BUJUMBURA April 8th (ABP) – The Cabinet met on Tuesday April 5, 2022, in Bujumbura, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, to analyze several items, including the report of the commission responsible for drawing up the roadmap for the implementation of the recommendations made by the Cabinet on September 29, 2021 on ONATEL’s recovery measures, presented by the Minister of Communication, Information Technologies and Media.
On September 29, 2021, the Cabinet analyzed the note on the situation and the proposals on ONATEL’s recovery measures. They made a series of recommendations and instructed the line ministry, in collaboration with the prime minister’s services, to draw up a roadmap for the implementation of those recommendations. It was a question of: – restoring the leadership of ONATEL for it to be able to steer the reforms to be considered; – authorize ONATEL to recruit technically competent human resources within the limits of the available budget and retrain those who can; – Identify, among ONATEL’s securities and shares in financial institutions, those that are less profitable and sell them to clear part of its debts.
ONATEL must also assess its debts and collect them; – Seek an external audit firm to carry out the general diagnosis of ONATEL and propose corrective measures; the same audit will show how the loan applied for by the State of Burundi was used by the company HUAWEI; – Check whether the loan that the State has applied for with China for the revitalization of ONAMOB is not guaranteed; – Seek ways to modernize fixed telephony, in particular through the introduction of triple play where the telephone, the Internet and television channels are on the same line; – For products of the same quality from ONATEL and private operators, public institutions should favor ONATEL products; – Identify, enhance and make profitable the heritage of ONATEL.
A Commission has been set up for that purpose and has produced this note which is subject to analysis.
After analyzing it, the Cabinet noted that the goal desired by the government in making those recommendations had not been achieved because the commission had worked outside the established framework.
The following was recommended:
– Putting in place a team composed of representatives of the Presidency of the Republic, of the Prime Minister and of certain other ministries responsible for developing the terms of reference for an audit of ONATEL; – Setting up a team of local independent experts who will draw up a recovery plan for ONATEL (its business plan) based on ONATEL’s assets; – In terms of personnel management, identifying those who can stay, those who can be reassigned elsewhere and those who must be disinterested.