Sur les routes de Kigali : évolution des pratiques de petite corruption

The fight against corruption increased the informal privatization of the management
of the road transport sector in Rwanda, to the benefit of transport cooperatives, which
replaced traffic police. This interweaving of formal and informal governance
encourages the misuse of rules on public roads. Corruption is thus facilitated by a
lack of control over security agents’ practices and multiple relations of domination
against motorcycle taxis. The authoritarian context of Rwanda ultimately leads to a
partial application of the rules, which cannot be contested. While the contrast between
the image of Rwanda and the empirical reality is striking, the functioning of the state
shows many similarities with other African countries, questioning the idea of Rwandan
exceptionalism.