Millions of Rwandans are struggling to make ends meet as the impact of the coronavirus continues to bite vulnerable households who lost sources of income.

This week, general public outcry over recent increases in the cost of public transport has prompted the Office of the Prime Minister to intervene with a view to containing the situation though definite measures are yet to be announced.

The fairly well-off stocked their houses with food and other supplies and withdrew sizable amounts of their savings when the country went into the first lockdown in March.

The immediate casualties of the total lockdown were the working poor who live hand to mouth.

“I occasionally get casual work opportunities, so food is not a big problem for now. But I’m mostly worried about my children who have to go to school and get an insurance cover since I’ve lost everything to the coronavirus,” Seraphine Uwimana, a resident of Kimisagara in Nyarugenge who had been earning a monthly income of Rwf55,000 as a vendor but was forced to use all her savings to feed her three children during the three-month lockdown told Rwanda Today recently.

While the government acted swiftly to provide emergency relief supplies including food, not everyone accessed the support.

From bad to worse

When the lockdown was lifted three months later, many of the vulnerable households never recovered, as many lost their jobs and informal businesses, and their conditions have gone from bad to worse.

For example, Callixte Niyigiziki used to transport people on his bicycle in his town of Kanzayire in Bugesera, where he earned at least Rwf8000 on a good day, but when Covid-19 hit, the local containment measures meant that his bicycle could not carry people.

He parked the bicycle and resorted to digging in plantations to earn a daily wages, at least to be able to buy food for his family, but this has also become untenable due to the skyrocketing prices of goods on the market.

“I get Rwf1,000 for a day’s wage, but now this cannot even afford a meal for my family, I have looked for another job but I cant get one now, I don’t know what to do,” he said.

However, a recent Cabinet meeting allowed cyclists to resume work. prices of basic foods in the market have more than doubled, both in towns and in rural areas.

One Kilogramme of beans in the village used to go for Rwf300 before the pandemic, but now costs Rwf800. According to a mini survey by Rwanda Today, 1kg of Irish potatoes now goes for Rwf350, yet it used to cost Rwf150.

According to a report from the Rwanda Institute of Statistics, the consumer Price Index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation increased by 8.9 per cent year on year in September up from 8.8 per cent in August 2020.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 10.9 per cent on an annual basis and increased by 2.2 percent on a monthly basis, with the brunt of this increase being faced by vulnerable households.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 5.1 percent on annual change and increased by 1.1 per cent on monthly basis.

The data also shows that prices of local goods increased by 9.4 percent on annual change while prices of the “imported products” increased by 7.2 percent.

Energy costs increased by 6.5 percent on annual change and increased by 3.3 percent on a monthly basis, which means people will dig deeper into their pockets to even buy locally manufactured goods.

As students prepare to go back to school, school owners have declared that the extra costs spent on complying with Covid-19 safety protocols will be passed onto the parents.

Schools also proposed to the government to at least double the allocation per student to Rwf3,360 per school term in the new academic calendar from Rwf1,215.

They say if this is not done, parents will be the ones to shoulder the burden, as they bridge the funding shortfall, which is expected to put extra financial pressure on households.

Transport increased by 22.4 per cent on an annual basis and increased by 0.6 percent on a monthly basis. The recent increase in transport fares by Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) attracted a general outcry from people, protesting the increment.

People took to radios, TV shows and social media to protest what they termed “out-of-touch-with reality increments in transport fares.