GITEGA September 6th (ABP) – The Burundi Head of State, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, validated the declaration of the President of the Supreme Court on the start of the 2022-2023 judicial year. The ceremonies organized at the Ingoma stadium in Gitega (center of the country), on September 2, 2022, saw the participation of the highest authorities of the country, including the Vice-President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, representatives of parliament, members of the government, senior officers of the national defense and security forces, Burundi’s technical and financial partners, magistrates from all judicial bodies and the people from the urban center of Gitega and its surroundings.
In his speech for the occasion, President Ndayishimiye congratulated the corps of Burundian magistrates for the improvement shown in the accomplishment of their missions during the judicial year 2022. He encouraged them to move forward, while registering in false against magistrates gained by perverse behaviors.
Such magistrates wear down litigants and do not even hesitate to attack foreign investors in Burundi, demanding bribes from them, he lamented. President Ndayishimiye regretted that these magistrates tarnish the image of the country and erect barriers to foreign investors when the country needs them so much, he argued. Concerned about the reduction of the weight of the judicial files which weigh on the shoulders of the magistrates, the president Ndayishimiye proposed strategies to remedy it.
He recommended that officials at all levels of administration take up cases of land disputes. He recommended discouraging litigants, explaining that they waste the time of judicial authorities. One will initiate repressive laws against them, arguing that there are those who take legal action against someone in order to create trouble for them purely and simply.
Still others terrify the magistrates by requiring them to decide the case in their favour. Faced with these situations, President Ndayishimiye recommended strictly applying the law.
Previously, the Minister of Justice had expressed her words of thanks to the Head of State, arguing that, thanks to her support, the judiciary is getting better and better back on the right track in the exercise of its services.
She asked the President of the Republic to award five best magistrates. He gave them certificates of merit. For his part, he promised each of them a Frisian heifer.