BUJUMBURA August 16th (ABP) – The Prime Minister of the Republic, Gervais Ndirakobuca, accompanied by the President of the Senate, Emmanuel Sinzohagera, held on Sunday August 13, 2023 in Bujumbura, a meeting to make contact with the natives of the new province of Bujumbura, composed of the current provinces of Bubanza, Cibitoke, Bujumbura, Bujumbura Mairie, Bugarama and Muhuta communes of Rumonge province, Ryarusera and Kirama communes of Muramvya province.
The new province was born with the new administrative division in accordance with article 3 of organic law N° / 05 of March 16, 2023 determining the provinces, communes, zones, villages or quarters of the Republic of Burundi.
In his speech, the Prime Minister recalled that in accordance with the said law, Burundi will be subdivided into five provinces, namely Bujumbura province for the western region, Gitega for the center of the country, Butanyerera for the northern region, Buhumuza for the east of the country and Burunga for the southern region of the country. Burundi will then have 42 communes, 447 zones and 3037 villages or neighborhoods.
According to the Prime Minister, the 2025 elections will be held taking into account the new administrative division. He also added that the administrative redistricting came with the aim of harmonizing with the administrative organizations of the member countries of the East African community or of the sub-region.
The administrative redistricting will promote the creation of financially viable territorial entities and a local administration at the service of the Burundian citizen, a model of integration and social cohesion, an effective strategy for the fight against poverty, the reduction of the State’s charges towards communes, the facilitation of the communal civil service and others. He also pointed out that the communes will be provided with a sufficient operating budget which will allow them to carry out development projects, so that each commune collects revenue estimated at 600 million BIF each year and 50 million BIF per month.
On the same occasion, he invited the natives of the new province of Bujumbura to put their efforts together through development projects in order to draw up a development plan for that province taking into account the vision of the Head of State, of a country emerging in 2040 and developed in 2060, to prepare a better future for the said province.
He urged participants to strengthen village cooperatives working in the agriculture and livestock sector, promote good governance, fight against those who make economic embezzlement, fight against injustice, denounce those who seek corruption, avoid ethnic, regional, religious divisions and others.
For his part, the President of the Senate proposed the recruitment of a consultant who will help in the drawing up of the development plan of the said province and to the Ministry of the Interior, to draw up texts for the application of the organic law determining the provinces, communes, zones, villages or neighborhoods of the Republic of Burundi and presenting them to parliament.
The communes of the city of Bujumbura must be endowed with management autonomy in the same way as the other communes of that new province, Mr. Sinzohagera added.
During the exchanges, the residents of the new province of Bujumbura and meeting participants proposed the establishment of a technical commission composed of members from all the provinces of the new province of Bujumbura, the representatives of the religious denominations and civil society. They also proposed the exploitation of the natural resources of the said province such as Lake Tanganyika, the fertile soils of the Imbo plain, fruits and others that can be transformed into income-generating activities. There is also the fact of working in the quadrilogy to maintain peace and tighten security in that province, explaining that in the absence of these, development is not possible.
The participants in the said session also raised concerns about the way in which citizens will be able to access communal and provincial services, at a time when the law recommends that all services to citizens will be requested at the provincial level.
The Prime Minister reassured them, explaining that the communal services will be transferred to the level of the zones and that the citizens will most need the bottom administration compared to the administration at the top. He continued by saying that a file of a citizen that will not find an answer at the level of the village leader will be transmitted by the village leader to the zone-leader level. If the latte does not find a solution, he/she will transmit it to the communal administrator. If the administrator fails to find an answer, the latter will transmit it to the governor of the province. Mr. Ndirakobuca also promised that other exchange sessions will be organized in the days to come.