GITEGA December 14th (ABP) – The Minister of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, Mrs. Imelde Sabushimike, accompanied by administrative and prison authorities, visited on Saturday December 11, 2021, the central prison of Gitega where she officially handed over lots of various aids to the prison population who survived the fire that broke out at the night of December 6 to 7 in that prison causing human and material damage.
Those aids consisted in particular of three tons of rice, 1,200 mattresses, 1,300 blankets, 1,000 pans, 27 bundles of clothing for men and women, 50 boxes of soap containing 4,800 pieces.
The minister in charge of Solidarity indicated that the aid is part of the efforts made by the government to comfort the detainees and meet their urgent needs after the fire. She specified that this aid thus falls within the objective of fulfilling the promises made by the Vice President of the Republic of Burundi, during his visit to the prison last Tuesday, to observe the state of play and console the victims of the fire caused by the short-circuit linked to the anarchic electrical installations tinkered with by the prisoners.
Mrs. Sabushimike also indicated that the government has already started analyzing the appropriate mechanisms to rehabilitate the buildings damaged by the fire. She then invited the prison population to break forever with the practices of anarchic connections which constitute enormous dangers.
She urged the prisoners to take care of the proper use of those aids, avoiding selling them. She addressed her thanks to the partners of the government and to all the benefactors who have already made gestures of comfort and support to the survivors of the fire, by encouraging any charitable soul to offer aid according to the urgent needs of the inmates.
The Minister in charge of Solidarity also thanked the prisoners for the responsible behavior adopted during these difficult times and asked them to keep good behavior.