Jean Niyangabo is 33 years old. He had started university studies in the capital, Bujumbura. But, short of money, he returned a few years ago to his hometown, Muhuta, in southwestern Burundi, to become a farmer.
“I really wanted to raise small livestock, but I had no capital.” After experiencing a series of setbacks, Jean Niyangabo finally decided to join the local Sangwe cooperative. Like the other members of the association, he received a goat worth around 140,000 Burundian francs [65 euros]. The goat has since given birth to two litters. And Niyangabo intends to continue to expand his herd.
“In Burundi, we are very poor, we have to work hand in hand to develophe explains. Sangwe cooperatives bring hope to millions of unemployed people. They will help us realize our dreams.”
An apparently egalitarian agrarian policy
In the province of Cibitoke, in the northwest of Burundi, Dieudonné Nzohabonayo, in his forties, found himself in a similar situation. He too chose to join a cooperative. He, too, received cattle – before having them confiscated a few days later. “I was given a pig as a reward for my work for the Sangwe, but the local representative of the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD [le Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces de défense de la démocratie, parti dominant dans le pays depuis 2005], took it back from me”, he confides.
Dieudonné Nzohabonayo, who has his card in an opposition party, reports that the representative told him that he had to join the government party to take advantage of the advantages of the Sangwe cooperatives. Because these advantages are reserved for loyal members of the party.
Upon taking office in June 2020, President Évariste Ndayishimiye made economic development one of his top priorities. After five years of bloody unrest in Burundi, he said: “The war for peace is won, now we must win the war on poverty.” Adding: “Every mouth should have food and every pocket should have money.”
The Sangwe cooperatives, created in 2019 to replace the old structures, are among the tools deployed by the government to achieve this objective. An associative enterprise has opened in each of the 3,200 “Hills” of Burundi – the hills are Burundian administrative subdivisions of the third level, after the communes and the provinces. Each of them received a loan of 10 million Burundian francs [4 700 euros] to begin its activities.
They aim to promote sustainable agriculture and livestock farming in a country where 90% of the population lives from these sectors. They also aim to reduce unemployment, especially among young people. Remember that in Burundi 63% of the population is under 25 and 55% of those under 25 are unemployed.
Partisan stranglehold
That said, nearly two years after Évariste Ndayishimiye’s inauguration, many are pointing the finger at the ruling party, which they believe uses these structures to recruit members. According to critics, meetings of these associations are often held in CNDD-FDD offices and are led by people with ties to the party. Some also complain that they were not entitled to benefit from the activities of the cooperatives on the grounds that they were members of the opposition.
“We hoped that all the inhabitants of the same locality could form one and that its activities would allow them to solve certain problems, exposes Moise Yamuremye, president of the Transversal Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs of Burundi. This is not the case. Sangwe cooperatives have become assets in the hands of the ruling party. People are even required to wear party badges to attend meetings.”
Gabriel Rufyiri, president of the Observatory for the fight against corruption and economic embezzlement (Olucome), confirms that they disproportionately benefit CNDD-FDD members while they are fueled by public money: “They are financed by the government, thanks to contributions and taxes paid by the whole population. They should benefit everyone.”
For its part, the government refutes these accusations. In a meeting with officials of the Sangwe cooperatives in November 2021, National Assembly spokesman Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe insisted that the latter “are not the property of the CNDD-FDD party, as some believe”. Adding: “It was this party that came up with the idea of creating them, but it was the government of Burundi that put them in place for the benefit of all citizens.”
Roger Ngabirano, of the National Agency for the Promotion and Regulation of Cooperative Societies in Burundi, also rejects any accusation of favouritism. “We have not heard of any complaints about this., he says. I think these accusations are unfounded, because cooperative societies do not exclude anyone.”
Except that many members of the opposition like Jimmy Gatoto testify to the contrary: access to the activities of cooperatives is forbidden to them. “I prefer not to participate in Sangwe activities so as not to betray my party, the CNL [Congrès national pour la liberté]”, he said.
The seeds of discord
In many ways, the arrival of President Ndayishimiye in 2020 marked the end of a dark period in Burundi. During the last term of his predecessor, Pierre Nkurunziza, hundreds of dissidents were killed, several media outlets were closed and hundreds of thousands of people fled the country. Ndayishimiye put an end to these policies and established a more inclusive system.
That said, several analysts fear that the unequal access to the economic benefits of these companies and the lack of transparency in their management threaten the very young social cohesion. This could have dangerous consequences.
Political scientist Guillaume Ndayikengurutse recalls that previous governments also used development projects as political instruments. And that the resulting feeling of exclusion is one of the major factors behind the cyclical crises that Burundi has gone through. “The same causes produce the same effects. The excluded will seek to assert their rights in one way or another, as has been the case in the past”, warns the specialist.
Gabriel Rufyiri, of the Anti-Corruption Observatory, agrees: “If we want to develop our country, the government must ensure the equitable sharing of wealth and resources, in accordance with article 69 of the Burundian Constitution.” And to conclude: “If the Sangwe cooperatives continue to be run as they are today, far from building it, they will destroy the country.”