BUJUMBURA November 6th (ABP) – The Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca, met, on Thursday November 4, municipal officials of Bujumbura city, the mayor of the city, municipal administrators, zone and neighborhood leaders.
At the end of the meeting, the deputy spokesperson of the ministry, Mr. Moïse Nkurunziza, said that the objective of the meeting was, on the one hand, to make a contact especially since most of them are new in their function. On the other hand, to share with them the message of responsible and hard-working government.
With regard to what the government expects from them, the deputy spokesperson of the said ministry noted that the minister revealed that the government wants them to protect the entire population on all levels: safety, health, food, sanitation. The government wants them to denounce the troublemakers, manage public good as a good father of the family, protect public infrastructures. The latter are asked to ensure the well-being of citizens and often think of the vulnerable.
Regarding relations with other institutions, Mr. Nkurunziza indicated that Minister Ndirakobuca recommended to the participants a good collaboration with the partners, especially the security forces. The mobilization of the people to join forces to promote development was also an issue for them.
According to the deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, those administrative officials are called upon to highlight prevention, denouncing any act that could threaten security. For him, the State wants those administrative officials to change their behavior. He explained that in the past, it has been noted that some officials asked for bribes for administrative acts.
With regard to covid-19, he asked those officials to implement preventive measures taken by the Ministry of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS without forgetting to think about the cleanliness of neighborhoods.
Regarding the issues that may arise, it was recommended that they rely on the regulations in force to solve them.
During the meeting, Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca noted that some shops located in neighborhoods do not pay taxes. In that regard, he called on the leaders of neighborhoods to make their inventory so that the City Council can recover them.
In relation to the concern of the mayor of the Bujumbura City, Mr. Jimmy Hatungimana towards certain “motorcycle taxi” and “Bajaj” riders who do not respect the traffic zones, Mr. Ndirakobuca asked for strict respect for their authorized traffic area. The mayor of Bujumbura city expressed other concerns, in particular the need for the creation of a new district as well as the problem of limiting the borders between the city council and the province of Bujumbura. In that regard, the Minister in charge of the Interior clarified that the legislation in this matter is clear. He recommended to refer to the laws and regulations on the matter, according to the deputy spokesperson within the Interior Ministry.