markets that caters for about 30 per cent of the city’s consumption. It serves as the first stop for food stocks transported from across the country, mainly from Eastern and Northern provinces.

“We supply most small markets in various parts of the city—charcoal, bananas, potatoes, vegetables...” says Consolata Uwanyirigira, a wholesale trader in the market.

Steams with activity

Located between the main bus terminus and the strategically positioned banks, Kimironko Market steams with activity from the wee hours of the morning till late at night.

For those replenishing their kitchen stores at home and hoteliers restocking supplies, everything can be bought in this market which hosts about 1,500 traders. The rich and the poor converge here because they can all have what suits their budgets.

Such is the beauty of the market that, at one time, a suggestion to relocate it drew massive resentment.

However, as Mr Havugimana says, the suburb is increasingly going upscale, technically knocking out its historical residents, who fall out of the social ladder as it develops more and more.

A few low-cost houses—or rather, slum settlements—still stand, as if daring the development sweeping across the once treasured neighbourhood of Kigali’s less privileged.

As the home of Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), Kimironko is also a haven of college students who used to find affordable housing there easily, even though today such establishments are quickly vanishing.

Kigali’s Bronx

“There used to be affordable low-cost houses in Kimironko; today these are being replaced with high-end residential houses, which means that even the youth no longer feel at home in the area,” says Patrick Mugisha, who, even after he completed his studies, continued living in the area.

In fact, some youth refer to the area as “Kimironx”, an odd comparison to the Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City.

This could be because of its wide variety of neighbourhoods—which, just like the Bronx, one of the five poorest Congressional Districts in the United States, includes the affluent as well as middle- to upper income areas.

The proof of Kimironko’s youth culture is that its bars are open till late while pork joints operate round the clock and loud music can be heard at any time.

It was once home to Kigali’s main cemetery but that has since been moved to Rusororo. The old cemetery is expected to be phased out to pave the way for a huge investment.

Home to churches

Many religious establishments are also at home in Kimironko, including several born-again churches—from the famous Restoration Church to the picturesque Regina Pacis, a Roman Catholic Church.

You cannot mention Kimironko without mentioning Remera Prison, the second largest jail in Kigali, which holds about 4,500 prisoners. The facility has been transformed into one of the best correctional centres in Rwanda.

Kimironko, in Gasabo District, can be compared with Kigali’s fast growing suburbs such as Kicukiro, Kibagabaga or Nyarutarama.