According to applicants for administrative documents in the district and province of Makamba (southern Burundi), each document is now signed for contributions. Birth certificates, full identity, residence, family composition, all extracts are granted for three contributions including 2,000 Burundi francs for the construction of the provincial office per farmer and 5,000 francs per civil servant. In addition to these costs allocated to the construction of the provincial building, a sum of 1,000 francs intended for solidarity is required. Residents of this district are sounding the alarm and demanding that all this stop. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Applicants for administrative documents met at the Makamba district office say that any document is conditioned by the payment of a sum of 8,000 francs. Because, according to them, in addition to the contributions that amount to 6000, these certificates and extracts each cost 2000 francs paid into the Makamba district account opened at the COOPEC* Makamba while these contributions are paid by means of receipts.

Some say that they return without having these certificates and/or extracts following these contributions because they are only informed at the time of the request while it is too expensive for most.

The mortgage registration certificate required in banks to apply for credits costs even more. To obtain it, the administrator of the Makamba district Zuena Irakiza demands the payment of the tidy sum of 60,000 francs.

This contribution is said to be intended for the construction of a new district office, as district employees explain to the purchasers of these documents.

Inhabitants of this district are asking the administrator of the district, Zuena Irakiza, to stop demanding all this money from them, which they consider excessive while they are looking for credits, and that they are therefore broke, some indicating that most of these people are languishing in poverty.

They are also wondering if this money is reaching its destination, especially since the contributions for the construction of the offices of the province of Makamba began in 2016, authorities arguing that there will be a committee to monitor the use of the collections.

« A committee that has never seen the light of the day », deplore inhabitants of Makamba.

They are asking hierarchical authorities to intervene for the suspension of these contributions demanded by the administrator of Makamba – collections that they describe as « forced contributions ».