More than 200 people arrested and detained in Bwambarangwe : tensions in the transport sector in Burundi

SOS Médias Burundi

Busoni, July 31, 2025 – A large-scale police operation led to the arrest of more than 200 people last Saturday in several provinces of Burundi. Those arrested were transferred to the Bwambarangwe police station, in Busoni district, Butanyerera province, in the north of the country.

According to several concordant sources, the arrests took place in the commercial capital, Bujumbura, particularly near transport agencies, but also in the districts of Cibitoke, Rumonge, Bubanza, Makamba, and Burunga, located in the northwest and southwest of the country.

Arrests targeting three categories of actors

All those arrested are male and primarily fall into three categories :

Ticket brokers, accused of buying travel tickets in collusion with the drivers and reselling them at excessive prices.

The “Abakokayi,” touts who operate in a climate of fierce competition, often marked by tensions.

Striking drivers, protesting the stagnation of official fares while fuel has become virtually impossible to find and is only available on the black market at exorbitant prices.

Unobtainable fuel and soaring ticket prices

The official price of a Bujumbura–Muyinga or Bujumbura–Kirundo ticket, in Butanyerera province, is set at 16,500 BIF. Yet, for more than three weeks, passengers have been paying between 30,000 and 50,000 BIF for the same journeys.

This surge is due to a persistent fuel shortage : a liter, officially sold for 4,000 BIF, now sells for over 22,000 BIF on the black market. Several transport companies have been fined one million BIF for illegally exceeding prices.

Striking drivers denounce an untenable situation.

Believing they are operating at a loss, the drivers have launched a strike that is gradually paralyzing travel. On some routes, fares are skyrocketing :

Ngozi–Bujumbura : a Probox (shared taxi) trip now costs between 60,000 and 80,000 BIF, compared to 25,000 previously;

Muyinga–Ngozi: the fare has increased from 15,000 to 40,000 BIF.

Faced with this crisis, the Ministry of the Interior ordered the arrest of several key figures in the sector, who were transported to Bwambarangwe in police trucks.

Detention conditions deemed alarming

According to witnesses, due to the overcrowding, detainees are not locked in cells but held in the inner courtyard of the Bwambarangwe police station.
Deprived of official visits, they rely on the generosity of the local population, that provide them with water and food.

Residents fear the spread of diseases such as cholera and dysentery due to poor hygiene.

Concerns of human rights organizations

Several human rights organizations are urging the authorities to ensure dignified detention conditions, or even to transfer those arrested to their home provinces to avoid prison overcrowding and limit health risks.

When contacted, the police and the administration refused to answer questions from SOS Médias Burundi.

A persistent crisis weakening the entire sector

These arrests come as a drivers’ strike has paralyzed transportation in the small east African nation since last weekend.
Transporters refuse to apply official rates, which they consider unrealistic, as they must obtain fuel on the black market at more than five times the official price or obtain it in Tanzania and the DRC.

The fuel crisis, which has lasted nearly 56 months, continues to weaken the transportation sector and fuel an increasingly tense social climate in Burundi.

So far, the reasons for the choice of the Bwambarangwe police station, located in a district bordering Rwanda, as the place of detention for all of these arrested individuals are unknown.