BUJUMBURA, June 19th (ABP) – The Cabinet met on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Gitega (central Burundi), under the chairmanship of the Head of State, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye.
According to the communiqué of the Secretary General of the State, a note on the revitalization of university dormitories and the management of scholarships and study loans, presented by the Minister of National Education and Scientific Research, Mr. François Havyarimana, was analyzed.
The communiqué states that that note traces the evolution of the situation at the University of Burundi since the creation of the University Works Authority in December 1984, whose main missions were to provide housing, catering, acquisition and maintenance of the University of Burundi’s movable heritage. With the incessant increase in the number of students, the University of Burundi has gradually been led to reduce its interventions with regard to the accomplishment of those missions. Given the financial resources allocated to it, the University of Burundi is no longer able to rehabilitate its infrastructure, provide quality socio-academic equipment and ensure the housing and catering service. That has resulted in the total suppression of university canteens in the different campuses and the introduction of the study loan system.
The note proposes ways of revitalizing social services as well as scenarios for making the University of Burundi’s heritage more profitable, notably with the involvement of the private sector.
After analysis, the Cabinet found that the State has a duty to be involved in education because it is the future of the country. It recommended the establishment of a commission that will propose a strategy for revitalizing the education sector, with the participation of the private sector, in the construction and operation of dormitories and university hostels. It was also recommended to integrate the increase in study loans into the 2024-2025 budget.
During that meeting, the note on the transfer of the gold and associated minerals exploitation permit in the Butihinda commune of the Muyinga province by the company African Mining Limited (AML) to the Burundian Gold Tailings Processing Company (SOTB) was presented by the Minister of Hydraulics, Energy and Mines, Mr. Ibrahim Uwizeye. The government of the Republic of Burundi signed with the AML Company a mining exploitation convention for gold and associated minerals in the Masaka perimeter. The AML Company created, with the State of Burundi, the joint company African Mining Burundi for the exploitation of that perimeter. Although the mining operations have been suspended, the AML Company has filed an application for approval of the transfer of its mining exploitation permit to the SOTB Company. The file under analysis proposes to approve that transfer.
At the end of the analysis, the Cabinet recommended bringing all the agreements signed with that company in order to be able to pronounce itself with full knowledge of the facts.