By David Himbara
The East African is the first newspaper to analyze the impact of General Paul Kagame’s border closure on Rwandan businesses. The paper’s research on cross-border bus companies shows that the companies have incurred massive losses on the Rwanda-Uganda-Kenya route since February 27, 2019, when Kagame closed the border. Here are The East African findings:
- Trinity Express, a Kigali-based bus company with over 10 buses now deploys only one on the Kigali-Kampala route. Only foreign nationals, but not Rwandans, use Trinity Express services. Previously, the company did more than 20 trips a day. Now, it can only manage one a trip a day.
- Simba Coach, which plied the Kigali-Nairobi via Kampala suspended 3 of its 7 bus fleet on the route.
- Mash Poa, Modern Coast and Jaguar Express are limited to carrying only foreigners.The three companies have also had to cancel or reduce frequency of travels, leaving a section of their fleet idle.
Good job — The East African. You are the only real news organization in Rwanda.
