Bujumbura : authorities chase away sellers already disgusted by police raids

The Burundian authorities have banned all commercial activities around the former central market of Bujumbura, destroyed by a fire in January 2013. They cite security reasons. Those affected, especially women, grumble and speak of “a selfish decision”. The measure came into force from this Friday. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Many people denounce this decision. The majority of those interested are women from poor neighborhoods of the commercial city Bujumbura.

“This place supports a lot of people. It is people with very limited means who come here especially. Here with a small capital of 10 or 15 thousand francs, you can work and have enough to feed your children. There are even some who come without any money but take goods, sell them and manage to have a small amount of profit which allows them to buy the evening meal for the children. Not everyone is enough…. That’s it what our authorities must understand”, laments Léocadie Nindorera*, in her forties.

For this trader, the authorities who make such decisions live in very comfortable conditions, they are not affected by the poverty which plagues the majority of Burundians.

“Today, a kilo of beans can be bought at 4 thousand francs, that of rice at 5 thousand. I swear to you, for certain families that have 5 to 6 children, we have to hit them so that they go to sleep because they refuse to go to bed hungry. There are many unemployed today, many students who finish their studies find themselves in the street selling sweets, eggplants or mangoes. …and manage to live thanks to that. Did the mayor of Bujumbura think about these people when making this decision, what will their future be?”, she asks.

A thing and its opposite

For this other trader, the decisions of Bujumbura municipality officials are not consistent with the discourse of the Burundian authorities.

“Our leaders call on us every day to create income-generating activities because there are no more jobs. When we find them, they only discourage us. They let us get by… Already the majority are starving…what exactly are they looking for?”, estimates Rosalie Bukuru*, with bitterness.

For Annie Kagayo, “this decision will affect my four children”.

“I have been raising my four children alone since my husband left me three months before the last was born. With a small capital of 10 thousand, I managed to feed them and pay the rent without resorting to begging or banditry “Even if I’m not going to steal other people’s belongings, my child if he doesn’t eat, he will be forced to do it. It will be a disaster if we are chased away”, laments this trader.

Sellers already disgusted by police raids

This is the case of Cynthia Kaneza*.

“I have already been arrested three times and sent to the municipal police station. Each time, I paid 30 thousand francs, which totals 90 thousand to get out of the cell.
Recently, a police official took my avocados worth 80 thousand and offered them to street porters. If they want to relocate us, they should give us capital allowing us to settle in big markets”, says desperately this mother who adds that she “no longer knows which way to turn.”

Other traders who spoke to SOS Médias Burundi deplore that “this unilateral decision was taken in a hurry. We won’t even have time to prepare to move elsewhere.”

After the fire which ravaged the old central market in January 2013, several traders went to set up in different markets in Bujumbura, others having preferred to return to stalls which were built not far from this market in the days which followed the drama.

According to the association of traders of the former market, nearly 100 thousand people were directly affected by the fire which ravaged it. Since then, the Burundian authorities have still struggled to rebuild it despite incessant promises that it will be reconstituted into a large shopping center.

According to sources that SOS Médias Burundi has not been able to verify, businesspersons and security authorities close to the CNDD-FDD, the ruling party, want to recover the place to exploit it.

“Some traders would even find themselves forced to come back and rent the same places at very exorbitant prices”, lament our sources.

In the morning of this Friday, the Rohero zone chief in the center of Bujumbura, accompanied by several police officers, made a tour to ensure that the decision of Mayor Jimmy Hatungimana was respected, noted SOS Médias Burundi reporters. This measure criticized by those concerned also applies to ambulant traders in the town where motorcycles and tricycles are banned on the major part, a decision that affected more than four thousand motorbike riders of paid transport, according to associations.

*Names of interviewed persons have been modified for security reasons