Cibitoke: CNDD-FDD requests a forced contributions to finance its campaign for the next elections

People in the communes of Cibitoke province are complaining about the forced fundraising done house by house, in view of the next elections. The head of the youth league in the new province of Bujumbura confirms this information.
The governor of Cibitoke, seems to see no inconvenience.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The money collection operation is taking place in 6 communes of this province of Cibitoke.

Each household must pay willingly or by force a sum varying between 1000 and 100 thousand Burundian francs.

A situation that irritates the opposition which believes that these forced contributions should only concern members and sympathizers of the CNDD-FDD party.

According to a leader of the presidential party, “the money collected will contribute to financing the upcoming elections for the entire population”.

However, doubts persist about the transparent management of the money collected.

Many believe that this kind of disorderly contribution of money is managed in an opaque manner without respecting the slightest measure of good governance.

According to a local source, anyone who does not fulfill this “civic duty”, according to a member of the youth league of the ruling party, Imbonerakure, does not have the right to access administrative papers, much less the services offered by the health and education structures of his locality.

Which scares the inhabitants – most of the young people of the ruling party hired for the fundraising are not from the localities where they operate.

This also confirms, according to some residents contacted, the theory of embezzlement and theft of the money collected which will not reach its destination.

One of the independent election observers established for a decade in the capital of Cibitoke province speaks of an electoral process biased in advance.

For him, it is inconceivable to demand that the average citizen, already unable to feed his family, finance the elections when it is a matter that falls under the prerogatives of the State.

In addition, he insists, “elections that are often non-transparent and marred by irregularities arouse less enthusiasm among voters” before indicating that the electoral process for the next elections seems to be off to a bad start.

The current fundraising for the 2025 elections is confirmed by the head of the Imbonerakure league of the presidential party in the new administrative and territorial constituency of Bujumbura (western Burundi).

Déo Nsabimana says the ruling party must ensure that it fulfills its national obligations, including when it comes to seeking funds to finance the elections.

The governor of Cibitoke refutes all this information because according to him, no one has come to complain about these contributions.

The forced contributions of the CNDD-FDD continue to be collected throughout the territory despite a press release from the secretary general of the presidential party which had set the end of “voluntary” contributions for August 29.

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A gathering of CNDD-FDD activists in the commercial city of Bujumbura, August 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)