KAYANZA July 7th (ABP) – The Prime Minister of Burundi, Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca, gathered on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at the headquarters of Kayanza province, the governors of the provinces, the communal administrators, the provincial and communal police commissioners, those in charge of the intelligence service, as well as all those involved in the mining sector.
The meeting was part of the evaluation of the gold domain. The Ministers of the Interior, Community Development and Security, Mr. Martin Niteretse, that of Hydraulics, Energy and Mines, Mr. Ibrahim Uwizeye and the first vice governor of the BRB, also took part in that meeting, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
On that occasion, the governor of Kayanza province, Col. Rémy Cishahayo, indicated that only the Matongo and Muruta communes have a small number of gold extraction sites and that the Kabarore commune holds is home to coltan extraction sites.
However, he deplored that the mineral smugglers have changed tactics to get them to Rwanda. He pointed out that it is small children who are today employed in mining fraud, pointing out that a young girl was apprehended on Wednesday July 5, 2023 in possession of four kilograms of coltan-type minerals that she was going to transport to Rwanda.
The Burundi Prime Minister said he was shocked by the fact that such meetings are often held, but that the heads of mining cooperatives never implement the recommendations made to them.
“Minerals should not be a subject of disagreement, but rather a response to the various economic problems facing the country”, he added, calling on the representatives of mining cooperatives to put forward the interest of the country. Mr. Ndirakobuca also urged them to cut short with the fraud, especially to do everything so that there is traceability in their sales. Note that the meeting continued behind closed doors.