Buganda : a fuel seller commits suicide after the seizure of his quantities by the police

André Ndayambaje, 35 years old, died on Thursday. This man from the locality of Nyamitanga in the district of Buganda in the province of Cibitoke (northwest Burundi) committed suicide after the seizure of his fuel by the local police. The local police say they are seizing the fuel that traffickers bring in from the neighboring DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) in order to avoid accidents including fires. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

André Ndayambaje lived at 1st avenue, in the locality of Nyamitanga, in the district of Buganda. This cross-border trader had been selling fuel for months. Like many other clandestine fuel sellers, he got his supplies from across the Rusizi River (separating the DRC and Burundi) in the province of South Kivu, bordering Burundi.

On Thursday, the police seized several quantities of gasoline and diesel in Nyamitanga, a locality that has become a bulwark not only for drivers from Cibitoke but also for those from the commercial city of Bujumbura.

According to eyewitnesses of this police operation, André Ndayambaje lost 100 cans of gasoline and diesel combined.

“After his fuel was seized, André rushed home. He took a rope and went to hang himself on a tree not far from his house,” complained neighbors of this father of three.

The provincial police commissioner confirmed to SOS Médias Burundi the death of this trader.

Police Colonel Jacques Nijimbere said that the police seize fuel imported clandestinely from Congo in order to avoid accidents including fires in homes because it is kept in the houses.

Since the beginning of this week, the local police announced that they had seized more than a thousand cans of fuel.

But an octogenarian who testified on condition of anonymity accused agents of the PNB (Burundi National Police) of “reselling this fuel at exorbitant prices and not paying the money from this sale into the public treasury”.

“It is unacceptable that the police are targeting fuel sellers while the government is struggling to make it available. Even officials from Bujumbura (the commercial capital where United Nations agencies and the central administration are concentrated) keep coming here to stock up,” say residents of Nyamitanga who believe that fuel traffickers these days should rather be considered “heroes and saviors.”