Burunga – SOSUMO : the missing engineer raises concerns, two bodies discovered in the region

SOS Médias Burundi

Rutana, November 6, 2026 — The disappearance of Ismaël Mugisha, an engineer and deputy head of the agricultural equipment maintenance department at the Moso Sugar Company (SOSUMO), continues to cause serious concern within the company. While unions are demanding explanations from the management and the search continues in the plantations and along waterways, two bodies have been discovered in the region within three days. However, there is no evidence to establish a link between these discoveries and the employee’s disappearance.

Unions call on management

In a letter dated November 3, SOSUMO union representatives are demanding an explanation from the management regarding the disappearance of their colleague. They state that no reliable information is currently available concerning his fate.

According to previously gathered information, Ismaël Mugisha left his home on Friday, October 30, and went to work, but never arrived. The union representatives deplore the lack of precise information about the search efforts and the circumstances of his disappearance.

They emphasize that such a case is unprecedented since SOSUMO’s creation and are demanding that the management fully investigate the matter.

The letter was notably sent to the Minister of Industry, the Governor of Burunga Province in southern Burundi, where the country’s only state-owned sugar company, SOSUMO, is located, as well as to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company and to the heads of the police and intelligence services.

This case had already led to the questioning of three SOSUMO officials by the prosecutor’s office at the Makamba Court of Appeal on November 3.

Details can be found in our previous article : “SOSUMO : three officials questioned after the unexplained disappearance of an engineer” (https:

).

For its part, the SOSUMO management has issued a missing person notice to find the engineer.

The search continues in the plantations

Search operations have intensified in the company’s sugarcane plantations. Employees, accompanied by police officers, are combing the fields and the banks of the Maragarazi and Mutsindonzi rivers, which run alongside the plantations.

This search comes after the discovery of two bodies in the area. The first was found on Tuesday, November 3, in Nkaramanyenye, in Rutenderi village, in the Gatabo zone of ​​Makamba district.

The body was identified as that of Thierry, a small trader from the Gatandara sub-village. Residents claim that the man was killed, decapitated, and then buried in a field. According to their testimonies, his body was found bound, with his head placed between his tied legs.

After exhumation, the body was reburied due to its advanced state of decomposition.

Another body found in the Mutsindonzi River

A second body, that of a man, was discovered on Thursday, November 5, in the Mutsindonzi River, in the Gahama sub-village, Gatonga village, in the Muzye zone of ​​Musongati district.

The body, already in an advanced state of decomposition, was discovered by police officers, Red Cross volunteers, and SOSUMO employees. It was placed in a bag and left in a boat, pending the return of the team tasked with continuing the investigation.

The same teams returned to the site on Friday, November 6, but were unable to identify the body.

Since this discovery, rumors have circulated suggesting a possible identification between the body and that of the missing engineer. However, no official confirmation has been issued to assert that it is Ismaël Mugisha.

The employee’s disappearance continues to raise questions within SOSUMO and among his loved ones. His colleagues and family are still waiting for news, while the search continues.

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Civil Protection agents during a search operation for bodies in central Burundi. In Burunga, the search continues after the discovery of two bodies, while a SOSUMO engineer remains missing since October 30 (SOS Médias Burundi)