Burundi’s government, strapped for cash to organise 2020 general elections, will pit the country’s 119 communes against one another in a “competition” to raise money from impoverished citizens, official documents show.
This is the next step in a public fundraising drive announced in December 2017, presented as “voluntary” by the government, but condemned by rights groups as “organised robbery”.
Observers say individuals are being arrested, jailed, tortured, or denied public services — even healthcare — if they fail to show an invoice for their contributions, which are calculated as a percentage of income.
The government had proposed payments ranging from half a dollar (euro) for high school pupils, about double that for farmers, and monthly deductions from civil servants’ wages — urging citizens to carry out “this highly patriotic duty”.
For those in the private sector, the interior ministry was to compile contributor lists from payment receipts.
Last week, President Pierre Nkurunziza said the government had so far raised 70 percent of the required election funds.
In a letter to the governors of Burundi’s 18 provinces, which are subdivided into communes, Interior Minister Pascal Barandagiye said the competition was one of the strategies the government had come up with “to collect the maximum possible contributions from the population”.
AFP obtained a copy of the letter.
Western electoral aid was cut in 2015 when Burundi plunged into crisis as Nkurunziza sought — and went on to win — a controversial third term.
At least 1,200 people are estimated to have died in the ensuing turmoil, over 400,000 displaced, and many ordinary Burundians pushed deep into poverty.
Nkurunziza subsequently vowed not to be beholden to foreign powers, and to raise money locally for future elections.
Kicked out of school
Constitutional reforms adopted in May last year following a referendum opened the way for Nkurunziza to seek another two terms in office in 2020, although he has said he will not.
Rights groups say the pressure on Burundi’s citizens is immense.
In some communes, people are refused official documents, medical care and even childbirth services if they have no receipt for their election payment.
And pupils who will be of voting age in 2020 are kicked out of school if they cannot show proof of payment.
In a tweet, anti-corruption NGO Olucome said it was a shame that instead of instigating efforts to fight poverty and misery, the government opted for a competition to “suck them dry”.
More than two-thirds of Burundians live under the poverty line.
Yet funding the election is not the only pressure they are under: in parts of the country, communities have to contribute to infrastructure such as schools, offices, clinics and stadiums — and even the ruling party headquarters, observers say.