Burundi/Transport paralyzed by fuel shortage

Burundi/Transport paralyzed by fuel shortage

Burundi, one of the three poorest countries in the world, is going through a serious socio-economic crisis marked by a severe shortage of petroleum products for two months. Drivers and passengers deplore the disastrous consequences on the transport of people. 

At 10:00 a.m., the Ngozi bus station is almost deserted. Most buses are immobilized for lack of fuel, as explained by a driver who managed to obtain fuel on the black market. 

“I have been driving passengers for 25 years, but this is the first time I have experienced such a shortage. Before, it was easy to find gasoline at stations and you could fill up at any time, for a reasonable price! We ask that the situation return to the way it was before. We will die of hunger,” he confides. 

The driver paid four times the official price for his gasoline, which led to an explosion in transport prices. “What is happening today is beyond comprehension! Paying 40,000 francs for a trip that previously cost 15,000... The authorities must do everything to make gasoline available as before, because the situation has become unsustainable. All these cars must source from Nzaza, Tanzania. », says a Bujumbura passenger en route. 

In this situation, no one is spared from this crisis. Last week, MP Athanase Hatungimana called for the current plenary to be shortened to allow MPs to return early due to the fuel shortage. “I ask my fellow MPs not to continue to bother the President of the Court of Auditors with their questions. We must ask them tomorrow to the Minister of Finance, because he is the one who has the answers. But above all, know that some have to return on foot. Let us leave early,” he added. 

The next day, the Burundian Minister of Finance admitted that he had no immediate solution, declaring that the government was still “looking” for the foreign currency needed to import the fuel the country needs.