Burunga : an arson attack at a traditional healer’s home, the instigator still at large

SOS Médias Burundi

Makamba, August 14, 2025 – A man has been detained for nearly a month in the cells of the Makamba prosecutor’s office in Burunga province, southern Burundi. He is suspected of being the perpetrator of the fire that destroyed, on the night of July 9, 2025, a property belonging to Ézéchiel Ndoricimpa, a resident of Ruvumera village, Nyanza district, where he practiced traditional medicine.

According to local authorities, the victim was already known to law enforcement. The burned goods consisted mainly of traditional remedies and the upper part of his house.

The information gathered on site indicates that the fire was started with gasoline. According to local accounts, the alleged perpetrator initially locked the healer and his family in the main house. Neighbors, alerted by screams, said they found him fleeing upon their arrival. At the scene, he reportedly left a hat, a pair of sandals, and a one-and-a-half-liter bottle of unused gasoline.

He was arrested more than a week later in Mugerama village, still in Nyanza district, while receiving treatment for burns to his legs and arms.

The arrested man admitted the facts and claimed to have acted on the orders of another healer, who was allegedly in a land dispute with the victim and had rented him land. The victim deplores the fact that the alleged instigator has not been arrested, a month after the events, and demands that all those involved be brought to justice.

According to the Makamba prosecutor’s office, the case file was submitted late. The institution states that the detained suspect has admitted his crime. The Makamba Court of Appeal must now decide whether he will be tried in pretrial detention or released. The alleged instigator, for his part, has already been interviewed by investigators.