Night Club in Kigali Denies Entry to “Albino” Zimbabwean Woman

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) says it is following up on a case of skin segregation that was reported concerning a night club based in Kigali during the weekend.

On Saturday, a woman identifying herself on Twitter as Uyauya from Zimbabwe took to Twitter to express her disappointment after being denied entry at an elite night club called Cocobean.

She tweeted, “I had a lovely Saturday. Until @CocobeanKgl denied me entry into the club because I am albino. Apparently a person with albinism “causes a scene”,and a “no albinos” policy was placed.”

She said the security guards of the club were responsible, but added that the club’s management were not helpful when they learnt about the case.

“I had really great friends with me. They tried talking to the bouncers. Called management when we left. Management told us to come back and talk, we did. But at the door we were told to just go where we’re wanted,” said.

This was followed by an apology from the club saying, “We deeply apologize for what happened this Saturday, we had a specific briefing with our workers regarding the entrance, to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anybody again.”

However, the victim called this a “social media weak apology.”

From a country with zero tolerance to segregation, massive tweets showed disappointment, that such a thing can happen in this land.

Rwandan officials said they are investigating the case. Johnston Busingye, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General who also has the Police under his attributions wrote on Sunday, “Thank you Uyauya for raising this. We will follow it up.”

On Monday, Clare Akamanzi the CEO of RDB which has tourism in attribution also said they are working to find out about the matter.

“Very unfortunate experience and I am sad to hear you were treated like that. @BeliseKariza RDB Chief Tourism Officer has informed me that she is investigating the matter to ensure it never happens again to you or any other person,” Akamanzi wrote on twitter on Monday.

Albinos have been facing challenges in countries across the continent, NOT in Rwanda.

Uyauya who tries to denounce their threat retweeted on June 7 a very sad tweet.

It reads,“#OneThingIKnowAboutMe I have R0,00 on my bank account, but people want to kill me saying my body parts bring luck and weath. What nonsense, it should have brought me wealth and luck first. Albinism challenges and they ignore the fact that I am an African just like them.”

Uyauya said however, that she  no longer regrets being albino.

“I’m very proud of my black albinism. Only started feeling that way after experiencing really extreme opposition to it.”

Meanwhile, she is appreciative on how Rwandans denounced the behavior of the entertainment facility on Saturday.

“I really appreciate the outpouring of support on here, especially from #RwoT. It’s great to know that so many people do not tolerate discrimination. Now following up on the issue with multiple branches. Thank you fam,” she wrote on her twitter handle on Monday.