Bujumbura: The government bans Motorcycle, Tricycle, and bicycles in the major part of the City
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol VI, Issue #205 | Tuesday, March 21, 2022
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Dear Readers
As of March 21st, 2022, motorcycles, tricycles, and bicycles are banned from circulating throughout the major part of the city of Bujumbura, the economic capital. According to the Minister in charge of Public security, they would be responsible for the majority of traffic accidents.
On February 23, 2022, General Gervais Ndirakobuca, Minister of the Interior and Public Security, extended this measure, which has been in place since 2016 in the city center of the former Burundian capital, to almost the entire city.
Limits are set per zone.
In the central zone, motorcycles won’t go beyond the Kiriri Campus of the University of Burundi, the Sororezo and Mugoboka districts. Bicycles, motorbikes, tricycles are prohibited in almost the entire Ngagara area, the entire Musaga area, and the entire Mukaza commune.
In the South zone, these vehicles will no longer go beyond the Kamesa bridge. They will also not be able to cross the bridge located at 12th avenue in the Musaga zone as well as the Kanyosha bridge.
In the northern zone, they no longer have the right to cross the Gasenyi River, the roundabout called "Chanic" and the water tower located in Mutanga North. In the northern territory also, they will no longer be able to cross the Gard du Nord, the 1st avenue of the Kamenge zone as well as the place called "Iwabo w'abantu".
The president of the Association of Motorcyclists of Burundi (AMOTABU), Jadot Nzitunga, regrets that the parties concerned were not consulted before the decision was taken to set the new delimitation of the prohibited areas.
Many people are dying we can not accept that
Reacting to the measure in a moralization meeting session in Muyinga, President Evariste Ndayishimiye said that he won’t accept that Bujumbura city continues to lose 30 lives per week, in a city where there is no war.
“We want to have a country with a good Image, where there is no chaos. Tell me, who is that Investor who will bring his money to Burundi, in the country of chaos, where is he?” he asked the participants.
President Ndayishimiye further explained that there is a plan to expand the cities of Burundi:
"Let me tell you that we are working with Investors who have asked us to provide space in each province where they should build beautiful cities, this project will be called Smart city” He added, stressing the importance of having cities that ordered, where business and investment can flow smoothly.
130 dead and 1,970 injured
According to the mayor of the city of Bujumbura, Jimmy Hatungimana, these means of transport are one of the causes of insecurity in the town hall of Bujumbura.
According to the civil protection police, from January 2021 to January 2022, the road accidents listed left 130 dead and 1,970 injured. The involvement of motorcycles, bicycles, and tuk-tuks was not specified in the road safety report that was issued in February.
The bottom line
Approximately 20,000 are the two- or three-wheeled vehicles that had access to all districts of Bujumbura, by far the largest agglomeration in the country (1.2 million inhabitants), with the exception of the city center.
Activist Faustin Ndikumana regrets that the application of this measure will exclude a category of citizens from accessing certain places or limit their right to circulate due to the means of transport they use, whereas the Constitution guarantees these freedoms of movement and to circulate through its articles 25 and 33.
More than 600,000 people use these means of transport every day, in a city where the service of the districts by public transport is fragmented. Customers and drivers, often young men from rural areas and for whom it is the only livelihood, will therefore be impacted.
Thanks for reading!
Fabrice Iranzi, Editor in Chief | RegionWeek.com
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