Rwandan promoters lay foundations for housing project

The organisers of Kigali Jazz Junction, a monthly jazz event in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, are building houses for survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Jazz Junction founder Remmy Lubega, who recently laid the foundation stone for the first completed house, tells Rwanda’s New Times it is the “responsibility” of his company, events agency RG-Consult, to help those in need.

“It is our social corporate responsibility to help needy people, because we believe in building the community,” Lubega says.” It is not the work of the government alone. There is still so much to do, and if we come together as citizens, then we can change the lives of many people.”

Kigali Jazz Junction, a joint venture between RG-Consult and Neptunez Entertainment Company, hosts both local and international jazz acts at the Kigali Serena Hotel on the last Friday of every month, as well as other one-off events. It will celebrate its third anniversary in June.

“This is a great cause and it is my hope that others will support us”

Musician Cyubahiro Serge, who works with RG-Consult, tells Music in Africa the company wants to do more than simply organise concerts. “We felt that it was time to give back to the community,” he comments. “We’ve had support from our fans and it’s our turn to support them too.

“This is a great cause and it is my hope that others will support us because these survivors deserve some attention for the suffering they went through.”

Up to a million Rwandans, the majority ethnic Tutsis, lost their lives in the 1994 genocide. Some 70% of the Tutsi population were murdered by the majority Hutu government.

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