The Coronavirus pandemic is taking a serious toll on everyday life all over the world. In Rwanda, measures have been taken to try and prevent the spread of this pandemic that ordinary Rwandans are having a hard time putting into action due to the fact that many do not grasp the seriousness of this highly contagious and lethal virus but also because many Rwandans, as opposed to the polished and inaccurate image that we have been selling to our donors live under the line of poverty often making less than $ 2.00 a day. Just recently, Rwanda has been ousted again in a new scandal of offshore accounts where money donated to boost our allegedly 7% growth per year economy mysteriously finds its way into these accounts ( $190 Million in Aid Money taken and hidden in offshore accounts! http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/493201582052636710/pdf/Elite-Capture-of-Foreign-Aid-Evidence-from-Offshore-Bank-Accounts.pdf. )

These donors may now find the reality of the growth they have been funding quite different over the coming weeks. The goodwill of the Rwandan government in tackling this pandemic is commendable; Rwanda clearly understands what is at stake with COVID-19 given the resolute firmness of the measures taken by the government against it; unfortunately, there seems to be a clear disconnect between the authorities ordering the implementation of lockdown measures and the people at the receiving end simply because the steps recommended can only apply to western like societies with solid incomes and emergency social assistance packages.  Very few people in Rwanda fit in that category where there are no such emergency packages in place.
With the tax base at 10% of the population, locking down the country is realistically impossible.

Most Rwandans live on a day to day basis.  They earn a daily wage that they spend to the last cent the same day. For a lot of them, it will not be possible to heed to the government’s call to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. They will starve if they stay home.

I appeal to the government of Rwanda, to the Ministry of Local Government, in particular, to look into a plan that would allow local businesses to continue working under the mentorship of the Cell Executives ( gitifu) on all the 416 Sector levels ( imirenge)  to allow the locals to feed their families because they cannot afford to stay home.  They do not have the means to.  They have no savings and cannot carry out the enforced lockdown as daily income earners.
 Executives (gitifu) should work with local businesses on a possible plan to help locals get food and maintain social distancing. Only then will they be able to fight COVID19 effectively.

Noble Marara