Public toilets are emerging around Kigali city and other upcountry towns especially at bus terminals. Also there is growing use of public toilets although one has to pay between Frw50 and Frw100.
In developed countries, public toilets are free for public use. They are commonly referred to as restrooms.
Public toilets are commonly found at fuel stations, airports, stadiums, recreation centers, bus/train terminals among other strategic public gathering locations.
In the past months the management of Uganda’s capital city Kampala ordered that all public toilets must be free for use to the public. However, in cities of Kigali, Nairobi, Dar-es-salaam and Bujumbura, to use public toilets one has to pay a certain fee.
IGIHE reporter Nice Kanangire visited one of the public toilets in Kigali and had a conversation with one of the toilet cleaners.
Nzeyimana Adeodatus is a toilet keeper in Kigali City Market, he studied up to primary level 3. He could not study further because of poverty. He had to quit school and worked as a night house guard and during daytime he worked as a mason.
Nzeyimana later quit the night guard job and found a new job working as a toilet cleaner. Below we bring you the excerpts of this conversation. However, Nzeyimana refused to be photographed.
Why did you abandon your job of a Night Guard?
Nzeyimana : Being a Night guard is very tiresome, I had no sleep, no food, and I even had the risks of paying for goods in case I could get robbed. I used to have no time to rest because I worked both day and night. My new toilet cleaning Job enables me to have a life, and find time to rest.
Any Challenges with toilet cleaning job?
Nzeyimana: The only struggle I meet is with the people who do not want to pay after using the toilet- I end up arguing with them sometimes.
I have to be at work at 7 am. My day ends at about 9pm.
Are you satisfied with your Job?
Nzeyimana: We are paid Frw 30 000 monthly. Though it is little, I am grateful to have that amount of money because I have it on time, always. As for me I am lucky because my wife also works, we put our money together and keep hoping for the best.
However, my fellows encounter a lot of difficulties, the money gets finished in the house rent of approximately Frw10,000 if he has a house mate, and the rest is spent on food, medical care and other expenses, you realize it gets very hard to live with such an amount in a country where cost of living is very high.
What do you do exactly?
Nzeyimana :I do everything; cleaning toilets and regularly checking them.
With all the people that use toilets, how much money do you make?
Nzeyimana : It depends on days you know, but I can make upto Frw 6 000.
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