GITEGA, April 25th (ABP) – On 23 April 2024, Burundi’s Senators, meeting in plenary session in their hemicycle in Gitega (in the center of the country), adopted, after analysis, two bills, all relating to the financing of the project to rehabilitate the Kamenge University Hospital (CHUK), in Bujumbura city.
The session was marked by the presence of the Minister for the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Prosper Dodiko, who represented the Burundian government in order to enlighten the Senators on any points that raised questions.
In his explanatory statement, Minister Dodiko indicated that the first bill concerns the Saudi Fund (FSD), which has accepted a loan of $50 million, adding that the second bill concerns a loan of $34 million to Burundi from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
For further clarification, he said that all that funding will help to strengthen the health system by increasing the supply and improving the quality of healthcare for the population. The project also aims to reduce infant, neonatal and child mortality, as well as deaths from infectious diseases, and to combat chronic and non-communicable diseases.
During the discussions, the Senators recommended rigorous monitoring of that project, regretting the negative impact of irresponsible monitoring of public infrastructure, such as irrigation works and medical equipment like the scanner at Mpanda hospital.
Some senators were also expecting the university hospital to be relocated to Gitega, the political capital, as agreed. That would also reduce the long journeys and colossal expenses that patients have to make to get to and stay in Bujumbura, they argued, before asking what was the reason for that status quo.
In response, Minister Dodiko said that the desired sum of $200 million had not been forthcoming for the rehabilitation project. He added that the CHUK would continue to serve the people of Bujumbura as well as patients referred from the country’s regional hospitals.