Nyanza-Lac : a representative of farmers arrested

Élias Ngendakuriyo, representative of farmers who have properties in the Nyabarere marsh, was arrested on Monday by a local police official. It is in the district of Nyanza-Lac in the province of Makamba (southern Burundi). The marsh that these farmers exploit had been allocated to an individual before a commission of the ministry in charge of agriculture handed it over to them.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Élias Ngendakuriyo was apprehended by the chief of the police in Buheka. This representative of the farmers grouped within a local cooperative, was taken directly to the district police station where he is held. On Monday morning, members of this cooperative had gone to their fields. Properties that had been handed over to them on November 20 by a commission of the ministry in charge of agriculture, based on a ruling of the Special Court of Lands and Other Property which annulled that of February 22, 2024. The latter granted this developed marsh to a certain Aaron Nguribiriho.

The decision was taken after the intervention of several authorities which demonstrated that these lands belong to the State and not to this individual.

Our sources in Nyanza-Lac speak of a standoff between administration authorities at several levels.

According to residents, the district administrator of Nyanza-Lac Marie Gareth Irankunda and the governor of Makamba Tantine Ncutinamagara, had openly opposed the handing over of this marsh to the former farmers gathered in a cooperative.

“These two women have sworn to sabotage by any means the work of the farmers of this marsh”, say sources close to the case.

Last Thursday, the Minister in charge of internal affairs Martin Niteretse was on a trip to Makamba. He returned to this case.

“No person can inherit a marsh of more than 20 ha to the detriment of more than 200 farmers”, he declared in a moralization meeting.

Officials of the cooperative accuse the two administration representatives of “wanting to expel us in order to install people of their choice”.

They ask their superiors to intervene so that they can have access to their fields, particularly to harvest.

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Part of the developed marsh of Buheka