Rwanda, idleness and folly...sorry

It's all go at the GLCSS at the moment, as we work on compiling a database of Rwandan government ministers and officials for a client.

All we need are biographical details of the relevant people in each ministry. Simple enough, I thought, blissfully unaware of the full extent of African bureaucracy.

But the job of collecting a few details about just seven officials in the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) has turned into an all-day session, involving frequent trips back and forth from the office to the ministry in the blazing heat.

The first time I went, my contact interrogated me for a good half hour, appearing not to trust anything I said and asking me at least four times "What is your purpose here?"

That question was far too philosophical for me, so I offered instead to get a letter from my boss, affirming that I was not in fact a deranged stalker but working on a legitimate project.

Once I came back with my letter, things got complicated. Not only had my contact seemingly forgotten everything we had talked about earlier, but she brought a colleague into the debate for good measure.

I watched with the patience of a saint as they spoke for at least half an hour in Kinyarwanda, gesturing towards me, at each other, at the letters and, at one point, nearly coming to blows.

Finally, having spent a good hour or two in the ministry, I was told, without a shred of irony, that I should just have e-mailed the officials in question, instead of coming down to the ministry and wasting everybody’s time.

You could have told me that in the first place, I thought, but smiled gratefully and asked them to forward my letter anyway. Back I went to the GLCSS, ready to kill seven birds with one stone by simply e-mailing them my questions.

Following the instructions I’d been given, I clicked on the part of the MINAGRI website marked 'Staff emails'...and found that only staff have access.

This one will run and run. That is, if I don't go postal first.