Bujumbura : a suspicious death of a Congolese national sends neighborhood chief back to Mpimba

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, June 30, 2026 – Two months after her release, Claudine Akimana, head of the Bwiza neighborhood in the Bwiza zone of the Mukaza district in Bujumbura, has been imprisoned again in Bujumbura Central Prison, known as Mpimba. She is prosecuted in a case related to the suspicious death of a Congolese national, after signing a death certificate under disputed circumstances. Residents of the neighborhood are demanding that justice be served and that those responsible be punished.

According to several reliable sources, Claudine Akimana has been detained in Bujumbura Central Prison, known as Mpimba, for two weeks. Before her incarceration in Mpimba, she had been held in the cells of the Judicial Police in the same city for the purposes of the investigation.

According to information gathered by SOS Médias Burundi, the neighborhood chief is accused of having signed a death certificate attesting that a national of the Democratic Republic of Congo had died at her home. However, according to the investigation, the man’s body was found in a hotel located in the Bwiza neighborhood.

Serious accusations

According to several local sources, the deceased was a Congolese national. Some claim that he was transporting narcotics destined for European countries. SOS Médias Burundi has not been able to confirm this information with official sources.

The same sources maintain that the man was killed after being robbed of a large sum of foreign currency, the amount of which has not been determined.

Residents are also accusing certain local officials of the ruling CNDD-FDD party of involvement in this case. According to them, Claudine Akimana signed the controversial document after receiving a bribe. At this stage, these accusations have not been confirmed by the judicial authorities, and no official reaction has been issued.

Recurring accusations of corruption

Residents of the Bwiza neighborhood say this case adds to other incidents they have been denouncing for several months.

They accuse Claudine Akimana of regularly demanding bribes before signing certain administrative documents and of using her authority to intimidate residents who report these practices.

They are calling on the justice system to conduct an impartial investigation and to prosecute all those involved in this case, regardless of their position.

A return to prison after a previous conviction

This new incarceration comes just two months after Claudine Akimana’s release in another fraud case.

Last March, she was convicted of participating in the fraudulent production and sale of passports and other travel documents intended for Congolese nationals seeking employment in Arab countries.

The case came to light when a Congolese national went to the Immigration Police (PAFE) to renew an expired passport. Checks revealed that the document was forged. During the investigation, the man stated that the passport had been issued to him by Claudine Akimana in exchange for payment, which led to her arrest, conviction, and subsequent imprisonment in Mpimba prison.

For the residents of Bwiza, this latest arrest reinforces suspicions of abuse of power and corruption within certain local authorities. They demand a full investigation into the death of the Congolese national and that those found responsible be brought to justice.