CANKUZO, February 19th (ABP) – The administrator of Gisagara commune in Cankuzo province and that of Kakonko in Tanzania, met on Wednesday February 14, 2024, at the Gasenyi border, in Burundi, to discuss strategies that can be adopted to tighten security in the two communes, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
During the very meeting, both parties said they were satisfied with good ties between the Burundians and the Tanzanians, despite some cases of thefts committed particularly on the border where there was collaboration between Burundian and Tanzanian gangs of thieves.
Furthermore, cases of Burundians who leave for Tanzania without a pass or identification have been reported.
According to the Tanzanian police, those people pass through forests to villages or towns very far from the border. In this case, according to Peter Nangwa, representative of the Tanzanian police, if they are caught, they confuse the police saying that they are from the Muhange zone, in Tanzania on the border with Burundi. Subsequently, after being short of evidence, the police only incarcerate them.
Among the Burundians who enter Tanzania are also children aged 10 and over who seeming to be herds in pastures, according to the Tanzanian authorities, who have revealed a child trafficking network. The latter receive a derisory salary, the Tanzanian authorities said.
This situation we have, while the Gisagara commune continues to raise awareness among the people to have passes, regrets the administrator of that commune, Gratien Nitunga, who continues to remind parents that the child’s place is only at school and at home.
Mr. Nitunga asked the Tanzanian authorities to no longer give work to adults without a pass and to children, but rather to make them return to Burundi.
They agreed to strengthen communication as part of the fight against cases of theft observed at the two borders. To improve the economy, Ibrahim Katunzi, representative of the administrator of the Tanzanian commune of Kakonko, requested that the Gasenyi – Cankuzo road be rehabilitated to facilitate transport and trade.