Makamba : 7 dead, 7 injured… corruption and overloading turn the road into a death trap

SOS Médias Burundi

Makamba, February 14, 2026 — A serious accident occurred Friday afternoon on the National Road 11, linking Rutana to Makamba, specifically in Nyabigina village, at the entrance to the town of Makamba, town center of Burunga Province in southern Burundi. Seven people lost their lives and seven others were seriously injured. Overloading, corruption at checkpoints, and driver’s licenses obtained without proper qualifications are being blamed for this tragedy.

A tragedy that affects entire families

The vehicle, a Probox designed for four passengers, was carrying fourteen people and their luggage when it left the road on a downhill slope before crashing into trees.

The toll is heavy : seven dead, including the driver, and seven seriously injured. According to information gathered on site, some of the passengers were families from Karusi, in Gitega province (central Burundi). They were traveling to the district of Nyanza to participate in festivities organized by a relative residing in Nyanza town. The celebration turned into a tragedy.

The recovery of the victims took an extremely long time. Locals, police, and military personnel had to work together to extract the bodies and rescue the injured. The scene was marked by both emotion and helplessness. Several victims have still not been formally identified. At the Makamba provincial hospital, the morgue is overflowing.

Overcrowding and corruption at checkpoints

The administration and the police indicated that overloading was the primary cause of the accident. But for many citizens, the issue runs deeper.

Drivers claim that, to avoid being held up at checkpoints, they regularly pay bribes ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 Burundi francs to traffic police officers. Some explain that they call colleagues who have already passed through so that these colleagues pay in advance. Once at the checkpoint, they simply need to mention the name of the driver who has “already been paid” for the officer to let them through without being checked, sometimes even greeting them deferentially.

These practices are reportedly known to administrative and police authorities, but according to several local sources, no concrete measures appear to have been taken to stop them.

Driver’s licenses : irregularities endangering lives

Corruption doesn’t stop at checkpoints. It also affects the issuance of driver’s licenses.

Officially, obtaining a license legally costs approximately 100,000 Burundi francs for a candidate following the normal procedure and passing the required tests. But several accounts claim that it would only take up to 600,000 francs to obtain a license without any training or driving skills.

A system that puts insufficiently trained drivers on the roads, turning every journey into a potential hazard.

When the system kills

For many residents of Makamba, the accident on Friday, February 13, is not simply the result of human error. It reflects a system weakened by corruption and impunity : tolerated overloading, circumvented controls, licenses issued without real competence… so many weak links that, together, form a deadly chain.

Today, seven families are grieving. This tragedy illustrates, once again, that corruption and impunity are turning Burundi’s roads into veritable death traps.