Rwanda to start producing its own lightning rods

The Director General in charge of monitoring disaster-prone areas at MINEMA, Niyotwambaza Christine, made the announcement in Karongi District, on 23 July 2026, during the official handover of powerful lightning rods installed at GS Musango and Musango Power Station.

The power station and the facility are located in Rwankuba Sector, one of the five sectors in Karongi that are often struck by lightning. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

Dushimimana John from Rwankuba Sector told IGIHE that Rwankuba is often struck by lightning, killing residents, livestock and electrical equipment.

He said, “I know of more than seven people in Rwankuba Sector who have died after being struck by lightning. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

The reason is that we don’t have lightning rods in our houses. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

We don’t know where to buy them, we don’t even know how much they cost.” The Deputy Mayor of Karongi District, in charge of economic development, Ntakirutimana Julienne, said that the districts most frequently affected by lightning are Rwankuba, Gitesi, Ruganda and Rugabano because they are located in a series of high mountains that make up the Congo-Nile Basin.

Lightning strikes are common in high mountains. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

The Director General of MINEMA, Niyotwambaza Christine, said that the reason why many residents do not have lightning rods in their houses is because they are expensive.

He said, “Lightning rods are very expensive, you cannot find a lightning rod that costs less than 3 million Rwf.” Niyotwambaza said that in collaboration with MIMENA, RP Karongi College, the Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), and the National Center for Research, Technology, and Innovation (NCST), they will next week evaluate the lightning rod being manufactured in Rwanda.

He said, “At the national level, we do not have the capacity to certify it, we will export it, if those who have the knowledge and experience to manufacture lightning rods tell us that it has lightning protection capabilities, we will have reached another stage of starting to manufacture it in Rwanda.

When we start manufacturing it in Rwanda, we will take another step to find a way to make it cheap so that the citizen can buy it and install it in his house.” MINEMA figures show that in the past four years, lightning has killed 287 people and left more than 950 permanently disabled.

Mugarura Amiri, who works at the Ottawa Lightning Protection Center in Rwanda, said that installing concrete in houses and wearing plastic shoes reduces the risk of being struck by lightning by 85%.

This innovative lightning protection system installed in Musango was built by the United Nations Office for Migration (IOM) with funding from the Government of Japan.

Takashi Ujikawa, an IOM official who is supporting Rwanda’s lightning protection program, said that the reason they support disaster prevention programs is because they are one of the reasons why people move from their homes to become migrants.