By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Rwanda has announced a curfew on all “non-essential services” in a bid to reduce what the government calls “noise pollution”.
This has however triggered anger among nightclub owners, who claim the policy would hurt their business.
“For effective regulation of night-time entertainment and noise pollution, the Cabinet established closing time of non-essential services at 1 am on working days, and 2 am on weekends (Friday and Saturday), effective September 1st 2023,” the government announced in a release late Tuesday.
Under the hard-line rule of President Paul Kagame, police in the east African nation have been cracking down on noise pollution, ordering bars to close and confiscating equipment from entertainment venues, an AFP report says.
One nightclub owner who spoke on condition of anonymity said the latest restrictions were “backward and will definitely kill businesses”.
The government had last month issued noise pollution guidelines, limiting sound levels in commercial areas to 55 decibels at night.
