[01] Clement Ingabire, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Lay Adventists of Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda. [02] Abias Maniragaba, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Lay Adventists of Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda. [03] Lamek Nahayo, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Lay Adventists of Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda.

In Rwanda, the City of Kigali records frequent flooding, heavy rains and windstorms which affect people’s livelihoods, particularly those located in disaster prone areas. This study assessed the contribution of building codes in reducing community disaster exposure in Kicukiro district of Rwanda. The employed secondary data on disasters losses were provided by the Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) and building codes from Kigali Master Plan. The Microsoft Excel compared losses before (2013-2014) and after (2015-2020) building codes initiation. The Geographic Information System (GIS) spatially distributed recent disaster losses (2013-2020) and their prediction (2020-2050) within Kicukiro district. The results indicated that between 2013 and 2014, 8 cases of fire, 4 cases of heavy rains and 2 cases of windstorms were registered by Nyarugunga and Kicukiro sectors. After initiating building codes, the number increased to 12 cases of fire, 27 cases of heavy rains, 11 cases of windstorms and 2 cases of flood and landslide. The Kigarama, Gikondo and Kicukiro sectors were the largely affected among others. The prediction highlighted high number of cases in Kigarama, Kicukiro and Gikondo sectors, and safe areas where people could settle in are Niboye, Kagarama and Gahanga sectors. Finally, as heavy rains caused many losses; enforcing rain harvest mechanisms can minimize losses. Therefore, policy makers in charge of the execution of building codes should consider each sector and plan to relocate people from high risk sectors to safe ones.

Building Codes, Community, Disaster Exposure, Disaster Risk, Kicukiro District

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