 |
At a distance the presidential palace museum looks like a
large aged abandoned hotel while at a close look, reveals to travelers an
affluently built palace as you enter through its large maroon gate into the
tarmac pathway edged on every side by white and black pavements.
Several trees like mangoes, avocados and palm trees lead the
travelers to the building which accommodated 2 former Rwandan presidents and
their families one time and now it was turned into a museum open to all the visitors
on a Rwanda safari tour.
Rwanda has a number of museums such as the museum of the ancient
kings in Nyanza and the reason why this house was formed into a museum is to
enable travelers have an insight into the life of the former Presidents of
Rwanda who lived in this house.
This museum is found in Kanombe, eastern side of Kigali city
and it is open daily from 9am to 5pm. Pictures from the interior of the house
are not allowed and the outside pictures are allowed at a fee.
The house was built in 1976 by a French architect who made
all the designs and it was commissioned by the former President Habyarimana,
who stayed in it from 1980 until 1994 when he was assassinated. This is obvious
in the palace’s eccentric and somewhat clunky internal layout of rooms that
include everything from a secret passage to a room for practicing witchcraft
and another room that was apparently used for torture and interrogation.
The structure is quite strange with some rooms in good
conditions and others showing extreme neglect and disrepair. It gives an
impression of Habyarimana’s own sense of fear and paranoia as Rwanda’s head of
state during an extremely perilous time in the nation’s history.
The house has sensors scattered around that were to inform
the president if someone was walking through a certain corridor. The house has
a hidden weapon cabin built into the television cabin in his entertainment
room.
The most curious part of the house is the top floor which has
a chapel on one side and a room where the president practiced witchcraft on the
other where he ingested magic potions and sacrificed animals of all types with
his witch doctor.
The environment outside the house is more normal and well-kept
with many beautiful trees of all types shading very pleasant patches of grass
with a walk way made of stones. Travelers who will visit this palace will view
the tennis court, swimming pool, the outdoor bar among others where the
president used to spend his free time.
Near the center of the back garden are the remains of the
concrete pond where the president’s beloved pet used to live, a python whose
job was to fend off evil spirit and also to instill fear in any of the
president’s visitor who may not have been in his favor.
In the same compound of the palace lies what may be the most
impactful feature of the museum, the remains of the president’s falcon 60
passenger jet that was famously shot down on April in 1994 which sparkled the
Rwanda Genocide. The plane coincidentally crashed in the president’s own
backyard which killed all passengers on board including the president of
Burundi at the time. The famous python’s pond was destroyed leading to its
escape.
The whole journey of touring the museum takes about 1 to 2
hours depending on how many stops and the questions you ask the guide. Everything
in this house is still in its original condition as president Habyarimana left
them so many years ago.
This museum is worth visiting during your Tour
in Kigali city.
No comments:
Post a Comment