The current crisis, which is making headlines on all the media in the country of Ntare, is causing many victims. While fuel sources seem to be drying up everywhere, moving from one corner to another is a real headache. The author of these lines and his travel companions found themselves trapped on their way from Gitega to Bujumbura while the driver left a small fortune there because of police harassment. Story.
One Friday at dawn, I prepare myself quite elegantly to go down to Bujumbura. With this fuel shortage, I am afraid that I will not be able to get out of it so easily. I arrive at the place commonly called Masanganzira at daybreak and I immediately start looking for a means of transport. After several turns in the parking lot without success, a driver offers me to get on his Hiace brand bus for 20,000 BIF. As a reminder, the cost of transport Bujumbura-Gitega, set on February 19, 2024 by the Ministry of Commerce, Transport, Industry and Tourism, amounts to 9,300 BIF.
However, I accept the driver’s price without negotiating. After half an hour, the vehicle is already full to bursting. Before leaving, the driver fills its tank with gasoline contained in plastic water bottles taken from who knows where. The driver starts the engine and we board around 9:45.
A very difficult journey
Our transporter takes the vehicle towards Bujumbura. Inside, the conveyor keeps telling us to squeeze in to pick up other customers along the way. It’s impossible to resist his injections. It’s for, he says, “recover your capital”. Nobody dares to contradict him. In Giheta, we narrowly escape the traffic control thanks to a policeman on board the Hiace who tells his colleague: “ Dear, I just checked this one » (I have already checked this car, editor’s note). Unfortunately, this guardian angel gets off the road. The conveyor continues to pile us on top of each other without breaking. Our journey is very difficult and tiring. But that does not bother us, we consider ourselves rather lucky.
The driver calls his colleague who had gone ahead of him to make sure he doesn’t run into an unexpected police check. The latter informs him that there is another checkpoint just after the capital of Muramvya province. Before arriving there, our driver takes a motorbike for a customer who is overbooking on the bus, telling him to wait a little far from the checkpoint. It’s no use, the check will be very strict.
Fury on the bus
The officers are merciless in their control. After checking the documents as usual, a policeman whispers in the ear of one of the passengers: “How much did you pay?” The answer is given in all innocence but the officer makes it a very serious matter. This is where an endless wait begins for us. The police will escort the driver accompanied by his escort to an isolated corner for a meeting that seems to last an eternity. After an hour of waiting, we begin to get impatient. We get out to look in vain for another transport.
It was only after almost two hours that the driver and his friend reappeared, all furious and completely devastated. The driver brandished a fine of 2,000,000 BIF for ” price increase “. And to lament: “Look what they did to me! I bought the kinju for 20 000 BIF. Am I responsible for the expensive fuel? Here I have brought you down free of charge» (Look what they just did to me. I bought a bottle of petrol for 20,000 BIF. If fuel is expensive, should I pay for it? Now it’s like I’m going to move you for free). At the wheel, the driver keeps pulling his hair, swearing, shaking his head so much that we’re afraid we’ll be thrown into a ravine. We arrive in Bujumbura around 3:30 p.m. Almost 6 hours of driving. What a waste!
Despite their unscrupulous way of overloading the vehicle, we are all dismayed by this loss that the driver and his escort have just suffered. Later, I learned that the escort had tried to settle the matter amicably by the everlasting bribe. The policeman wanted a “small” 10,000 BIF. The escort insisted, for his part, to give only 5,000 BIF but without success. The matter ended up in the hands of the “boss”. With all the consequences that followed.
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2024-07-12 07:32:52