Burundi: Baboons from Kigwena Nature Reserve boarded for an unknown destination.
The unfortunate event takes place in 1998. We say it is unfortunate because it is a great loss to the environment, to the economy of the country. According to our sources, the Kigwena Nature Reserve at that time included at least 230 baboons. One day, a hundred of them would be loaded into trucks, direction not yet known.
All we know so far is that trucks containing banana walls were stationed on the road at the entrance to this nature reserve. Baboons broke into these trucks to feed on the bananas and the operation’s responsible closed the trucks. Our sources do not specify the number of baboons on board, but they would be estimated between 70 and 100. The operation was overseen by soldiers from the 54th Infantry Battalion in Kigwena. Other officials who were aware of this action were André Ndayizamba, who was governor of Bururi province, the officials of the INCN and the Ministry of Foreign Relations. It is unaware that such action could not be done without the approval of the Presidency of the Republic.
We dare to involve the presidency of the Republic because our sources add that these animals have come out of the country; they headed for Rwanda, travelled through Rwanda with great difficulty and headed for the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These baboons were then reportedly loaded onto planes and taken directly to some states of the United States of America.
Their case is different from that of the chimpanzees, which we talked about in our previous edition, which were taken to Kenya. The latter are refugees in this country; probably one day they will be repatriated to Burundi. These baboons will never come back because our sources say they were simply sold for 9,500 U.S. dollars each.
Here, we ask ourselves many unanswered questions: who would have sold this wealth of the country? What’s the point? Who are the main culprits? What accounts would the money from this sale be paid into?
We believe that if they are in good faith, the former governor of Bururi, the leaders of the INCN, the command of the 54th Infantry Battalion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Then Presidency of the Republic can give us solutions to our concern; to have the light on this issue and share it with our readers.
URN HITAMWONEZA believes that it is highly irresponsible for some leaders to claim the right to manage the country’s commons as their own properties. Chimpanzees who are being brought to Kenya to protect them and who bring in millions of dollars without the country taking advantage of them, baboons that would be sold without knowing why and without a trace of these amounts; it is a shame for our country. Successive governments have made no effort to monitor these cases, not because they have not been aware of these cases, but probably because the money was paid and used by chiefs at the highest level in shady cases. If this money was squandered by individuals in power and the power that followed it did not say anything, it means that there have always been mutual blankets in mistakes; which is unacceptable. We ask all good-faith Burundians who have information on these files to pass it on to us in order to inform the public who needs to know the truth about these cases. Those who feel targeted also have this moral obligation to give more light to public opinion, either through this channel or through other channels of communication. But what must not be forgotten is that sooner or later those who commit these cases of malfeasance or mismanagement of the public good will be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law. We must finally break with impunity of any kind (impunity in blood crimes or economic crimes) in our country; it is in this alone way that we will find a country of peace, justice and development. WhatsApp contact: +31685638237
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