11-07-2014 ■ The government promised people to provide chemical fertilizers at a reasonable price. Farmers paid for the scheme in August. Three months later the fertilizers are not sufficientlyavailable.-By J.Berchmans Siboniyo Tradesmen were barred from selling fertilizer in Gitega. Odette Kayitesi, the Minister of Agriculture is very clear about it. “How (...)

11-06-2014 ■ About 350 boxes of Nido powder milk were caught yesterday morning by the Burundi Revenue Authority in boxes marked ‘toothpaste’.-By Diane Uwimana According to Frederic Manirambona, Commissioner of Customs and Excises in the OBR, the fraud was detected when OBR agents were controlling imported goods piece by piece. “The (...)

11-03-2014 ■ The Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR) organized a two day training for media organisations to explain about the importance of paying tax. It is believed that increasing the capacity to understand the tax-paying system, will lead to increased awareness on the side of taxpayers. “It is unbelievable that there are (...)

10-28-2014 ■ Rwandans who do business in front of ‘Kiosque Coca Cola’ and at Avenue de la Mission in Bujumbura complain that the police confiscate their documents. “A police officer came and askedfor my documents”, says a businessman who sells cell phone accessories at BATA. “When I gave him my passport (...)

10-20-2014 ■ The commission on Transport Reform submitted its plans to the Ministry of Transport, Public works and Equipment in July. The Minister has yet to respond.-By Yves Didier Irakoze According to Claude Mpawenimana, General Director of Transport, the main reason for reforming the transport sector is the neglected state of (...)

10-20-2014 ■ For the past two months, the Road Security Police has been without a director. The consequences of the power vacuum are weighing on Burundi’s citizens. On Wednesday Alfred Innocent Museremu was appointed Commander.-By J.Berchmans Siboniyo It is 2:55 PM at the Road Security Police station (PSR) in Bujumbura. A (...)

10-20-2014 ■ The Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR) is called to deal with cases of fraud that hinder the mobilization of resources required for financing the State Budget. Informers are used to help detect tax evasion.-By Diane Uwimana “One of the barriers for achieving our key objective is non-compliance with customs and (...)

10-17-2014 ■ Burundi ranks 38th, out of 52 countries and is the worst performing member of the East African Community. The Burundian Government claims that the classification is erroneous.-By Burundi in bottom ranks of African Governance Index Philippe Nzobonariba, Spokesman for  the Government: “The criteria on which they based the classification (...)

10-17-2014 ■ The Burundian Government and the InternationalFund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed a grant of $31 million to support food security. The agreement was signed on 19 September 19, 2014, at the IFAD headquarters in Rome. Damase was present at the negotiations in Rome and is part of the team (...)

10-14-2014 ■ Since July 2014, quality control agents from the Burundi Bureau of Standards and Quality Control are stationed at border posts to verify the quality of imported goods that are not harmful to human beings.–By Diane Uwimana The quality control agents are installed at Kobero border post (between Burundi and (...)