Rumonge : power outages and suspicions of corruption at Regideso

SOS Médias Burundi

Rumonge, September 14, 2025 – In Rumonge, the power has gone out. In this port city located in southwestern Burundi, residents have been experiencing long power outages for several days, plunging the population into anger and raising serious suspicions of corruption within Regideso, the public company responsible for water and electricity distribution.

Businesses and households are sounding the alarm. Vendors of perishable goods—meat, fresh fish, vegetables—are reporting colossal losses.
“We’re experiencing enormous losses, the goods are rotting, no one can store them,” says a trader at the central market.

Public services are not spared. Several secretariats have suspended their activities due to a power outage. At the district office, the civil registry service is operating at a slow pace : those seeking documents are leaving empty-handed.

The banking sector is also paralyzed. ATMs, branches, and electronic money transfer services are no longer functioning normally. “All of life is at a standstill,” complains a resident.

Regideso’s silence

Faced with the crisis, Regideso remains silent. No clear technical explanation has been provided. This attitude fuels anger and rumors.

Suspicions of corruption

A local source accuses : “The owner of the Rumonge Soap Factory allegedly bribed the local Regideso manager so that his palm oil mill would benefit from high electricity intensity.”
According to the same source, “this is why the town of Rumonge remains without power, while Mutambara – where the oil mill is located – and other localities receive normal power.”

A Regideso agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirms : “No outages have been detected in our lines. We are restoring power on the orders of our leader.”

A population at the end of its tether

Anger is rising in the streets. Residents are demanding a rapid restoration of electricity. “We demand that Regideso provide power to the entire population,” they insist, denouncing an unfair and destructive situation for the local economy.

Between silence from the authorities and suspicions of covert maneuvers, the energy crisis in Rumonge once again highlights the fragility of the management of essential public services in Burundi.