KIRUNDO August 26th (ABP) – The Senate President, Mr. Emmanuel Sinzohagera has been on a four-day visit to Kirundo province (northern Burundi) since Tuesday August 23, 2022 to collect the grievances of the people via representatives of various services, noted the ABP in Bwambarangwe and Busoni communes.
In his welcoming address, the governor of Kirundo province, Mr. Albert Hatungimana indicated that this province is peaceful and that the population goes about its activities normally. He said that 27,000 Burundians have returned to their native province, Kirundo, from exile, after the appeal of the President of the Republic. Governor Hatungimana said that we are working to resume the name of “breadbasket of the country” in Kirundo province as before, adding that the administrators are in the process of sensitizing the population on irrigation practices and the exploitation of marshes to cope with climate change.
He did not forget to thank the government of Burundi which granted development projects to that province, among others that of rural electrification in the communes Busoni, Bwambarangwe and Gitobe.
According to the president of the senate, his institution is called upon to collaborate with public authorities in order to ensure that we are really at the service of the population. In terms of justice, he said that his institution has asked the government that trials in the courts be led by a single judge in order to deal with corruption. He recalled that parliamentarians have already adopted the bill establishing village notables in order to strengthen justice, which will reduce complaints in the courts.
Mr. Sinzohagera urged the administrative officials to honor their commitments and serve the population in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive development. He reminded the people of Kirundo that the sale of standing crops leads to poverty, hence he asked them to abandon that practice, and to ensure the proper management of their crops.
Regarding taxes and levies, he warned the collection agents in the communes and the communal administrators, saying that these means collected must be allocated in development projects and not in their pockets, that whoever will dare to compromise the economy of the country will be punished according to law.
Regarding the grievances, the medical director of Mukenke hospital in Bwambarangwe commune said that their institution faces many challenges related to the lack of fuel from which he asked to grant special permission to that hospital so that you can easily receive the fuel.
In addition, some of the participants at the meeting in the two communes visited mentioned the road linking Busoni, Bwambarangwe and Kobero which was damaged, they asked that the road be tarred as it was learned that the studies had been completed. Others called for the decentralization of ISABU services to avoid long journeys in search of seeds. Other grievances submitted by participants from those two communes relate to land disputes.